These regulations are framed under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. This differentiates them from the above in that the a landlord letting his own home for a temporary absence would have to comply. It also makes it the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive to enforce (as opposed to the Trading Standards Officers for the Consumer Protection Act).

For serious cases, which can be Referred to the Crown Court, unlimited fines are available. Normally the maximum fine would £5,000.

The basic requirements are for all appliances to be checked annually, including the flues, by a CORGI registered engineer. A record of the checks, containing prescribed information, must be supplied to the tenant within 28 days of the check. New tenants are required to have a copy of inspection before they move in.

There have been a number of recent problems of which landlords should be aware. Firstly a heating engineer, claiming to be CORGI (the council for registered gas installers) registered, has been prosecuted for claiming this falsely. Landlords should check that engineers are registered and current in their certification. This could be done by asking to see the certificate and checking with CORGI ,. Also recent checks by CORGI have shown that up to a third of properties could have faults not noted in the current inspections. Make sure your engineer is diligent and competent.

In addition to the requirement for CORGI registered engineers also have to hold Approved Codes of Practice (ACOP) registration for the type of appliance being tested. Under these revised requirements engineers will have to pass specific test appropriate to the type of work they are undertaking. Below are the 16 areas under which an engineer can register.

Safety legislation and basic safety

Combustion and its control

Flues and ventilation

Pressure and flow

Domestic gas pipe work

Electricity and its control

Control system

Essential electric's

Wet central heating

Warm central heating

Cookers

Space heaters (fires)

Water heaters

Maintenance

LPG

Non domestic

All engineers will have to have parts 1-4 plus the other appropriate areas for the area they are working in. CORGI recommend to hold 1-14 since they may not know what appliances they will find until they get to the property.

Engineers first registered with CORGI on or after 1st October 1995 have had to under go these increased ACOP registration requirements immediately. All engineers should now have completed ACOP registration and their areas of competence should be noted on their ID cards.

An engineer's registration can be checked by phoning CORGI on 01256 372200. Further plans are underway to modify these again to separate the training and testing of engineers.

The landlord must carry out such tests annually at the landlord's expense prior to the rental of the property and on an annual basis thereafter. All appliances must have instruction books left at the property. Failure to comply with the Regulations can result in prosecution.