Gas Safety Certificate Software for UK Gas Engineers

What is a CP12 and why does it matter?

A CP12 - commonly used to mean a Landlord Gas Safety Record (LGSR) - records the results of an annual gas safety check on a rental property. Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, landlords must arrange an annual gas safety check for the gas appliances and flues they provide for tenants. Installation pipework must also be maintained in a safe condition, although it is not part of the statutory annual check.

If you service landlord properties, you are likely issuing these records regularly. Getting them right, delivering them promptly, and keeping track of which properties are due for their next check is essential to both compliance and repeat business.

What the regulations require

Before looking at software, it is worth understanding what the Gas Safety Regulations actually require of the record itself. At a minimum, a Landlord Gas Safety Record must capture:

• A description and location of each appliance or flue checked
• The name, Gas Safe registration number, and signature of the engineer
• The date of the safety check
• The address of the property
• The name and address of the landlord or their agent
• Any defects identified and remedial action taken or required
• Confirmation of the checks carried out under Regulation 26(9)

The record must be given to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and to new tenants before they move in. Records must be kept for at least two years. Electronic delivery is permitted provided the tenant or landlord agrees to receive it that way and can access it, but a paper copy must still be provided when requested.

Gas Safe Register does not produce its own gas safety record form. Businesses can design their own record provided it captures the legally required information.

The problem with paper and generic PDF templates

Many gas engineers still issue gas safety records using paper forms, generic PDF templates, or standalone certificate apps that have no connection to the rest of their business. This creates practical problems:

• Double data entry - you type the customer name, address, and appliance details into the certificate separately from your job management system.
• No renewal tracking - paper certificates and generic PDFs do not track when a property is due for its next check. You have to manage renewal dates manually or in a spreadsheet.
• Difficult to retrieve - when a landlord calls asking for a copy of their gas safety record, you are searching through folders, emails, or camera rolls. The Regulations require you to keep records for at least two years.
• Manual delivery - without an integrated sharing method, you are downloading, emailing or posting each record individually. That slows down the 28-day delivery window.

How HiveSuite handles gas safety certificates

HiveSuite includes a compliance certificate builder with a pre-built CP12/LGSR Landlord Gas Safety Record template designed to capture the information required under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. Gas safety records are issued directly from jobs inside HivePlanner - the same place you manage scheduling, quoting, and invoicing.

The CP12 workflow in practice

1. Open the scheduled property visit - the job already exists in HivePlanner, either created manually or generated by a recurring schedule.
2. Job details carry across - the property address, record reference, your business name and the attending engineer's name are pre-filled from the job record. You add the landlord or agent details.
3. Record each appliance and the check results - the template includes repeating table sections so you add one row per appliance with its description, location, and test results.
4. The authorised engineer signs the record - a drawn signature field captures the engineer's signature directly on screen.
5. HiveSuite generates the PDF - a branded PDF is created with your business name, logo, and contact details.
6. The record is sent or published for the landlord and tenant - publish to the customer portal for digital access, or download and send by other means. A paper copy can still be printed and provided when requested.
7. The next check is scheduled - set the next-check-due date on the record. Pair with a recurring job so the next annual visit generates automatically.

Make the record compulsory before a job is completed

In HivePlanner Settings, you can set your gas safety job type to need the CP12 issued before a job can be completed, and choose whether a missing record blocks completion or only warns. Engineers see a "Before you complete" list in HiveCrew with a button to fill in the record, and administrators can override with a reason that is noted on the job. It means no landlord visit is closed without its record.

Customer portal - digital delivery for landlords and tenants

When you issue a gas safety record, you can publish it to the landlord's customer portal document library. The landlord logs in to their branded portal and finds their CP12 alongside invoices, quotes, and any other documents you have shared. For landlords managing multiple properties, they can access all their gas safety records in one place.

Electronic delivery of gas safety records is permitted where the recipient agrees to receive them that way and can access them. Where a tenant or landlord requests a paper copy, you can still print and provide one from the same PDF.

Recurring jobs and renewal tracking

Gas safety checks are annual - the same properties need inspecting every year. HiveSuite lets you set up recurring jobs that auto-generate on your chosen schedule. Pair them with recurring invoices so billing happens automatically too. When the job comes around, open it and issue the CP12 directly from it. The previous year's record is stored against the same customer and property, building up a complete compliance history and helping you meet the two-year record-retention requirement.

How to keep track of gas safety certificates as a one-person engineer

The best way for a sole trader to track gas safety certificates is to let the diary do it: book each landlord property as an annual recurring job and issue the CP12 from that job. In HiveSuite that gives you three things without a spreadsheet:

• Next year is already booked - the recurring job creates the next visit, so renewals do not rely on memory.
• Every record in one place - each CP12 is stored against the landlord's customer record with its check date and next-check-due date, ready to resend.
• Less typing - save your own copy of the CP12 template with your Gas Safe registration number as the default value, and it fills in on every record.

Be clear about the limits: HiveSuite does not yet have a separate renewals dashboard or send renewal emails to landlords on its own, and it does not check registrations against Gas Safe Register. An optional day-before SMS reminder (SMS credits apply) can go to the customer before each booked visit. If you also look after EPC dates for landlords, there is no ready-made EPC template, but you can build a simple record in Certificate Studio and book the renewal as a recurring job.

Custom gas certificate templates

The pre-built CP12/LGSR template covers the standard Landlord Gas Safety Record, but some businesses need additional documentation - commissioning certificates, boiler service records, or bespoke inspection forms for commercial gas work. The Document Builder lets you create custom certificate templates from scratch using a visual drag-and-drop editor. You can also describe what you need in plain English and HiveAssist, the built-in AI assistant, will generate the template for you.

Custom templates support all the same features as the built-in presets: text fields, date pickers, checkboxes, dropdowns, drawn signature capture, repeating table sections, conditional logic, branded PDF output, and customer portal publishing.

Beyond gas - 18 pre-built templates for UK trades

Gas safety certificates are just one of 18 pre-built templates included with HiveSuite. The full list covers electrical (EICR, Minor Works, PAT Testing), fire safety (BS 5839 fire alarm inspection, BS 5266 emergency lighting, fire extinguisher service, fire risk assessment), and specialist work (F-Gas, oil boiler servicing, legionella risk assessment, asbestos clearance). Templates are designed around common UK trade and compliance workflows and can be customised or used as-is. If you also carry out electrical inspections on rented homes, our guide to the EICR changes from October 2026 covers the new inspector competence rules and what landlords still need to do.

Frequently asked questions