As a property manager, do you know what you should be looking for in a gas engineer?
Whether you’re letting out a few homes for friends and family, or running an agency with hundreds of properties on your books, it’s important to know you’re choosing a heating engineer to cover all your bases.
It goes without saying, you’re going to need to choose a company you can rely on for advice, regular safety checks and help when there’s an emergency – but what else? Quite a bit, actually.
Below, I’ve included 7 things to look out for in your next gas engineer, as well as how you can have someone to take care of all of the important bits above, so you don’t have to stress.
1. Gas safe registered
This is always the first thing you should look for when finding a new gas engineer for the job, as it’s your responsibility to check anyone who carries out work for you is Gas Safe registered with up-to-date certificates and qualifications.
A lot of letting agents will ask for a scanned copy of certificates, along with public liability insurance, and I’d always recommend asking for these to be emailed annually upon renewal. It’s also good practice to request to see your chosen engineer’s ID card before they carry out any work.
2. Able to provide CP12 digital certificates
You’ll need your chosen gas engineer to be able to carry out annual gas safety inspections along with your annual service, and they should also be able to issue you with a CP12 certificate to prove the work has been carried out and the appliances safe for use.
Until recently, the engineer had to fill out a CP12 certificate in the form of three copies paper copies, and copies were issued to the landlord, tenant and heating company (for their records). These needed to be stored for a minimum of two years, and available for inspection.
The good news is that now your CP12 can now easily be filled out on a handheld tablet, with the tenant able to sign for them before having them stored in the cloud, meaning they are easily accessed any time, and copies can be forwarded to relevant estate agents or tenants.
3. Can carry out PAT testing
It can be a lot more cost-effective to get a company to carry out PAT (portable appliance testing) checks at the same time as your boiler’s annual service and safety check/CP12 certificate. It also cuts down on time and is more convenient when arranging access to the property, as they only need to be in and out once.
It’s usually the landlord or property manager’s responsibility to ensure these checks are carried out every five years at a MINIMUM, but many letting agents will refuse to take on properties unless these checks are carried out annually.
4. Able to offer bulk discounts
Just like anything in life, if we buy more of something or are a regular customer, we expect a discount or preferential treatment. So, whether you have 10 or 100 properties with gas appliances that all need serviced, you would expect a discount of between 10 – 25%.
Most heating and servicing companies will be eager to offer this if it means they can secure your business, so if you think you’re getting a raw deal, try looking elsewhere.
5. Easy to contact
Communication is absolutely vital if you’re relying on just one gas or heating engineer to cover your properties, so you need to know they’ll be just a phonecall away to give you the relevant help or advice you need.
There’s nothing worse when you’re stressed and trying to make deadlines, and you just can’t get hold of the service company for certificates or even just to confirm the jobs have been completed. These days, everyone wants immediate attention, and no-one enjoys sitting in queues or dealing with automated systems.
6. Always gives fixed price quotes
Just like discounts, you’ll also want to know the price of work before it’s carried out – with no hidden surprises to deal with later on. That’s why getting a detailed, fixed price quotation BEFORE the job starts is absolutely vital, and you should be able to see the cost of everything laid out in front of you.
7. Fully qualified for the job
It’s very important to ask about an engineer’s qualifications before hiring them for the job, as you need to check they’ll be qualified for the type of work you need. For instance, some engineers may qualified for boilers, fires and PAT testing, however the property may have an unvented cylinder which also needs serviced.
Also, if your property is out the town, there may not be mains gas, which again requires a separate qualification – one that confirms the engineer is qualified to work on LPG, or liquid gas. You can check the appliances and types of gas an engineer is qualified to work on by asking to see their ID card.
Here’s an example; we were once called to a large property that was let out as bed-sits, and we were under the impression that it contained only domestic appliances. The boiler and fires were all fine, however in the kitchen there was ere was An industrial catering-style cooker, (the type used in hotel kitchens) and as domestic engineers we were not qualified to work on it.
Build up a relationship
It’s important for any property manager to have at least one or two reliable heating engineers on their books that they can turn to in an emergency, so the best advice I can give you is to build up a good relationship with these companies.
This is mutually beneficial, as the engineer will also appreciate the extra work and should give you preferential treatment when you need work carried out. They should also be happy to remind you when your appliances require servicing (although you should always keep those dates in your calendar, just in case).
Conclusion
By now, you should have a better idea of what to look for in your next gas engineer, and a company that checks off everything in this list is definitely well worth staying in touch with. Building up a good relationship can very beneficial for both of you, and means you won’t have to stress if any problems arise.
What’s most important for you when finding a reliable heating engineer? Let me know in the comments.
