“Every landlord wants their gas safety record on time, and the only reminder system is my memory.”
Gas engineer software that keeps the annual checks ticking over. Your weekends back.
Due dates, records, boiler quotes and invoices run on a system, so your weekends are yours again and the work doesn't stop when you do.
I'm Daniel Andrews. I run a law firm in East Sussex on systems I built myself. Now I help Gas Safe registered engineers in Hailsham, Lewes and Uckfield get the admin off their weekends and build a business that isn't just them.
A typical evening, after a day on the tools
- 6pmWorking out who's dueNext month's landlord checks, from a diary
- 7pmFinishing today's recordsRecords and service sheets, emailed to agents
- 8pmQuoting a boiler swapModel, flue, controls and labour
- 10pmChasing payment and accessAgents who owe you, tenants who weren't in
- 11pmBed, with a no-heat call already waitingLeft on voicemail for first thing tomorrow
The boilers are the easy part
It's the other half of the job that wears you down.
“Half my year is landlord checks, and every due date lives in my head.”
“Winter means breakdowns on Saturday and paperwork on Sunday.”
“I quote for a new boiler, hear nothing, and never get round to following up.”
“An agent wanted last year's record for a flat, and it took me an hour to find.”
If the heating work stops when you stop, it's a job
Self-employment was meant to buy freedom: your own diary, your own rates, time off when you choose. In gas and heating, the diary chooses for you. Breakdowns fill January, landlord checks fill the rest, and records wait for the weekend.
When the knowledge and every due date sit with one person, two weeks off pauses the lot. That's the sign you've built a job, not a business. I did the same for years, working 60 to 70 hours a week and often until 2am. Putting my firm on systems changed that, and it's now four to five times the size it was when I started.
The change came from a system: see where the time goes, put the repeat work on systems, and spend the hours you win back on the business. For you, that means a register of due dates, reminders that go out on their own, and records and invoices that send themselves. With the processes written down, you could take on another engineer, or a holiday in October. There's more on how I help trades step back from the tools.
What should gas engineer software do for a small heating business?
Gas engineer software should complete landlord gas safety records and service sheets on site, send them to the landlord or agent, and remember when every appliance is next due. For heating work it should also quote boilers and heat pumps, take payment and send the numbers to your bookkeeping.
| Job | How it often works now | Set up properly |
|---|---|---|
| Breakdown calls | Missed on a job, and voicemails pile up. | An instant reply asks for the boiler make, fault code and postcode, and flags no-heat calls. |
| Boiler and heat pump quotes | Priced late at night, then never followed up. | Templates by job type, with follow-ups on set days and any grant shown clearly. |
| Annual checks and services | Due dates in a diary, or in your head. | A register of every appliance, with reminders going out before each one is due. |
| Landlord gas safety records | Written up at home and emailed one by one. | Completed on your phone and sent to landlord and agent before you leave. |
| Building regulations notifications | Done when you remember. | Every boiler install adds a notification task with its date. |
| Invoices and repeat work | Agents pay late, and past customers forget who fitted their boiler. | The invoice goes with the record, and a service reminder goes out each year. |
What does a landlord gas safety certificate involve for the engineer?
Landlords must have each gas appliance and flue they provide checked by a Gas Safe registered engineer at intervals of no more than 12 months. The record goes to existing tenants within 28 days of the check, and to new tenants before they move in. Landlords keep it for at least two years.
The duty sits with the landlord under regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, but the paperwork comes from you. HSE lists what the record must show, including each appliance checked, your name, registration number and signature, and any defect and action taken.
Since 2018, a check done up to 2 months early can keep the original anniversary date, and the record is then kept until two further checks are done. That window is exactly what a reminder system is good at.
HSE says a gas business must be on the Gas Safe Register to do gas work within the regulations. When you fit a boiler, the building regulations let a Gas Safe registered installer self-certify. Both the homeowner's certificate and building control's notice then fall due within 30 days of completion.
- Each record sets the next due date, and the landlord is reminded in time to book inside the 2-month window.
- Records reach the landlord and agent as you finish, with a note that tenants need their copy within 28 days.
Heat pumps bring their own clock through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which offers £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump. An MCS certified installer applies to Ofgem for the customer, then has 120 days from applying to install and commission. Plumbers without Gas Safe registration can fit the pipes and radiators of a heating system, but the boiler and its final connection need a registered engineer. My page for plumbers covers their side.
Please note: this is general information from official sources, not legal advice. For your own situation, check with Gas Safe Register, your accountant or a solicitor.
How do you track due dates now? If the honest answer is "in my head", that's our starting point.
Book a free 30-minute callWhat I'd set up first for a gas engineer
Due dates first: they're repeat work you've already earned.
One list of due dates
Every landlord property and appliance in one register, built from past records, with the next check date against each.
Reminders that fill the diary
Landlords and homeowners are reminded before the due date, with a link to book. Tenants get an access text.
Records out before you leave
The record or service sheet goes to the landlord and agent from your phone, filed by address.
Boiler quotes that follow up
The quote goes the same day from a template, with a polite nudge a few days later.
How do I choose gas engineer software?
Look for software that produces landlord gas safety records and service sheets on your phone, keeps a register of appliances and due dates, and sends reminders on its own. It should quote boiler and heat pump jobs and connect to your accounts. Check it works offline in a loft, and that you can export everything.
- Every gas form you use, filled in once and sent from the phone.
- Reminders worked out from the date of the last check, not a date you retype.
- A link to your accounting software. HMRC's Making Tax Digital threshold drops to £20,000 of qualifying income from 6 April 2028. Check your own date with your accountant.
- Records you can export, so the history stays yours.
Examples, not recommendations: Gas Engineer Software lists gas industry certificates, Commusoft describes landlord gas safety certificates on its mobile app, and Powered Now includes gas safety records among its forms. None of them pays me anything.
Missed dates are serious in law too
A missed date matters in law as much as it does for a landlord's gas check. I'm Managing Partner of a two-office law firm in East Sussex, with around 30 people. There, figures flow from the case management system into a live dashboard, and work passes between colleagues with one-click sign-off.
I'm also a practising solicitor, used to getting the facts straight and the detail right. This consultancy doesn't give legal advice and isn't regulated by the SRA.
The consultancy is new, so there are no heating engineers on my books yet. I've been in BNI for 20 years, alongside other local business owners. And weekends matter to me as much as to you, between my two children and the football I coach. Find out more about me.
Other trades I help
PlumbingPlumbers
Call-outs answered, quotes built from your price list, parts matched to jobs and notifications tracked, so the van isn't your evening office.
For plumbers
ElectricalElectricians
Certificates written up on site, EICR recalls sent to landlords, remedials quoted and invoices chased, so testing days don't become writing-up nights.
For electricians
BuildingBuilders
Quotes, variations, subbies and the monthly CIS return, set up so the office side of a building firm stops eating your evenings.
For builders
LocksmithingLocksmiths
Lockouts caught while you're mid-job, key and job records kept straight, and the invoice sent before you've left the doorstep.
For locksmiths
GardeningLandscape gardeners
For gardeners and landscapers juggling a maintenance round, bigger landscaping quotes and green waste records through a long summer of late nights.
For landscape gardeners
RoofingRoofers
Rained-off jobs rebooked, quotes built from roof photos and CIS statements kept straight, without giving up your evenings to do it.
For roofersQuestions from gas and heating engineers
Who gives the tenant the landlord gas safety certificate?
The landlord. HSE says existing tenants must get a copy within 28 days of the check. With the landlord's agreement, and if the tenant is happy with email, the engineer can send the record straight to them. That step is easy to automate.
Is heating engineer software different from plumbing and heating software?
Mostly in emphasis. Heating engineer software leans towards gas records, service plans and installs, while plumbing and heating software adds general plumbing jobs and parts. If you do both, pick one system that handles gas forms properly.
Is HVAC software the same thing?
HVAC software is a broader term, common in the US, covering heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Much of it is built around commercial contracts, so check it handles UK gas records before you trial it.
Can the same reminders cover electrical checks for my landlords?
Yes, if you work with an electrician. Landlords need their electrics tested at least every 5 years rather than yearly, and my page for electricians explains the EICR side.
Keep the reminders running and the weekends free
A free 30-minute call. No jargon and no hard sell. Bring your due-date list, however messy, and I'll show you what a system could do with it.