Cookers and hobs
Gas cookers and hobs: who can fit, move or check them
Cookers are the gas appliance people most often try to deal with themselves, usually when moving house or replacing a kitchen. HSE draws a clear line between what you can do and what's gas work for a registered engineer.
Short answer
Fitting, replacing or reconnecting a gas cooker or hob is gas work for a Gas Safe registered engineer qualified for cookers. You can move a free-standing cooker on a flexible bayonet fitting temporarily to clean behind it. If a landlord provides the cooker, it's covered by the annual gas safety check.
Where the line is
What counts as gas work
HSE's answer to the question of whether you need a registered engineer to move a bayonet-fitted cooker is precise. Free-standing cookers connected by a flexible connector, a bayonet fitting, aren't considered "readily movable", but they can be moved temporarily, for example to clean the space they normally occupy. That activity isn't regarded as work under the regulations.
Anything else, installing, reinstalling, connecting a new cooker or hob, or disconnecting one, is gas work and must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Built-in hobs and ovens connected by rigid pipework aren't something to move yourself at all.
The engineer's registration should include cookers. That's one of the categories on the back of the ID card, and it's worth checking: an engineer registered for boilers alone isn't qualified for cookers.
Moving house
Cookers when you move
Moving day is when cookers get disconnected and reconnected in a hurry. If you're taking a gas cooker with you, or the seller is leaving one behind, have it disconnected and capped safely by a registered engineer, and reconnected at the new home by one. Don't leave an open gas pipe where a cooker was.
If a cooker is left in a home you've bought, it's yours to keep safe. If it's left in a rented home and the landlord decides to keep it, HSE says it must be included in the annual checks and maintenance; otherwise it should be removed or checked before use.
Quick guide
Cooker jobs and who does them
| Job | Who |
|---|---|
| Pull out a bayonet-fitted cooker to clean behind | You, temporarily |
| Fit a new gas cooker or hob | Gas Safe engineer qualified for cookers |
| Disconnect a cooker when moving | Gas Safe engineer; the pipe should be capped |
| Convert a cooker between natural gas and LPG | Gas Safe engineer qualified for that work |
| Annual check of a landlord's cooker | Gas Safe engineer, as part of the gas safety check |
Rented homes
Landlords, tenants and cookers
Any gas appliance a landlord owns and provides for the tenant's use is part of the landlord's legal duties, including the annual gas safety check. A cooker the tenant has brought themselves isn't the landlord's appliance, though the landlord remains responsible for the pipework. If the landlord sells an appliance to the tenant, the tenant becomes responsible for its annual check and maintenance.
The 2022 carbon monoxide alarm rules specifically exclude gas cookers, so a kitchen with only a gas cooker doesn't need an alarm under those rules. A kitchen with a gas boiler does, because a boiler is a fixed combustion appliance.
Signs of trouble
When to stop using a cooker
- A smell of gas: turn it off, open windows and call 0800 111 999.
- Flames that are lazy, yellow or orange instead of crisp and blue.
- Soot or scorching around the burners or oven.
- Burners that won't light, or go out by themselves.
- A damaged or kinked flexible hose behind a free-standing cooker.
HSE says it's illegal for anyone to use a gas appliance they suspect is unsafe. Book a registered engineer qualified for cookers.
Kitchen refits
Planning gas work into a new kitchen
If you're replacing a kitchen, plan the gas work early. The fitter may disconnect the old cooker; a registered engineer should then cap the supply safely and connect the new hob or cooker at the end. Ask whether your kitchen fitter uses a registered engineer for the gas, and check that engineer's registration covers cookers. It's part of the cost of the kitchen, not an extra to squeeze.
Switching
Gas to electric or induction
Some households replace a gas cooker or hob with an electric or induction one. The gas supply to the old appliance must still be disconnected and capped safely by a Gas Safe registered engineer. If the cooker was your home's only gas appliance, ask your supplier about the gas meter and standing charge, since you'll no longer be using gas there.
Checking the engineer
Two checks before cooker work
First, ask for the engineer's ID card and check that the back shows cookers among the categories of work. Second, look the engineer up on the Gas Safe Register's website to confirm the registration is current and matches the card. HSE advises checking that the engineer is competent in the specific area of gas work you need. See checking a Gas Safe engineer and questions to ask.
Freestanding cookers are also something people sometimes buy second-hand. If you do, have it checked and connected by a registered engineer, and ask whether it's suitable for your gas supply, because natural gas and LPG appliances aren't interchangeable without conversion.
Cooker questions
Do I need a Gas Safe engineer to fit a gas cooker?
Yes. Installing or reinstalling a gas cooker is gas work and must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer qualified for cookers.
Can I pull my cooker out to clean behind it?
HSE says a free-standing cooker on a flexible bayonet fitting can be moved temporarily, for example to clean the space it occupies. That isn’t regarded as gas work.
Does a landlord’s check cover the cooker?
If the landlord provides it, yes: the annual check covers all gas appliances the landlord provides, permanent or portable.
Do I need a CO alarm in the kitchen for a gas cooker?
Under the 2022 rules for rented homes in England, gas cookers are excluded from the carbon monoxide alarm requirement. Other fixed combustion appliances, such as a boiler in the same room, do count.
Sources used on this page
- Domestic gas: frequently asked questions · HSE (3 November 2026)
- Gas Safe Register and the engineer ID card · HSE (3 November 2026)
- Gas safety checks: what needs them · HSE (3 November 2026)
- Gas safety checks: who needs them · HSE (3 November 2026)
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm regulations: Q&A for the private rented sector · GOV.UK (3 November 2026)
A question about gas work in your home?
Tell us what you're trying to sort out. Your message reaches SEO-DONS LTD, the publisher of this guide, and we answer by email. We don't do gas work or recommend engineers, but we can tell you what to check and where. If you smell gas, don't write to us: call 0800 111 999 now.
What happens next
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