Landlord Gas Safety Certificates in Bideford

A gas safety inspection isn't a quick look round. It takes in every gas appliance and the whole gas installation in the property.

Boiler: A full operational and safety check — ignition sequence, combustion quality and analysis, heat exchanger condition, flue integrity and gas spillage test, and all the safety devices including the overheat thermostat and pressure relief valve.

Gas hob or cooker: Every burner tested for safe ignition and operation. The flame failure device on each ring, the valve that cuts the gas if the flame goes out, gets tested on its own.

Gas fires: Operation, ventilation and flue condition. Bideford's older terraces around East-the-Water and the historic quayside often have gas fires set into converted fireplaces, and some share chimneys with next door. Those want careful attention.

Gas pipework and tightness test: All accessible pipework inspected, and the whole installation tested for gas tightness. If I suspect a leak, it's dealt with before I leave.

Ventilation: I check that the ventilation gas appliances need is there and not blocked. Sealed-up vents are more common than you'd expect, usually after a tenant has redecorated or fitted draught excluders, and they can cause real problems.

Safety devices: Overheat thermostats, flame failure devices and pressure relief valves tested on every appliance.

You'll hear about everything I find, plainly. Each appliance ends up in one of three categories: safe to use, At Risk (AR), which means it needs attention but isn't immediately dangerous, or Immediately Dangerous (ID), which means it has to come out of use until it's repaired. You'll know exactly what I found and what needs doing, if anything.

Bideford has a decent short-term and holiday let market, particularly in Appledore and Instow on the waterfront, and increasingly in converted properties nearer the Quay. Between the historic town and the Torridge estuary it isn't purely a long-term rental market — and for holiday lets the legal position doesn't change.

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 apply to holiday accommodation exactly as they do to an AST. The Health and Safety Executive has been clear about that. Rent a property to guests short-term and it still needs an annual CP12. The formal 28-day provision rule for AST tenants doesn't work the same way, but guests should still be able to see the certificate during their stay.

If you own a Bideford holiday let, MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards) is worth having on your radar too. Commercially let properties have to meet minimum EPC ratings, and an ageing, inefficient gas heating system can drag yours down. I can give you a view during the gas safety inspection on whether the boiler's condition is worth a conversation, though the formal EPC assessment is a separate job.

Bideford's housing tells the story of the town and the Torridge.

East-the-Water and the Quayside: The older terraces on the east bank, close to the Bideford Long Bridge with its 24 arches, are mostly Victorian and Edwardian. They often have complicated gas installations: several appliances, older flue arrangements, and sometimes back boilers or conventional boiler and cylinder systems from before condensing boilers became compulsory in 2005. Gas safety checks here sometimes throw up advisory notes about appliances not built to current standards. I always explain those, because it doesn't automatically mean unsafe.

Mill Street and Allhalland Street: Similar older housing, often split into flats. Pipework running through several floors, or through work done during a later conversion, takes more careful checking.

Northam and Westward Ho!: More modern housing, mostly combis. Gas safety checks here are usually straightforward: one appliance, one flue, a tightness test.

Appledore: The old fishing village has a mix of cottages and newer housing, with a fair few holiday lets along the waterfront.

Instow: A quiet coastal village with a settled community and some holiday accommodation. EX39 covers the lot.

One extra note: the Torridge water carries moderate limescale, and over time that tells on combi boiler plate heat exchangers. If I see significant scale during the inspection I'll mention it, though properly assessing it belongs to a boiler service rather than the CP12.

Carbon monoxide is what a gas appliance produces when it hasn't got enough air. You can't see it or smell it, so without an alarm your tenants won't know a thing until they start feeling ill. Undetected, it kills, and rental properties are badly overrepresented in the UK figures.

Under the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022, landlords in England must fit a CO alarm in any room with a fixed combustion appliance in it, which includes any room with a gas boiler. It has to be working at the start of each new tenancy.

During the inspection I check for CO around every appliance with a calibrated analyser. If levels are up, you'll know immediately and we'll deal with it before I go. But testing once a year isn't protection. An alarm fitted near the boiler is watching every hour of every day.

If there's no alarm, or the one there is past its service life, I can supply and fit one while I'm in.

A CP12 for one appliance is £85 including VAT. Each additional appliance is £30, except gas fires, which are £80 each. Travel within 25 miles of South Molton is included; beyond that radius, a £30 including-VAT travel charge applies and is disclosed before booking.

I can line up several inspections on the same day where it works out. The standard published price applies to each property and its appliances.

You'll get an answer. Ring or message during the working day and you'll hear back the same day; evenings and weekends, it'll be the next working day. And if it isn't a job for me, I'll tell you that and point you at someone who can help, rather than going quiet on you.

When you book, I'll confirm it and give you a two-hour window rather than a whole day sat at home waiting. On the morning you get a text with a tracking link, so you can see where I've got to instead of wondering. Traffic and the job before yours are real, so it's a window rather than a promise to the minute, but if it slips you'll hear it from me first.

Call 01271 444410 or email info@tarkaboilersbarnstaple.co.uk.

I can line up several inspections on the same day where it works out. The standard published price applies to each property and its appliances.