Landlord safety checks: what happens on the day

When you book a landlord safety inspection, such as a gas check or an EICR, the price is confirmed, the tenant gets written notice, the engineer visits and the paperwork follows. Under the rules in force on 30 October 2026, your tenant must receive the gas safety record and the EICR within 28 days of each check (Gas Safety Regulations 1998, reg 36; Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020).

This guide follows a booking from the first call to the last piece of paper. It covers the five checks landlords book most: the gas safety check, the EICR, the EPC, PAT testing and the legionella risk assessment. It is the hub for our series on booking checks, so each section links to a fuller guide. If you need the legal basics first, start with our guide to which certificates a landlord needs. Our landlord certificate checker asks six questions and lists the checks that apply to your let.

We are EliteShires Property Services, based on Kenton Lane, and we carry out these checks across Harrow, Kenton, Stanmore and Edgware. What follows is how a booking runs with us, alongside what the law says. Where the two differ, we say so.

What happens when you book a landlord safety check?

Booking takes one call or form, and the details you give us decide the price and the visit plan.

1. Tell us the property and the checks. Give the address, the property type and which certificates you need. For a gas check, tell us how many gas appliances you provide. For an EICR, tell us the size of the property and its age if you know it. For PAT, give a rough count of the items you supply.
2. We confirm a fixed price before we attend. Certificates and defined jobs are fixed-price. Repairs found later are charged by the hour, with the rate and an estimate confirmed first.
3. We agree who provides access. That can be you, your agent, the tenant, a neighbour with a key or a key safe.
4. We agree a time window with the tenant. A real window, not a vague day. A vague "sometime Tuesday" is how visits fail.
5. We send the paperwork when it is ready, to you and, if you ask, to your agent.

If you want several checks in one visit, say so at this stage. We can line up an EICR, a gas check, an EPC and PAT testing on the same day, and that matters most in a void. The order still matters, and we cover it below.

How much notice does the tenant need?

Give at least 24 hours' notice in writing (Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, s11(6)), and in practice a week, with a second date offered. You must not force entry. If the tenant still won't open the door, our guide on what to do when a tenant refuses access for a safety check sets out the "reasonable steps" record that protects you.

What happens on the day for each check?

On the day, the engineer or assessor inspects every item in scope for that check, and you get a document back. With us the gas record, PAT records and legionella assessment come on the day, the EPC is lodged within 24 hours and the EICR report follows within 48 hours. The table shows the access each visit needs.

The five common landlord checks, what each visit needs and the paperwork (England, checked October 2026)

A few points catch landlords out on the day.

• The EICR needs the power off for parts of the testing. Warn the tenant about fridges, freezers, home working and anything that needs a constant supply. Our checklist for preparing a rental for an EICR covers this in full. Typical visit times are on our EICR page.
• The gas engineer checks every appliance you provide. That includes a gas hob or a gas fire as well as the boiler. Appliances the tenant owns are outside your annual check, but you must still keep the installation pipework that feeds them in a safe condition (reg 36(2)). The full rules are on our landlord gas safety page.
• The EPC assessor needs the loft and the boiler. If they cannot see them, some features are assumed, and assumed values can score worse than the real ones. Have any loft insulation or boiler paperwork to hand. More on our EPC assessment page.
• PAT covers only what you supply. We test the landlord's items, not the tenant's own kettle. HSE says there is no legal requirement to test annually. The PAT testing page explains when testing still makes sense.
• The legionella assessment needs every outlet. That includes a rarely used shower in a spare room. HSE says the law does not require a "legionella test certificate". Our legionella risk assessment page has the detail.

Which check should go first?

Book the checks that can create repairs first. A gas check or an EICR can find a fault. EICR repairs must be done within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if the report says so, and an unsafe gas appliance cannot be used until it is fixed. An EPC creates no repair deadline, but you need it before you market the property; our certificates guide sets out the full order before a tenancy, including alarms on day one. On a booking, three points matter.

1. Gas check and EICR as early as possible. A gas check done in the two months before the due date keeps the original anniversary (reg 36A). So there is no penalty for booking early within that window.
2. On a shared gas and EICR visit, the gas check usually comes before the EICR's dead testing. Most boilers need electricity to fire, and the electrician needs circuits off for parts of the test. This is our practice when we book both, not a legal rule.
3. Repairs next, decorating last. Fix what the reports find before anyone paints.

In a void, this order saves days. The full sequence from keys back to move-in is in our void property checklist.

What shapes the price of each check?

Each check is priced by what takes time at the property, not by postcode. We confirm a fixed price before we attend, so the number you agree is the number you pay for the certificate.

• EICR: the number of circuits, which tracks the size of the property, plus the age of the installation and whether there are outbuildings or a second consumer unit. Our guide to what changes the price of an EICR goes through each factor.
• Gas safety check: the number of gas appliances you provide. A boiler, a hob and a gas fire is three appliances on the record. See what changes the price of a gas safety certificate.
• EPC: floor area and property type, and whether the loft and boiler can be reached.
• PAT testing: the number of appliances you supply.
• Legionella assessment: how complex the water system is. A flat on a combi boiler is simpler than a house with a cylinder and a cold tank.

The certificate price does not include repairs. If a report finds work, we quote it separately against the specific findings, and you are free to use someone else.

How do you know the engineer is qualified?

Check the gas engineer's licence number on the Gas Safe Register, ask the electrician which competent person scheme they belong to, and look the EPC assessor up by name on GOV.UK, before the visit. Our guide to checking an engineer, electrician or EPC assessor is registered shows where to look and what to match.

What paperwork do you get, and who needs a copy?

Your tenant must get the gas safety record and the EICR within 28 days of the check, or before moving in if new. Anyone renting must be shown the EPC, and the council can ask for the EICR, which you must send within 7 days.

Who must receive each document, and by when (England, checked October 2026)

Our list of documents landlords must give tenants covers the full move-in pack, including the written statement and deposit information.

A gas safety record is often still called a CP12. Our guide to what a CP12 must show lists every item the record must contain, so you can spot a weak one.

Does your council need to see the certificates?

Only if the property is licensed or the council asks. Any council can ask for the EICR, which you must send within 7 days, and every licence, HMO or selective, requires you to produce the gas safety certificate each year where gas is supplied and to give a safety declaration for the electrics, supplied appliances and alarms on demand (Housing Act 2004, Sch 4). Kenton Road and Edgware both sit on borough boundaries, so check which council covers your street first; our guide to licensing in Harrow, Brent and Barnet has the ward detail. In Harrow, the previous additional HMO licensing scheme ended on 5 August 2026, and the council has approved a new one for three or four sharers, starting on 6 January 2027.

What happens if a check fails?

A failed check is a list of work with a deadline, and you choose who does the work.

• Gas: under the gas industry's unsafe situations procedure, an appliance classed as "immediately dangerous" is disconnected with your permission. The record still issues on the day, with the defect noted. Our guide to "immediately dangerous" and "at risk" appliances explains what happens if you refuse.
• EICR: a C1 or C2 code makes the report unsatisfactory. Under BS 7671 Amendment 4, an FI code on its own no longer makes the overall result unsatisfactory; if the report says further investigation is required, the 2020 regulations still give you 28 days. Remedial work is due within 28 days of the inspection, or sooner if the report says so, followed by written confirmation; our guide to EICR remedial paperwork covers both deadlines. A C3 is a recommendation and does not fail the report. We make a C1 safe on the day and tell you what that involves first.
• EPC: an F or G rating means you cannot let the property without a registered exemption. The current legal minimum is E.

Because we do the certificates and the trades, the repair can often follow on the same visit or the next. Our guide to what happens after a failed safety check follows each case through to the paperwork.

In this guide series

These five guides go deeper on each stage of a booking.

• How to prepare a rented property for an EICR
• Tenant won't allow access for a safety check
• EICR cost: what changes the price
• CP12 explained: what a gas safety record must show
• How to check an engineer, electrician or assessor is registered

We work across Harrow, Kenton, Stanmore and Edgware from our office at 6 Station Parade, Kenton Lane.