Makes we repair
What is the certificate, and who issues it?
A boiler installation certificate is the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate. It comes by post once a new boiler's Gas Safe registered installer has notified it to the council's building control, through Gas Safe Register. Gas Safe Register calls it a gas installation certificate, commonly referred to as a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate. It confirms that a new boiler was installed correctly and safely.
Why every new boiler gets one
The council must be told when a boiler is installed in England and Wales, as for any heat-producing gas appliance. Then a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate can be issued. A new boiler needs Building Regulations approval. A new or replacement boiler is work to tell building control about, unless the installer can self-certify it.
Who sends it, and when
A Gas Safe registered business notifies the boiler through Gas Safe Register, which tells the local authority. The certificate then comes by post in 10 to 15 working days. The law gives the installer up to 30 days after finishing the work. In that time, they notify building control and give the occupier a copy of the certificate.
What it shows
The certificate is evidence, though not conclusive evidence, that the work met the requirements it names. It records the installation when it was notified, not the boiler's condition today.
Keep it with the home's papers
The certificate belongs with the home. Keep it safe, as it is useful when selling or remortgaging. A new boiler's documents are worth keeping safe too. It is also up to the homeowner to see that the engineer notifies the installation.
When the council certifies the work instead
A Building Control Completion Certificate comes from the council instead where the installer can't self-certify the work. Notice goes to the council before the work starts, with a fee, and the council issues the completion certificate. Gas work itself is for Gas Safe registered engineers, by law.
Having a new boiler fitted? Ring us for a quote. The survey visit is free. New boilers, and the paperwork that comes with them.
Sources: Gas Safe Register, the Planning Portal, GOV.UK, the Building Regulations 2010, regulation 20, and the Energy Saving Trust.
What is the Benchmark checklist, and why does it matter?
The Benchmark checklist is a new boiler's commissioning record. It's a checklist on the inside back pages of its installation instructions, or in the Benchmark app or online platform.
- The heating engineer fills it in, in full, when the boiler is fitted.
- You sign it to confirm the system's working has been explained to you.
- The engineer fills in its service record after each service.
The Building Regulations
Filling in the Benchmark checklist is a way of meeting the commissioning requirements in Part L of the Building Regulations.
The maker's guarantee
Two makers' guarantee terms show why the checklist matters.
- Glow-worm's say the installer must complete the Benchmark logbook when the boiler is fitted. It stays on site for inspection, with each service recorded in it.
- Ideal's say the installer completes the Benchmark sheet and leaves it with the boiler.
Without proof of purchase, an invoice or a completed Benchmark record, both makers count the guarantee from the boiler's date of manufacture. That date is on its data plate, and it isn't the day it was fitted.
Registering the guarantee
Glow-worm and Ideal ask for the guarantee to be registered within 30 days of installation. The appliance's owner completes the warranty registration. The engineer should hand over the completed commissioning documents, such as the Benchmark certificate.
A yearly service keeps the record going. The engineer fills in the checklist's service record each time. What a yearly boiler service includes.
Sources: the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council, Glow-worm's and Ideal's guarantee terms, and Gas Safe Register.
What if you can't find the certificate?
A missing certificate is traced through Gas Safe Register's website. It shows whether the boiler was notified, and takes orders for a duplicate where its records reach back far enough. The steps below are Gas Safe Register's and GOV.UK's, in order.
1. See whether the boiler was notified
Gas Safe Register's website shows whether a boiler was notified, from the house name or number and the postcode. Gas Safe Register's page on the Building Regulations certificate.
2. Order a duplicate
A duplicate certificate is ordered online from Gas Safe Register, and there is a charge. The duplicate is emailed and posted to the installation address, one certificate at a time. Certificates from before a cut-off date can't be provided, under Gas Safe Register's data retention policy. On 12 October 2026, when this page was written, that date was 12 October 2011. For work notified before 1 April 2009, Gas Safe Register's boiler guide points to CORGI Services. Ordering a replacement certificate from Gas Safe Register.
3. If the address doesn't come up
An address that doesn't come up means asking the Gas Safe registered business that did the work whether it notified the boiler. If it hasn't within 30 days of the work, ask it to as soon as possible. If no certificate arrives within 30 days of the work, contact the scheme the installer belongs to.
4. If that doesn't settle it
Gas Safe Register names three places to turn if the business can't put it right:
- Gas Safe Register itself
- the council's Local Authority Building Control department
- the Citizens Advice Consumer Service
Can you sell or buy a home without the certificate?
No law makes a seller hand over the certificate, though it is good practice to. But the boiler had to be notified when it was fitted, and buyers' solicitors ask for the paperwork.
Why it matters on a sale
A certificate from a registered installer can be used as evidence of compliance, and shows up in solicitors' searches when you come to sell. The Law Society's notes on the TA6 property information form ask sellers to give their solicitor three things:
- details of the heating installation
- its supporting documents
- the latest inspection report
A gas boiler fitted on or after 1 April 2005 will have needed a Building Control Completion Certificate, or an installer's Building Regulations Compliance Certificate.
Selling, with the certificate lost
A seller who can't find the certificate can see whether the boiler was notified, and order a duplicate where Gas Safe Register's records allow. The steps for a missing certificate.
If the boiler was never notified
A boiler that was never notified goes back to its installer, Gas Safe Register advises, to notify it if they still can. If the business has closed, another company may come and notify it, at that company's discretion, given the first installer's details.
Buying a home
A buyer can ask the sellers for the certificate and any gas safety records. If they have none, or the last check was over 12 months ago, have a Gas Safe registered engineer check the gas before moving in. The certificate may be several years old, and doesn't show the boiler's condition now. The Law Society suggests buyers get specialist advice on the heating system's age, performance and efficiency. A gas safety check for a home you're moving into.
Moving into a home with a boiler you know nothing about? Ring us on 020 8064 0067 to book a gas safety check or a service. We'll ask its make and roughly how old it is.
Sources: Gas Safe Register, GOV.UK and the Law Society.
Is a gas safety record the same as the certificate?
A Gas Safety Record is a different document from the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate. The certificate records that a new boiler's installation was notified. A Gas Safety Record is what an engineer may leave after a gas safety check or a service. It records the checks on the gas appliances that day. The law requires one after a landlord's yearly gas safety check, and the landlord gives the tenants a copy.
The names overlap. Gas Safe Register's buying and selling page calls the compliance certificate a gas safety certificate. The Law Society, and this site, give that name to the landlord's record. Here, a gas safety certificate always means the landlord's record, and a boiler installation certificate the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate.
Selling a home needs no landlord's record, though a buyer who means to let the home will want a current one. Landlord gas safety certificates, and what the yearly check covers.
All our boiler and heating guides.
Sources: the Law Society and Gas Safe Register.
Do you cover my part of London?
Yes: we fit, service and repair boilers all over Greater London, in every borough north and south of the Thames. Pick your side of the river to see the areas.
North of the river
Every borough north of the Thames: Barnet and Enfield at the top, Hillingdon in the west, Havering in the east, and central London in between.
South of the river
Every borough south of the Thames: Richmond and Kingston in the west, Bexley in the east, and down through Croydon to Sutton and Bromley.
Questions about boiler paperwork
How long after the installation should it arrive?
The certificate comes by post once the boiler is notified. The installer has up to 30 days after finishing the work to notify it, and the certificate then arrives in 10 to 15 working days. If nothing has come about a month after the work, ask the installer whether the boiler was notified. Then look the address up on Gas Safe Register's website.
Does a replacement boiler need one too?
A replacement boiler needs one too. Fitting a new or replacement boiler is work building control must be told about. The rule covers the installation of any heat-producing gas appliance, so a boiler swap gets its own Building Regulations Compliance Certificate. Replacing a boiler, and the paperwork that comes with it.
Can a gas safety check stand in for it when I sell?
A gas safety check can't stand in for the certificate. The check records the gas appliances on the day. The certificate records that the boiler's installation was notified. A buyer may ask for both. Gas safety checks, and the record they give.
Who do I ask if the installer has stopped trading?
Gas Safe Register is the one to ask. Its website shows whether the boiler was notified, and orders a duplicate where its records allow. If the boiler was never notified, another Gas Safe registered business may notify it, at its discretion, given the first installer's details. For anything else, Gas Safe Register names itself, Local Authority Building Control and the Citizens Advice Consumer Service as the places to turn.
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