Gas Saftey Mutal Exchanges

[Nolan DoveParticipant]

I am looking into how other housing associations carry out there gas checks for mutal exchanges as this seems to be a very grey area .

[Trevor BattModerator]

Nolan

This is one the areas that we at CORGI find organizations are exposed to the greatest risk due to lack of safety checks within the mutual exchange process.

I always view a mutual exchange as two voids that occur at the same time and advise that the gas work carried out at mutual exchange should be the same that is carried out at a void to ensure the safety of the tenants.

[Nolan DoveParticipant]

Hi Trevor

Thanks for your response researching this is a real grey area and have not been able to find any legislation on this . So am I right in saying we either need to isolate when the tenants move out and reinstate as new tenant moves in . Or be there the same time they are swaping this is normally over the weekend which does cause problems at the moment .We are doing a safety check just before the tenant moves out so we need to look at doing this different then

[Trevor BattModerator]

Nolan

There is no specific gas legislation that covers mutual exchanges however it is covered by Section 3 of the Health & Safety at Work Act.

In my opinion doing a safety check “just before” the tenant moves out leaves you at risk if you are not capping the gas supply, what if the tenant moves out and takes their cooker with them and leaves an open ended gas pipe in the property?

Yes I would suggest you need to look at it differently.

[Nolan DoveParticipant]

tHANKS FOR THAT TREVOR

[Trevor PercyParticipant]

Dear Nolan,
I’m also looking at reviewing the Mutual Exchange and Void process.
How did your procedure progress, is this something you could share?

My current thoughts are the same process for Mutual Exchange and Voids with a 2 stage procedure:

Stage 1 – Contractor gains access to the void premises, completes an inspection of all installed fittings/appliances (completing any remedial action as necessary), disconnects and caps the gas meter and issues a Landlord Gas Safety Record (LGSR) certificate.

Stage 2 – Contractor re-visits the property following a new tenant taking up residency, uncaps and re-connects the gas meter and completes the relevant safety checks/inspections and issues an LGSR certificate.

(An added bonus to this procedure is that any defective or obsolete appliances, such as boilers etc. can be identified and replaced thereby minimising disruption to the new resident).
  
The same potential risk exists with a mutual exchange property therefore, timescales allowing, the same procedure will be followed in order to minimise the potential risk.

If anyone could share best practice it would be appreciated.

[Nolan DoveParticipant]

Hi Trevor

I am still working on it but the way I am trying to arrange it so we visit first thing in the morning and reinstate in the afternoon once the tenant’s have swapped so then we are working correctly.I am now trying to get it trough are housing mangment department

Ill let you know once we have it in place .

Thanks NOLAN

[Trevor PercyParticipant]

Hi Nolan,
Thanks for the update, really appreciated.
Regards, Trevor

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