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Electrics and gas

What should you ask if the house uses LPG rather than mains gas?

Ask where the tank or cylinders are, who owns the tank, and whether a Gas Safe engineer with LPG competence has ever been instructed. A survey sentence about “gas” may assume mains. LPG is still gas work. The survey has not tested the installation either way.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

HSE’s gas safety guidance covers gas in the home, and Gas Safe registration is still the route for work on the appliances. Bulk tanks, cylinder cages and buried pipework add things a mains meter does not: ownership of the tank, proximity to boundaries and drains, and a supply contract. A visual survey can see a tank in the garden if it was visible. It cannot confirm the tank lease or the tightness of the line.

Your solicitor should ask who owns the tank and what happens at completion. The surveyor should be asked, if it is not already clear, whether appliances were room-sealed, open-flued, or simply not inspected. Do not let a mains-gas service quote stand in for an LPG system nobody has looked at. Costs differ. Ask an engineer who will say they cover LPG.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Did you see a tank or cylinders, and did you inspect the appliances or only note them?
  • Are any flues open-flued, or could you not tell?
  • What should the solicitor ask about ownership of the tank?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Tell your solicitor the fuel is LPG so the tank contract is on their list.
  2. Instruct a Gas Safe engineer who covers LPG if you need a safety check before exchange.
  3. Do not treat a mains-gas limitation paragraph as if it had described this tank.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

Is a barbecue cylinder the same as a domestic LPG supply?

No. A cylinder under the grill is not the heating system. Ask what actually feeds the boiler and the hob.

Does the survey measure whether the tank is far enough from the house?

It may comment if something looks obviously wrong. It is not a design check against the tank supplier’s rules. Ask the supplier if that distance matters to you.

Sources