Homeowners building safety

Gas safety checks

Anyone who owns a property with gas appliances within it is responsible for ensuring their safety. Obviously, this is even more important in a block of flats. The Health and Safety Executive states that gas appliances should be checked by a Gas Safe-registered installer. You should have your gas fittings and appliances checked every year.

Please ensure you must ensure the property has smoke alarms and all electrical safety measures are in place too.

If you are a leaseholder who is renting (sub-letting) your property, please note that the law requires you to get a certificate of gas safety every year. You must provide a copy to your tenants before they move in and every year after that.

If you live in a block of flats with a communal boiler your lease will identify who is responsible for the maintenance of this; this may include allowing access for the units with the flat to be checked too.

Blocks of Flats

If you live in a block of flats owned by bpha we will be responsible for safety checks within the communal areas.

bpha takes building safety very seriously and we ensure that we follow best practice.

This will include:

• Regular fire safety assessments
• Electrical safety checks at least every five years
• Using qualified and competent contractors in our buildings

In some cases, we may not own the block that you live in and it may be managed by another company. In these situations, we check that they have carried out the correct checks and we obtain relevant assurances from them.

Each block will have a fire action notice which explains to residents and visitors what they need to do in the event of a fire, this will be placed at least by the final fire exit.

More information around general fire safety can be found here. Some of this information is regarding booking gas and electrical safety checks which bpha does not arrange for you however the rest of the information is relevant to keeping you safe in your home.