A gas certificate app is mobile software that lets gas engineers complete, sign and send gas safety records and other gas paperwork on site, then store every record where the office can find it. The right one replaces paper pads and retyped PDFs, works without signal, and links each certificate to the customer, the job and the invoice.
Take this checklist into any demo.
Key takeaways
- Landlords need the landlord gas safety record, the document previously called a CP12.
- A digital record is acceptable when it can be reproduced in hard copy, stays secure and clearly identifies the Gas Safe registered engineer who did the check.
- Offline working, signature capture and instant sending matter most on site; storage, reminders and invoicing matter most in the office.
- A standalone certificate app suits a sole trader who only needs paperwork; all-in-one software suits firms that also schedule, track and invoice work.
What is a gas certificate app?
Put simply, it's software on a phone or tablet that turns gas safety checks, services and installations into completed digital records. The engineer fills in the form at the appliance, captures a signature and sends the record to the customer. The office gets the same record as soon as the device syncs, so nobody retypes it.
HSE now calls the record landlords most often need the Landlord gas safety record (previously referred to as a gas safety record, certificate or CP12 form). The Gas Safe Register doesn't produce its own gas safety check record form, though many retailers do.
Engineers also complete service checklists, warning notices, commissioning records and risk assessments, so a useful app handles the whole set rather than one form.
What must a digital gas safety record include?
A digital gas safety record must contain the same details as a paper one and meet a few extra conditions for electronic storage. HSE guidance lists the minimum content of a record and states that you can store records electronically as long as the copy can be reproduced in hard copy when required and is secure from loss and interference.
Retention needs care. The landlord duties in the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations require a record to be kept until there have been two further checks of the appliance or flue, so keep every record for as long as the property stays on your books.
Gas certificate app features every gas engineer should look for
The features that matter most are on-site certificate creation, support for every form you issue, auto-filled job details, offline working, signature capture with instant sending, secure storage, automatic service reminders and a direct link to scheduling and invoicing. Each section below covers what the feature does, why it matters and what to test in a demo.
Create and customise gas certificates on site
Your gas safety certificate app should let an engineer complete the right form at the appliance, not back at the van. Look for templates you can adjust to your own wording, logo and checks. Forms that change based on earlier answers help too, because engineers only see the questions that apply.
Kevin Byrne, Managing Director at EB Gas Services, says: "BigChange also gave us the ability to create and customise our worksheets and certificates." Read how the business moved its paperwork onto mobile devices in the EB Gas Services customer story.
Demo test: have the vendor rebuild one of your forms, then ask an engineer to complete it on a phone.
Support the gas certificates your business actually uses
An app that only produces one certificate forces your engineers back onto paper for everything else. List every record your team issues in a typical month and check the app covers each one.
BigChange plumbing and heating software covers landlord gas safety, CP12 and CP6 records, letting engineers complete the checks step by step in the app and create professional certificates that can be shared instantly with customers.
SES Home Services, a Surrey plumbing, heating and drainage provider, replaced paper job sheets with tablets that give its engineers worksheets and apps for landlord safety certificates and boiler commissioning checklists. The business reports the change in its customer story: "Previously we had one support person for three engineers. Now we have one support person for ten engineers."
Ask the vendor: can you add forms later, such as heat pump or oil records, without a custom project?
Auto-fill customer, property and appliance information
Retyping the same address, landlord details and boiler make on every visit wastes time and invites mistakes. A good app carries customer, site and appliance details from the job into the certificate, so the engineer only records what they found today.
Try this: create a job for a test property and count the certificate fields already filled on the engineer's device.
Work offline and sync records when connectivity returns
Gas work happens in basements, plant rooms, lofts and rural properties where mobile signal drops out. If the app needs a connection to save a form, engineers lose work or fall back to paper.
The BigChange field service app works offline, so engineers can view their schedule, open job details, complete digital worksheets, capture photos and collect signatures without signal, and updates sync automatically once the device reconnects.
Flight-mode test: complete and sign a certificate offline, reconnect, and confirm the record reaches the office unchanged.
Capture signatures and send certificates straight to customers
No certificate is finished until the right people have it. A good gas engineer app captures the engineer's signature and the customer's sign-off on the device. It attaches photos where useful and emails the completed record before the engineer leaves.
Tenants can receive a digital copy. HSE says a landlord can give tenants an electronic copy if the tenant is happy to receive it that way, but must provide a paper copy if asked, and a gas engineer can send the electronic record directly to the tenant with the landlord's agreement.
Inbox test: send a test certificate to yourself. Is it clear, branded and easy for a landlord to print?
Store and retrieve gas records securely
Paper certificates can go missing, and PDFs scattered across inboxes are hard to find when a landlord, letting agent or auditor asks for one. Every completed form should land in one secure place, stamped with the date, time and the person who completed it.
Plumbing & Gas Solutions, a commercial gas and plumbing maintenance business, described this shift in its 2022 customer story. It moved away from paperwork that was sometimes incomplete to a setup where certificates, service histories and maintenance records are a couple of clicks away. Its clients can also self-serve certificates and completed work reports through a customer portal.
Office test: time how long it takes to produce every record for one property, and check whether customers can download their own.
Automate service reminders and recurring work
Landlords must make sure a gas safety check is done every year on each gas appliance and flue. That recurring work is easy to lose track of on a spreadsheet.
Look for reminders that go out automatically by email or SMS when a check or service is due. They keep landlords on schedule and help win repeat work for your engineers.
Customer view: set up a reminder for a test customer and read the message they'd receive.
Connect certificates with scheduling, jobs and invoicing
Each certificate is one step in a job that starts with a booking and ends with an invoice. When the app sits inside your wider system, the office plans the visit and the engineer completes the record. The invoice then goes out without anyone retyping details, because job scheduling and certificates share one customer record.
Connected systems can also enforce good habits. In BigChange, engineers can't mark a job complete until they fill out the required compliance documentation on their mobile device.
End-to-end test: follow one job from booking to paid invoice and count how often anyone retypes the same details.
Do you need a standalone gas certificate app or all-in-one gas engineer software?
A standalone app is enough if certificates are the only paperwork you want to digitise and you run very few jobs. You'll need all-in-one gas engineer software if you also schedule engineers, chase renewals, track jobs and raise invoices. That way, certificates sit inside the same record as the rest of the work.
If you plan to hire an office administrator or a second engineer, choose software that already covers scheduling and invoicing rather than migrating your certificate history later.
Questions to ask before choosing gas certificate software
Ask each vendor to demonstrate that it can rebuild one of your forms, complete and sign it with no signal, identify the engineer who did the check, retrieve an old record and follow one job through to the invoice. Their answers show whether it suits your engineers and your office. Take these questions into every demo or trial.
- Which of our current certificates and forms can you support today, and how do we add new ones?
- How does the record identify the engineer who carried out the check?
- Where are records stored, and how quickly can we produce one for a landlord or auditor?
- Can customers access their own certificates without calling the office?
- Does a completed job trigger the invoice, and does it connect to our accounts package?
- What training and support do our engineers get during rollout?
Manage gas certificates and the rest of the job with BigChange
The right gas certificate app is the one your engineers use on every job and your office trusts for every record. That means certificates built around your own forms, offline working, instant sending, secure storage, automatic reminders and a direct link to scheduling and invoicing, so nobody retypes job details between the van, the office and the invoice.
Explore BigChange gas engineer software to see certificates, scheduling, job tracking and invoicing together, then book a demo with your own forms.
Gas certificate app FAQs
What is the best app for gas engineers?
The best app for gas engineers is one that completes every certificate your team issues on site, works without signal, and links each record to the job and invoice. It should also capture the details HSE lists for a landlord gas safety record, including the engineer's name, registration number and signature.
Can gas certificates be completed digitally?
Yes. HSE confirms you can store gas safety records electronically as long as the copy can be reproduced in hard copy when required and is secure from loss and interference. The record must also uniquely identify the Gas Safe registered engineer who did the check, for example with an electronic signature.
Can a gas certificate app work offline?
Yes. A well-built app lets engineers complete forms, capture photos and collect signatures without signal, then syncs each record automatically once the device reconnects. Test this in flight mode during a demo. The synced copy still has to meet HSE conditions for electronic gas safety records: printable on request and secure from loss and interference.
What is the difference between a gas certificate app and gas engineer software?
A certificate app handles the paperwork: it completes, signs, sends and stores records such as the landlord gas safety record, previously called a CP12. Gas engineer software adds scheduling, job tracking, service reminders and invoicing, so each certificate sits in the same customer record as the booking, the engineer's visit and the invoice.
How long do you need to keep gas safety records?
Landlords must keep gas safety records for at least two years, according to HSE guidance on gas safety records. The landlord duties in the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations also require each record to be kept until there have been two further checks of the appliance or flue.
