The biggest challenge still facing social landlords when it comes to gas safety is ‘no access’.

Research commissioned by Gas Tag, shows the top three issues facing housing associations when it comes to gas safety are:

1. No access
2. The admin burden of compliance
3. Contractors operating separate systems.

The survey by CIL Management Consultants, which spoke to 162 people from housing associations, local authorities and gas industry experts across the UK, showed that challenges around gas safety compliance are also likely to be felt more by the larger associations.

89% of those surveyed said no access is their biggest challenge. This is compounded by the significant admin costs that come with managing no access as well as checking gas certificates are accurate and up to date for all properties.

A participant in the survey said: “We have a breaking and entering policy but there is a lot of work that goes on before that. We have to make sure all of the paperwork is correct and in order before we get to that point.”

The final challenge is that contractors and landlords may operate different systems to track compliance. This means a delay in information flows and landlords lacking visibility of work carried out.

35% of those surveyed are using paper based records, while 14% are in the process of switching to electronic. Over half of the associations that we spoke to have switched to an electronic solution. RPs consider the greatest benefits to using an electronic solution are centralised records, a clear audit trail and verification of the engineer’s work.

The current environment has renewed the already high focus on gas safety compliance. When asked if the importance of gas safety in social housing will increase over the next three years, 70% agreed there will be an increase over the coming years.

Stephen Ullathorne, co-founder and CEO of Gas Tag said: “Gas safety is always front of mind for landlords. Our research shows that access is still the greatest challenge. That’s why we are working closely with our colleagues in the sector to address this issue which will help save lives as well as reduce the financial burden on the sector.”

Key Questions to Ask:

To help address potential issues with gas safety compliance, landlords should:

1. Validate all engineers’ qualifications on an ongoing basis. Ask for photographic proof of all work carried out within each home.
2. Choose a centralised digital solution which gives you visible access in real-time so that you can check gas certificates as they come in.
3. Make sure that you can produce automatic reports in real-time.
4. Electronic gas certificates eliminate problems with paper records.

These steps provide a clear audit trail for landlords and a work history for engineers to trouble shoot if anything were to go wrong.

Contact us today to see how we can help address your ‘no access’ issues T: 0330 229 0277 or E: neil.thompson@gastag.co.uk