Giving Tenants a Gas Safety Certificate: The 28-Day Rule and New Tenancies

If you let a property with any gas appliance, flue or pipework, you must give your tenant a gas safety certificate, and you must do it within strict deadlines. Miss them and you face an unlimited fine, criminal prosecution, possible imprisonment, and a compliance reputation that follows you into every future dispute. This guide explains exactly when and how to give a tenant the gas safety certificate (often called the CP12 or Landlord Gas Safety Record) in England, covering both the 28-day rule for existing tenants and the before-move-in rule for new tenancies under the post-Renters’ Rights Act regime in force in 2026.

The good news is that gas safety law did not change on 1 May 2026. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 abolished Section 21 and fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies, but it left the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 entirely intact. What changed is the consequence of getting the handover wrong: with no more no-fault route to possession, your compliance paper trail matters more than ever when you need to rely on a Section 8 ground later.

What is a gas safety certificate (CP12)?

Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, usually shortened to “the Gas Safety Regulations” or GSIUR, every landlord must arrange an annual gas safety check of all relevant gas appliances and flues by a Gas Safe registered engineer. The engineer issues a Landlord Gas Safety Record (LGSR), historically nicknamed the “CP12” after the old British Gas form number. The two terms describe the same document, and you will see both used interchangeably.

The record sets out:

• the address of the property and the landlord’s (or agent’s) details;
• a description and location of each appliance and/or flue checked;
• the name, registration number and signature of the Gas Safe engineer;
• the date the check was carried out;
• any defects identified and the remedial action taken or required;
• a confirmation of the results of the operational safety checks.

Two distinct legal duties sit inside this regime, and it is vital not to blur them:

1. The duty to check, arrange a gas safety check on every relevant appliance and flue at least every 12 months (regulation 36(3)).
2. The duty to give the record to tenants, a separate obligation under regulation 36(6). Carrying out the check but failing to hand over the certificate is itself a breach, even if the property is perfectly safe.

You can read the duty in full on legislation.gov.uk and the practical guidance on the HSE website.

The two deadlines you must hit to give a tenant the gas safety certificate

There are two distinct timing rules for when you must give a tenant the gas safety certificate, and landlords routinely confuse them.

The 28-day rule for existing tenants

When the annual check is carried out on an occupied property, you have 28 days from the date of the check to give each existing tenant a copy of the new record. This is the single most-cited deadline and the one councils and the HSE enforce most often. Diarise the handover the moment the engineer attends, do not wait for next year’s renewal reminder, and do not assume the engineer or letting agent has done it for you.

The 28 days run from the date of the check, not the date the engineer emails you the certificate. If your engineer takes a week to send the paperwork, you have already used a quarter of your window. Treat the clock as starting on the day of the visit.

New tenancies: give it before they move in

For a new tenant, the rule is stricter and there is no 28-day grace period. You must give them a copy of the current, in-date gas safety record before they occupy the property. The safest practice is to hand it over (or email it) as part of the move-in pack, alongside the keys, the inventory, the EPC, the How to Rent guide and the deposit-protection prescribed information. Build it into your check-in routine so it cannot be forgotten.

A subtle trap: if your existing certificate will expire within the first days or weeks of a new tenancy, renew it before the tenancy starts so the record you hand over is comfortably in date. Handing over a certificate that lapses three days after move-in is poor practice and leaves you exposed.

Why this matters more after the Renters’ Rights Act

Under the old regime, failing to serve the gas certificate before the tenancy began could invalidate a later Section 21 notice, a hard, well-litigated consequence. Section 21 is now abolished in England from 1 May 2026, so that particular trap is gone. But the underlying duty under the 1998 Regulations is completely unchanged, and the documents you hand over at the start of a tenancy are still scrutinised if you later seek possession on Section 8 grounds. A landlord who cannot show a clean compliance record looks far weaker in court. For the wider picture of what replaced the no-fault route, see our guide to Section 21 abolished: what landlords must do instead.

How to give the certificate (and prove you did)

The Regulations require you to give a copy, but how you give it is partly your choice:

• In person or by post, the traditional route; keep proof of postage and a note of the date.
• By email, if the tenant has agreed to receive documents electronically. This is now the norm, and email metadata is the easiest evidence to produce later.
• Display in the property is permitted for certain communal arrangements (for example, a shared boiler serving an HMO), but for a standard self-contained let, giving each tenant their own copy is best practice.

Whatever method you use, the practical risk is never the handover itself, it is proving you did it months or years later. Keep:

• A timestamped record of when and how you sent it: email metadata, a postal receipt, or a signed acknowledgement.
• A copy of the record itself, retained for at least two years (the Regulations require landlords to keep each record until two further checks have been carried out, in practice, at least two years).
• A note of the tenant’s confirmation of receipt wherever you can obtain one.

If a dispute or council investigation arises, a clear audit trail, “certificate dated X, emailed to tenant Y on date Z, opened/acknowledged”, is what protects you. A certificate sitting in a drawer with no evidence of delivery is worth very little.

Special case: a tenant who will not grant access

You must take all reasonable steps to carry out the check, but you cannot force entry. If a tenant repeatedly refuses access, document every attempt: dated letters, texts and emails requesting access, and any engineer’s notes of a failed visit. The HSE guidance makes clear that a paper trail of genuine attempts is your defence if the check lapses through no fault of your own.

Access for a gas safety check is a legitimate reason to give the tenant proper written notice to enter. The general rule is at least 24 hours’ written notice at a reasonable time of day. For the detail on how to word and serve that notice, see our guide on the 24-hour notice rule for entering a property. Build your access requests into the same paper trail you keep for the certificate itself, three polite, dated requests beat one angry phone call every time.

If you genuinely cannot gain access despite reasonable efforts, do not simply let the certificate lapse and forget it. Keep trying, keep recording, and escalate in writing. The duty to attempt the check continues; only the ability to complete it is frustrated by the tenant.

What happens if you get it wrong

The penalties are serious because this is a safety duty, not an administrative one:

• Unlimited fines on conviction in the magistrates’ or Crown Court.
• Up to six months’ imprisonment for the most serious breaches.
• Improvement and prohibition notices from the HSE, which can stop you letting the property until remedied.
• Insurance consequences, many landlord insurance policies are void without a current gas safety record, so a single gas-related incident could leave you personally liable.
• Reputational damage that weakens your standing in any later possession claim.

Failing to give the certificate sits alongside a long list of avoidable landlord penalties; our roundup of landlord fines in England in 2026 puts it in context, and our landlord penalty checklist helps you self-audit before a council does.

Worked example: the 28-day clock in practice

Priya lets a two-bedroom flat in Leeds with a gas combi boiler and a gas hob. Her current Landlord Gas Safety Record was issued on 4 July 2025 and so expires on 3 July 2026.

• 9 June 2026, Priya books her Gas Safe engineer for the annual renewal, leaving a comfortable three-week buffer before expiry. She serves the tenant 24 hours’ written notice of the visit.
• 20 June 2026, the engineer attends, checks the boiler and hob, and confirms both pass. He signs the new record on site but says the typed PDF will follow by email.
• 20 June 2026, Priya’s 28-day clock starts today, the date of the check, not the date the PDF lands.
• 23 June 2026, the engineer emails the completed record. Priya forwards it to her tenant the same day, keeping the sent email as proof, and asks the tenant to reply to acknowledge receipt.
• 24 June 2026, the tenant replies “Received, thanks.” Priya files the certificate, the sent email and the acknowledgement together.

Priya has met both duties, the annual check and the handover, with 26 days to spare on the 28-day deadline, and a clean audit trail. Had she instead waited until the PDF arrived and then sat on it, a 23 June check could easily have drifted past 18 July, breaching the rule for the sake of nothing.

Compare that with a new tenancy: if Priya re-let the same flat to a new tenant starting 1 August 2026, she would have to give the current record (the 20 June 2026 one) before they moved in, there is no 28-day window for a new occupier.

A simple compliance routine

To stay on the right side of the duty year after year:

1. Book the annual check early, ideally a few weeks before expiry, never after.
2. Use a Gas Safe registered engineer and confirm their registration on the Gas Safe Register.
3. Give existing tenants the new record within 28 days of the check (clock starts on the check date).
4. Give new tenants the current record before they move in, build it into your check-in pack.
5. Log the handover with a date, method and proof of delivery.
6. Store the record for at least two years and set a renewal reminder for next year.

Gas safety is one strand of a wider compliance web that also includes EPCs, electrical safety and smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms. For the full picture, see our guide to EPC rules for landlords in England and download our free landlord compliance checklist. If you are letting for the first time, our first-time landlord checklist walks you through every pre-tenancy step in order, and HMO landlords should also review HMO licensing in England for the additional duties that apply to shared houses.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to give a tenant the gas safety certificate?

For an existing tenant, you have 28 days from the date the gas safety check was completed. For a new tenant, you must give them the current record before they move in, there is no 28-day grace period for a new let.

Is a CP12 the same as a gas safety certificate?

Yes. “CP12” is an old British Gas form number that stuck as nickname. The legally correct name is the Landlord Gas Safety Record (LGSR). Whether your engineer calls it a CP12, an LGSR or a gas safety certificate, it is the same document the Regulations require you to give your tenant.

Did the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 change the gas safety rules?

No. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 abolished Section 21 and fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies, but it did not amend the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. The annual-check duty, the 28-day handover rule and the before-move-in rule are all unchanged. What has changed is that a clean compliance trail now matters more, because possession runs through Section 8 grounds rather than a no-fault notice.

How do I prove I gave the tenant the certificate?

Keep a timestamped record of the delivery, a sent email, a postal receipt, or a signed acknowledgement, alongside a copy of the certificate itself. Email is the easiest to evidence. Aim to get the tenant to confirm receipt in writing, and store the proof with the record for at least two years.

What if my tenant refuses to let the engineer in?

You cannot force entry, but you must take all reasonable steps to carry out the check. Serve proper written notice of entry, document every dated request, and keep the engineer’s notes of any failed visit. A genuine paper trail of attempts is your defence if the check lapses despite your efforts.

How long must I keep each gas safety record?

The Regulations require you to keep each Landlord Gas Safety Record until two further checks have been carried out, in practice, at least two years. Many landlords keep them for the life of the tenancy plus several years, which is sensible given how often old certificates are needed to resolve later disputes.

Coming soon

Tenancy Pilot is launching soon, and it is built to make this exact duty effortless. You will be able to issue the gas safety certificate to your tenants in one click and log it with a timestamped audit trail, so the date you sent it, the method, and the tenant’s receipt are all recorded automatically. Combined with certificate and compliance tracking that flags every renewal well before the 12-month expiry, you will never miss a gas safety deadline again. Join the waitlist to be first in when we launch.

This article is general information about gas safety obligations in England, not legal advice. Gas safety is a serious statutory duty, always check the current rules on GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk, follow HSE guidance, and consult a solicitor or qualified adviser about your specific circumstances.