Hotel gas safety certificates: guest rooms and kitchens
A hotel needs a yearly gas safety check, with a written record, for the gas appliances and flues that serve its guest rooms and any staff accommodation. HSE says the landlord rules in regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 apply to hotels, guest houses and staff accommodation as well as to rented homes. The kitchen and other working areas come under a different duty, regulation 35, which applies to every workplace covered by the regulations.
Two sets of rules in one building
Regulation 36 covers premises occupied for residential purposes, in return for payment, under a lease or a licence. HSE lists hotels and bed and breakfasts among the accommodation covered, and its guidance for catering and hospitality adds staff and tied accommodation, even on premises otherwise used for work.
Regulation 35 covers gas at any place of work, such as the kitchen and the laundry. It requires the employer to keep the gas appliances, pipework and flues there in a safe condition.
A central boiler can fall under both. HSE treats a boiler in a non residential part of the building, such as a plant room, as covered by regulation 36 when it also serves residential accommodation.
Guest rooms and staff accommodation
Under regulation 36, each gas appliance and flue serving guest or staff rooms must be:
- checked for safety at least every 12 months, by a Gas Safe registered engineer
- recorded, including the date, the address, each appliance and where it is, any defect found, any action taken, and the engineer’s name, signature and registration number
- kept on record until two further checks have been done, or for 2 years after the last check of an appliance or flue that has been removed
A check carried out in the 2 months before it is due is treated as done on the due date, under regulation 36A, so the renewal date stays the same each year. The FAQ on the CP12 shows what the record looks like.
Showing the record
In the regulations, a hotel guest or a member of staff who lives in counts as a tenant for this rule. The record reaches them like this:
- Someone already living in, such as a member of staff, gets a copy within 28 days of the check.
- A new occupier gets a copy before moving in. Where the right to stay is 28 days or less, such as a hotel stay of a few nights, the record may instead be displayed prominently in the premises, under regulation 36(6)(b).
- Where a room has no gas appliance in it, a copy may be displayed in a prominent position instead of handing out copies, under regulation 36(7). The displayed copy must carry a statement that the occupier can have their own copy on request, with the address to ask at.
Kitchens and plant rooms
Kitchens fall under regulation 35. HSE’s guidance on gas safety in catering and hospitality says inspection and servicing should follow the manufacturer’s recommendations, with a yearly inspection as a reasonable minimum. The record of a kitchen check is usually a CP42, which covers the kitchen as a whole and each appliance (CP42 checks explained). A kitchen with mechanical extraction should have an interlock that cuts the gas if the ventilation fails, and HSE says domestic carbon monoxide alarms are not normally suitable for commercial kitchens.
Boilers over 70 kW, and groups of smaller boilers adding up to more than 70 kW, are installed and maintained to BS 6644 (commercial boiler servicing).
Who may do the work
All of this work must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer whose qualifications cover each type of appliance being checked. Catering appliances and commercial boilers are separate types of gas work, so where both are being checked, both should appear on the engineer’s Gas Safe ID card. The card shows the work the holder is qualified to do, and the Gas Safe Register website confirms it.
One schedule for the building
One schedule listing every gas appliance and flue by room, with its due date and latest record, keeps both sets of rules in one place.
Neos Engineering works for hotels across all of London. For a business such as a hotel, a landlord gas safety certificate is from £110 + VAT, per appliance, or £220 + VAT, per appliance, out of hours. The directors hold the Commercial Catering gas qualifications and do the kitchen gas work and CP42 checks. Planned servicing of plant room boilers is priced after a site survey, with a written quote before any work is booked. The details are on the gas safety certificate page and the Commercial Catering page, and checks can be booked through the contact page.
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