Confusion over who pays for — and arranges — the commercial gas safety certificate is one of the most common questions we get from London business owners. The short answer: under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR), responsibility follows control of the gas installation, not who owns the building.
This guide walks through how the law applies to commercial leases, who normally pays in practice, and gives you a one-page checklist so nothing falls through the cracks at your next inspection.
The short answer
- Landlord is responsible for the fixed gas installation they retain control of — the meter, incoming supply, fixed pipework up to the appliance isolation valve, and any communal plant (boilers, risers, plant-room equipment) serving multiple tenants.
- Tenant (business occupier) is responsible for gas appliances they install, own or operate inside their demise — commercial cookers, ovens, fryers, water heaters, warm-air units installed for their use — and for keeping them safe in use.
- Whoever has control of the appliance or pipework has the duty under Regulation 35 of GSIUR to make sure it is maintained and inspected by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
In most commercial leases the lease itself splits this out — but the lease cannot override the Regulations. If the lease is silent or ambiguous, the duty still falls on the party in actual control.
What the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 actually say
GSIUR is the primary law. The parts that matter for commercial premises:
- Regulation 35 — a duty on every employer or self-employed person to ensure any gas appliance, installation pipework or flue installed at a place of work under their control is maintained in a safe condition.
- Regulation 36 — the well-known landlord duty for domestic tenancies (annual CP12). It does not apply to most commercial lettings, which is why people get confused — but Regulation 35 still bites.
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 — the employer (usually the tenant business) has a general duty to provide a safe workplace, which includes safe gas appliances.
- Gas Safe Register — only engineers on the Gas Safe Register can legally work on, test or certify commercial gas installations. The relevant scopes for certificates are COMCAT (catering) and CODNCO1 / CONGLP1 (commercial heating).
Landlord responsibilities on a commercial property
The landlord is normally responsible for:
- The gas meter, emergency control valve and incoming supply up to the point of demise.
- Communal pipework and risers serving multiple tenants.
- Plant-room boilers, warm-air heaters and central plant they retain (typically certified with a CP15 commissioning record and ongoing CP16 pipework checks where pipework is altered).
- Proving the fixed installation is sound before letting — usually evidenced by a gas tightness test and, where appliances are included, a CP17 installation certificate for each one.
Most commercial landlords also commission an annual safety inspection of the parts of the installation they control, and pass a copy to the tenant. The certificate the landlord usually holds is a CP12 (non-domestic) or a project-specific CP15/CP16, depending on what's installed.
Tenant (business occupier) responsibilities
If you run a restaurant, takeaway, café, pub, hotel kitchen, laundrette, dry cleaner, warehouse with gas warm-air heaters or any commercial unit with its own gas appliances, you are almost certainly the duty holder under Regulation 35 for those appliances.
You must:
- Have every commercial catering appliance inspected at least annually and certificated on a CP42 Commercial Catering Gas Safety Certificate.
- Have any new gas appliance you install certificated on a CP17 Installation Certificate before use.
- Have any new or altered pipework inside your demise tested on a CP16 Pipework Testing & Purging certificate.
- Keep records for at least 2 years, but in practice keep them for the duration of the tenancy plus 6 years for insurance purposes.
- Produce the certificate on demand for your EHO inspection, insurer, lender, franchisor and licensing authority.
Failure here is the most common reason commercial premises fail an Environmental Health visit.
When the lease is silent — who actually has to act?
If the lease does not mention gas safety (it happens more often than you would think on older FRI leases and short-term licences), the law decides:
- Whoever installed the appliance is responsible for its safe commissioning (CP17).
- Whoever uses or operates the appliance day-to-day is responsible for its ongoing safety (CP42 / CP12 non-dom).
- Whoever retains the meter and incoming supply is responsible for the fixed installation up to the point of demise.
In a typical restaurant on a 15-year lease, that means the tenant is responsible for the kitchen line, all cooking appliances and the CP42; the landlord is responsible for the meter, riser and any plant serving the wider building. Get this written into the lease at renewal — it removes ambiguity and protects both sides.
Who pays in practice
The legal duty and the bill are not always the same thing. Common arrangements we see in London:
- Restaurant on FRI lease — tenant pays for CP42, landlord pays for incoming supply checks and any plant.
- Multi-let office or retail parade — landlord pays for communal plant and meter, recharged via the service charge; each tenant pays for their own appliances.
- Serviced kitchen / dark kitchen — operator (tenant) almost always pays for CP42 and CP17; landlord pays for the base fit-out CP15/CP16.
- Pop-up, market stall, mobile catering trailer — operator pays for their own CP44 Mobile Catering & LPG certificate.
If the lease tries to push the legal duty onto someone who is not actually in control — for example, making the tenant responsible for the landlord's meter — that clause is generally unenforceable against GSIUR. The duty stays with the person in control.
Commercial leaseholder checklist
Before signing or renewing a commercial lease, run through this:
- Lease clause — clear paragraph identifying who is responsible for which appliances, pipework and the meter.
- Existing certificates — landlord provides CP12 (non-dom) or CP15/CP16/CP17 for the parts they control, dated within the last 12 months.
- Appliance schedule — written list of every gas appliance in the demise, with make/model/kW rating.
- Gas tightness test carried out and recorded at handover.
- Emergency Control Valve location identified and accessible.
- Ventilation and interlock signed off for any catering kitchen.
- Your own CP42 (or CP12 non-dom / CP17) booked in for the appliances you will operate, before you trade.
- Annual reminder set — gas certificates are valid for 12 months.
- Insurance updated with copies of certificates.
- EHO ready — keep the certificate on-site at all times.
If any of those are missing on a property you already occupy, sort it now — not after the inspection.
What happens if no one has done it
Operating commercial gas appliances without a valid certificate is a criminal offence under GSIUR and HSWA 1974. Consequences:
- Improvement or Prohibition Notice from the HSE — the prohibition notice closes you immediately.
- EHO closure of a catering kitchen pending inspection.
- Insurance void in the event of a gas-related claim.
- Fines ranging from £5,000 in a magistrates' court to unlimited in the Crown Court, plus personal liability for directors.
- Lease breach — the landlord can usually forfeit the lease.
Getting a certificate is faster and cheaper than any of these. Our commercial gas safety certificates are usually issued same day, including evenings and weekends.
Need a commercial gas safety certificate sorted today?
Whether you are a landlord covering the fixed installation or a business operator certificating your appliances, our Gas Safe registered commercial engineers issue CP42, CP17, CP16, CP15 and CP12 non-domestic certificates same day across London and the Home Counties — 7 days a week.