Add a certificate and give the tenant a copy

Each property keeps its certificates and their dates under Certificates and alarms on its page.

1. Open the property from Properties, then open Certificates and alarms.
2. Tap Add Certificate.
3. Choose the Type, such as Gas safety, EICR (electrical) or EPC.
4. Enter Issued or checked on, and Next due or expires on as printed. A gas safety record, EICR or EPC needs its next date.
5. For an EICR, choose the Overall assessment.
6. To keep the certificate itself, tap Take Photo or Choose File.
7. Tap Add Certificate.

The row shows the dates in words, such as Next check due by for a gas safety record. For a gas safety record or EICR, the app keeps the law’s date where it’s earlier than the one typed, and says so. To change the dates, tap the More button on the certificate’s row, then Edit Dates, and tap Save Dates.

Give your tenant a copy

1. On the certificate’s row, tap Give a Copy to the Tenant: it is on the row while no copy is recorded for your tenant and nothing else needs doing first, and under the row’s More button otherwise. Serve a document opens with the certificate chosen.
2. If the app holds no file for it, tap Choose PDF or Photo.
3. Follow the steps. For each tenant, the app says whether it counts the email as serving it, or as a courtesy copy.
4. Tap Serve by Email, or Send Copy by Email for a courtesy copy.

The app counts an email as serving it only where the tenant has agreed to documents by email, or the written tenancy agreement names email. Otherwise it sends a courtesy copy, and the document still has to be given on paper. A tenant without an email address gets it on paper, recorded with Record Service.

For a copy you handed over or posted yourself, tap the More button on the certificate’s row and choose Record Date Given instead. Nothing is sent.

What the law says about the copies

• A copy of the gas safety record goes to each existing tenant within 28 days of the check, and to a new tenant before they move in.
• A copy of the EICR goes to each existing tenant within 28 days of the inspection, and to a new tenant before they move in.
• The person who becomes the tenant must have been given a valid EPC, and a copy is enough.

Find your EPC

Open the property from Properties, then Certificates and alarms, and tap Find Your EPC on GOV.UK. Search by the property’s postcode, then tap Add Certificate and choose EPC. Add its energy rating and certificate number if you like: with the number, the certificate’s row has View on GOV.UK. An EPC read from a document you upload fills both in for you to check. The app fetches nothing.

Try it in the sample account