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Residential Property Specialist If you are selling your home, you will quickly discover that paperwork matters. One of the most detailed documents you must complete is the Law Society’s Property Information Form (TA6), which asks a wide range of questions about the property and its systems.
Among those questions are several relating to central heating and gas appliances. Buyers and their solicitors will want reassurance that the boiler has been installed safely and maintained properly. Having the right documents available can help avoid delays, additional enquiries and unnecessary concern during the conveyancing process.
In this article, I explain which boiler documents are typically requested when selling a property and what your options are if the paperwork has been lost.
Central heating information in the TA6 form
The TA6 Property Information Form requires sellers to provide details about the property’s heating system, including gas, electric or oil-fired central heating. The form forms an important part of the buyer’s understanding of the property and often prompts further enquiries from the buyer’s solicitor.
If your home has a gas boiler or other gas appliances, buyers will understandably want reassurance that they are safe and compliant with regulations. While not all documentation is legally required for a sale, providing it can significantly smooth the transaction.
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Boiler installation certificates explained
Since 1 April 2005, the installation or replacement of a gas boiler has been subject to Building Regulations in England and Wales. This means the work must either be inspected by Building Control or carried out by a suitably registered engineer who can self-certify the installation.
Most installations are carried out by engineers registered with the Gas Safe Register (previously CORGI before 2009). When the installation is completed, the engineer notifies the scheme provider, which in turn notifies the local authority.
Following this notification, a Building Regulations Compliance Certificate is issued to the homeowner. This document is often informally referred to as a boiler installation certificate. It confirms that the installation complied with Building Regulations at the time it was carried out.
In practice, a boiler installation should generate documentation confirming both the installation and the Building Regulations compliance. These records reassure buyers and their solicitors that the boiler was installed correctly and legally.
Boiler servicing and safety records
A boiler installation certificate confirms the appliance was compliant at the time it was installed. However, it does not confirm that the boiler remains safe or in good working order today.
For that reason, buyers typically request evidence that the boiler has been serviced regularly. Although there is no legal requirement for homeowners to service a boiler annually, doing so is widely recommended for both safety and efficiency.
A typical boiler service involves checking the appliance for faults, ensuring it operates safely and confirming that there are no gas leaks or ventilation issues. Many homeowners keep a service record in the boiler manual or a separate service booklet.
Providing these records during a sale can reassure buyers that the heating system has been properly maintained.
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Do you need a gas safety certificate to sell your house?
Homeowners often assume they must provide a gas safety certificate when selling a property. In fact, this is not usually a legal requirement.
Gas safety certificates (often called CP12 certificates) are mandatory only for landlords letting residential property. However, a buyer may still request a recent safety check for peace of mind, and providing one can sometimes help keep a transaction moving smoothly.
What if boiler documents are missing?
It is not unusual for homeowners to misplace boiler paperwork, particularly if the installation took place many years earlier.
If you have lost the Building Regulations Compliance Certificate for a boiler installed after April 2005, you can usually obtain a duplicate from the Gas Safe Register for a small fee. Certificates issued before 2009 may have been recorded by CORGI, which handled registrations before Gas Safe took over.
If no evidence of Building Regulations compliance exists, your conveyancing solicitor will usually discuss possible solutions with you. These may include obtaining a retrospective certificate or arranging an indemnity insurance policy to protect the buyer against potential enforcement action by the local authority.
Although these solutions can allow a transaction to proceed, they do not provide the same reassurance as the original certification.
Be open with your conveyancing solicitor
When selling your property, transparency is always the best approach. If you have documents relating to your boiler installation or servicing, provide them to your solicitor as early as possible.
You should also disclose any other gas appliances at the property and raise any concerns you may have about their safety or performance. Doing so simply pre-empts questions likely to be raised by your buyer’s solicitor, and raising them early in the process can prevent delays later on and help ensure that the transaction proceeds smoothly.