How Landlords Prove They Served Safety Certificates to the Tenant

The usual mess is this year’s CP12 — the Landlord Gas Safety Record — last year’s paper, and an engineer who “left a copy on the table”, with no dated line. A five-field log written when the copy goes out is the file. Attach the PDF. Then stop.

Thursday. Cora’s two terraces in York. The Gas Safe engineer emails the new record at 16:40 and says a paper copy is on the worktop. She forwards the PDF to herself “to send later”. Nineteen days later the sitting couple say they never got it. They share one inbox; the second named tenant was never addressed.

Holding the certificate is not serving it. In practice the duty has two limbs — obtain the document, then give it — and the second is what a council officer asks about. Typical mistake, and a risk: treating a worktop copy as the named tenant’s proof.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

What does the dated service line need?

Service is a dated event, not a file on your laptop. Write five fields when the copy goes out: document title plus issue or check date, named tenant, method, date and time, evidence. Reconstructing six months later is not the file.

Do write the line before you hit send. For example, Cora needed “CP12 12 Oak / named tenant / email / 16:52 / sent-item PDF”, not a memory of the visit.

Cite the clocks, then leave the how-tos next door. Gas: sitting tenant within 28 days of the check; new tenant before they occupy (HSE gas record; GSIUR reg 36). EICR: each existing tenant within 28 days of the test; new tenant before they occupy (GOV.UK electrical guidance, 1 Nov 2025). EPC: give a valid copy free to the person who becomes the tenant (EPB 2012 reg 6). Files: CP12, EICR, EPC.

Why is a portal link or register URL not the send?

A send means the document left you. Attach the CP12, the full EICR, or the lodged EPC PDF. A portal login is not sending the document. A GOV.UK register pointer is not giving a copy. A WhatsApp “it’s in the portal” is not the log.

Do attach a named file so the sent item shows it. Do not send only a link. Legal for lettings (24 September 2025): email means the document is sent; a portal upload plus a login link is not. TPOS: give a complete copy — not “look it up on the register”.

Check they can open a PDF. HSE dealing-with-tenants: electronic if they are happy and can access it; paper if they ask. Typical mistake: a page-one thumbnail in chat and calling the pack served.

How do you file the sent email or posting slip?

The sent email or a free Post Office certificate of posting — a slip that proves you posted, not that they received — sits in the same folder as the certificate. Save To, time and attachment name. That path is what the date sheet’s proof-of-send column stores.

Do drop the sent-item PDF next to the certificate. Do not leave proof in a mailbox. The certificate date calendar stores the path; this card is the log it points at. Write “not sent yet” until the email goes.

If the engineer left a copy at the property, that is not your proof. Tozers: the original often goes to the landlord; a paper on the worktop does not name who took it. Get a signed receipt, or send the PDF yourself and log that send. Cora had the 16:40 email and no To line. If you still need the engineer in, use the 24-hour access notice — not this log.

Who needs a line on a joint tenancy?

On a joint tenancy, each named person is a send. HSE and the electrical regulations say give a copy to each existing tenant. One email to the “lead tenant” is not service on everyone named. One line per named tenant.

Do address each name on the agreement. Do not treat a shared inbox as everyone. HSE’s landlord FAQ: a copy to each existing tenant within 28 days, and to any new tenant before they move in. The electrical regulations say the same. Cora’s couple shared one inbox; the second named person was never on a To line.

Bcc still needs a line per address. Prefer one send per named tenant. New tenant: log the before-occupation copy the same way — gas, EICR, and the EPC file, not a register link.

Should you wait for a reply before you send?

Send on the clock; a signature is a bonus, not a gate. Ask for a one-line reply or a signed move-in index. A mailbox read-receipt is not enough on its own. If they will not sign, still send and write “asked, no reply”.

Do ask: “Please reply that you have the attached CP12 / EICR / EPC dated [date].” Do not wait for a read-receipt. Sent is not opened; opened is not read; many clients never return a read-receipt. A “received, thanks” or a signed index is the receipt. No reply means you have send-proof, not receipt-proof.

The day-one index can live in the tenant welcome pack; this card is the safety lines. Hand delivery: same five fields at the door. A photo is extra. If they refuse the envelope, note the time, then email the PDF.

When is the service log finished?

This card is the service log, not a possession-notice product. Once the five-field line exists, the PDF went out attached, the sent item sits beside the certificate, each named tenant has a line, and you asked for a reply, you stop.

Do not rewrite the certificate how-tos or the date sheet. Workflow: Write the five fields → Attach the PDF → Send → File the sent item → One line per named tenant → Ask for a reply → Stop.

Success bar: the folder shows the certificate plus a sent item that names the tenant, method and time — one line per named person — and a reply or “asked, no reply”. Verify that checklist, then stop. An IziRento workspace can hold the log line and a path to the sent email.