Gas, carbon monoxide
or other leaks
If you smell gas, or suspect a gas escape or carbon monoxide (CO) leak.
Do not touch light switches or other electrical switches.
Do not light any matches, lighters or smoke inside your home.
You should immediately:
- check if the pilot light on a cooker, gas heater or boiler has gone out
- extinguish all naked flames
- turn off the gas lever at the mains by pulling the lever down. (It will be next to your gas meter)
- open all doors and windows to let in plenty of fresh air
- get everyone out of the house – and stay out
- if you need to use your mobile phone, go outside
- call the National Gas Emergency Service’s 24-hour emergency helpline on Freephone 0800 111 999 to report the problem. They will send an engineer within the hour and make it safe but they will not carry out any repairs
- call Aaron Services on Freephone 0800 177 7003 to report the problem. They will send out their own engineer to sort the issue out
CO detectors
The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 legislation means that landlords must:
- Fit at least one smoke alarm to each storey of their homes where there is a room used as living accommodation. This has been a legal requirement in the private rented sector since 2015.
- Fit a CO alarm in any room used as living accommodation which contains a fixed combustion appliance (such as a boiler or log burner, but excluding gas cookers).
- Repair or replace smoke alarms and CO alarms once reported and found to be faulty.
We are currently installing CO detectors to relevant properties, as part of planned and responsive repair works. If you have any concerns or need to report a defective detector, please contact us on 0300 123 5544 and ask to speak to our Property Compliance team.
It is recommended that you test your CO alarm once a month. This is to ensure the alarm is working correctly.
Test the unit by pressing the Test/Reset button for at least five seconds. This tests the sensor, battery, electronics, and sounder. The sounder will stop sounding when the button is released.
In standby mode, the alarm does not sound, beep or chirp.
The alarm automatically monitors the battery, sensor and electronics regularly to ensure that all are satisfactory. If a fault is found, the alarm will emit short chirps from its sounder and the LED fault indicator will flash every 48 – 60 seconds. The alarm will also indicate any faults when the test button is pressed. Please contact our Customer Contact team to report the fault.
If the alarm sounds a short chirp, together with an LED flash every minute, it means the battery is at the end of its life. This low voltage warning will be given for seven days. Under normal operating conditions, the batteries will last 10 years.
Open the doors and windows to ventilate the area (see note below).
Turn off all heating/cooking appliances where possible and stop using them. The alarm can be silenced immediately by pushing the test/hush button. If the alarm still sounds, it is because the CO level is at too high a level.
Evacuate the property, leaving the doors and windows open.
Get medical help immediately for anyone suffering the effects of CO poisoning (headache, nausea), and advise that CO poisoning is suspected.
Call the National Gas Emergency Service on Freephone 0800 111 999. (You may want to keep this number in a prominent place.)
Do not re-enter the property until the alarm has stopped. (If the alarm has been silenced by pressing the test/hush button, wait at least five minutes so the alarm can check that the CO has cleared.)
Do not use the appliances again until they have been checked by a registered installer or equivalent expert.
The alarm will stop once the CO has cleared.
Note: When ventilation is provided by leaving the window and doors open, the CO build-up may have dispersed by the time help arrives. The alarm may also have stopped sounding. Although your problem may appear temporarily solved, it is crucial that the source of the CO is determined, and appropriate repairs made.
