What a CP12 is
The Landlord Gas Safety Record is the annual check of every gas appliance and flue in a rented property, carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. "CP12" is the old CORGI form number - CORGI went in 2009, but the name stuck and everyone in the trade still uses it.
Only a Gas Safe registered engineer can do the check, and the registration number goes on the record. Landlords can check any engineer at gassaferegister.co.uk before booking.
The 12-month clock
Every rented property with gas needs the check every 12 months. The rule that saves landlords hassle: renew in months 10 to 12 and the new record keeps the original expiry date, MOT-style. There is no reason to let a certificate drift out of date, and no penalty in lost days for booking early within that window.
Copies, and how long to keep them
- Existing tenants - a copy within 28 days of the check
- New tenants - a copy before they move in
- The landlord - keeps each record for at least 2 years
For engineers, keeping your own copy of every record you issue means fewer "can you send that again" calls in February - agents lose paperwork more often than boilers fail.
What's on the record
- The property address and the landlord's or agent's details
- Each appliance and flue checked - location, type, make
- The results of the operational safety checks
- Any defect found and the action taken
- The engineer's name, signature and Gas Safe registration number
- The date of the check and when the next one is due
When an appliance fails
If an appliance is unsafe, it gets recorded as such and a warning notice is issued - the appliance is made safe or disconnected with the responsible person's permission, labelled, and the paperwork says exactly what was found and what was done. An unsafe appliance left connected without the paper trail is the situation every engineer wants to avoid; the notice is your protection as much as the tenant's.
For engineers: do it once, digitally
A digital CP12 is filled in on the phone at the property, signed on screen, and lands in the customer's inbox as a PDF before you have packed the van. It is stored against the customer, so reissuing one is ten seconds, and the renewal dates are tracked so the months-10-to-12 window becomes repeat work landing in your diary rather than a date nobody remembered.