Landlord Gas Safety Certificates in Braunton

This is a thorough inspection, not a quick walk-round. Every gas appliance and the gas installation throughout the property gets checked.

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

Gas hob or cooker: Every burner tested for ignition and safe operation, and the flame failure device on each ring tested on its own. Those are the valves that cut the gas if a flame goes out.

Gas fires: Safe operation, correct ventilation and flue integrity. Some older Braunton properties still have a gas fire as backup heating, and it gets inspected in the same visit whether or not anyone ever lights it.

Gas pipework and tightness test: All accessible pipework checked, and the whole installation tested for gas tightness. Any leak is dealt with before I leave.

Ventilation: I confirm the required ventilation openings are there and clear. Blocked ventilation in a room with a gas appliance is a genuine hazard.

Safety devices: Overheat thermostats, flame failure devices and pressure relief valves all tested.

You'll hear every finding clearly: safe, At Risk (AR), or Immediately Dangerous (ID).

The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 apply to holiday accommodation with no exceptions. A cottage let to surfers for a week in August needs the same CP12 as a house on a twelve-month AST. The Health and Safety Executive has been perfectly clear about that.

The Croyde, Saunton and Georgeham holiday market is big and long-established. The properties run from purpose-built modern holiday houses with one combi and simple pipework, right through to converted barns and old cottages with far more going on. Some have annexes or outbuildings with their own gas appliances, and those go in the inspection too.

A few things specific to this coastal letting area:

Coastal environment and flue outlets. Braunton Burrows sits at the edge of one of Europe's great sand systems, and the wind carries sand and salt spray a long way inland. External flue terminals collect debris and corrode faster in exposed spots, so I check those carefully on anything near the coast.

Seasonal boiler use. A property that stands empty through autumn and winter and then fires up for Easter is harder on a boiler than one used all year. An inspection in the off-season leaves you time to fix anything found, rather than discovering a dead boiler on the morning a family arrives.

MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards). If your Braunton holiday let runs commercially, it has to meet minimum EPC requirements, and the gas heating system is a big part of that rating. If the boiler's getting on, it may be worth talking about efficiency and upgrades while I'm doing the safety inspection. I'll give you an honest view of the boiler's condition, though the formal EPC assessment is a separate job.

Letting agent requirements. Braunton's letting agents, particularly the ones handling Croyde and Saunton, increasingly want a current CP12 before they'll list a property at all. Sorting it well before the season saves any hold-up.

EX33 covers Braunton village and everything immediately around it.

Braunton village: A mix of housing from all sorts of periods. Wrafton and Velator on the edges are newer development with modern combis. The older streets nearer the centre have more varied systems, including some older conventional boilers.

Caen Street and town centre: Braunton's main commercial street and the residential roads off it, with all kinds of property. Some are let as ordinary residential homes, others have been converted for holiday use.

Croyde, Saunton, and Georgeham: Holiday let country. Detached holiday cottages, converted barns, and some large properties with plenty of bedrooms and gas installations to match. A few have annexes or outbuildings with their own appliances, and every bit of it belongs on the CP12.

Carbon monoxide is a particular worry in holiday lets, because guests don't know the property and won't recognise the early signs of exposure. CO is invisible and has no smell, so without a working alarm there's simply no way to know it's there.

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, including any room with a gas boiler. It has to be working at the start of every tenancy or guest stay.

I check for CO around every appliance during the inspection with a calibrated analyser. But one test a year isn't protection. A working alarm near the boiler is on duty every day, including all the weeks and months between my visits.

For a Braunton holiday let owner, a decent CO alarm in the boiler room or utility space is simple due diligence. If there isn't one, or the existing one is past its life, I can supply and fit one while I'm there.

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.