How Letting Agents Can Stop Chasing Contractors for Certificates

If you manage a few hundred properties, you probably deal with several hundred gas safety records a year, plus EICRs, fire alarm servicing, legionella reviews and EPCs. The checks usually happen on time. The paperwork is what goes missing. The engineer finished at 10am but the certificate arrives three weeks later, if at all, and meanwhile a tenant's 28-day deadline is ticking.

Where the time goes

• Chasing. "Has anyone had the CP12 for Flat 3 yet?" Calls, emails, voicemails.
• Re-typing. Opening a PDF, typing the expiry date into a spreadsheet or CRM, saving it to the right folder.
• Paper you cannot read. A photo of a carbon copy, taken at an angle, in poor light.
• Missing pages. An EICR without its schedule of test results.
• Forwarding. Sending each certificate on to the tenant and landlord, and keeping proof you did.
• Renewal guesswork. Spreadsheets that are only as good as the last person who updated them.

None of this is skilled work, and all of it carries legal risk if it goes wrong.

A better workflow in five steps

1. Make same-day digital certificates a contractor requirement

Put it in your contractor terms: certificates must be issued digitally on the day of the visit. Most good engineers already work this way.

2. File certificates against the property, not the inbox

A certificate attached to an email is a filing job waiting to happen. Store each one against the property address and certificate type as soon as it arrives.

3. Track expiry dates in one place

You should be able to see at a glance what is due in the next 30, 60 and 90 days.

4. Check, do not just receive

A quick check catches altered or recycled certificates before they become your problem. How to check a certificate is genuine.

5. Start booking renewals around 60 days out

For gas, a check carried out in the two calendar months before the deadline keeps the existing expiry date, so there is no reason to leave it to the last fortnight. A check done any earlier resets the date.

How CertBox fits in

CertBox for letting agents is built on a simple idea: when your contractors issue certificates through CertBox, you receive them by secure link the moment they are done.

• No account needed to view. Agents and landlords open certificates straight from the link, free.
• Clear, consistent PDFs. No more photographed carbon copies.
• A QR code on every certificate. You can confirm it is genuine and unaltered in seconds.
• Organised by property. Landlords' accounts organise certificates by address, type and expiry date, with a weekly email of anything due in the next 60 days.
• More than gas. Electrical, fire, plumbing, legionella and many other certificate types, from one place.
• No cost to landlords. The contractor pays to send; landlords never pay CertBox.

Getting contractors on board

Contractors have their own reasons to use CertBox. Filling in certificates is free, it saves them paperwork, and on Pro their customers get automatic renewal reminders that bring repeat work back to them.

A quick self-audit

Pick ten properties at random and time how long it takes to answer these for each:

1. When does the current gas safety record expire?
2. When was the last EICR, and was it satisfactory?
3. If it was not, where is the evidence that remedial work was done?
4. When did the tenant receive each document?

If any answer takes longer than a minute per property, the process is the problem, not the people.

Frequently asked questions

Who is responsible for compliance, the landlord or the agent?

Legally, many duties sit with the landlord. For gas, HSE says that if the management contract makes the agent responsible, the agent has the same legal duties as the landlord, and HSE has prosecuted letting agents for missed gas safety checks. Your management agreement should spell out who does what.

Does CertBox replace our property management software?

No. CertBox handles creating, sending, checking and tracking certificates. You can keep your existing system for tenancies and accounts.

What if a contractor does not use CertBox?

You can still ask for their certificates in the usual way. Instant delivery and the QR check apply to certificates issued through CertBox.

Sources

Checked against these on 2026-10-20.

• HSE: Landlords FAQ (gas)
• HSE: Gas safety record for landlords
• Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018
• SHP: Letting company and director fined for gas safety failings
• GOV.UK: Electrical safety standards in the private and social rented sectors, guidance

Corrected and updated 2026-10-20. This article is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Always refer to the relevant standards and consult qualified professionals for definitive requirements.