Landlord Prosecuted for Gas Safety Failings | Health & Safety

Landlord prosecuted for gas safety failings

Key Facts:

• A Plymouth based landlord has been prosecuted for failure to comply with Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations.
• The landlord had failed to properly maintain a gas boiler.
• He was fined £16,000 plus costs of £1,500.

The Case:

An investigation was launched into the health and safety processes of a Plymouth based landlord after unsafe gas safety practices.

The Plymouth landlord failed to ensure the gas boiler system at a property under his control was properly maintained. Therefore, the tenants at the property were put at risk.

The case was heard at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on 10 April 2015, where the landlord pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 36(2) and 36(3)(a) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. He was fined £16,000 plus costs of £1,500.

What the law states:

Regulation 36(2) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states that:

Every landlord shall ensure that there is maintained in a safe condition—

(a)any relevant gas fitting; and

(b)any flue which serves any relevant gas fitting,

Regulation 36(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 states that:

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (2) above, a landlord shall—

(a)ensure that each appliance and flue to which that duty extends is checked for safety within 12 months of being installed and at intervals of not more than 12 months since it was last checked for safety (whether such check was made pursuant to these Regulations or not);

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