Electrics and gas
No carbon-monoxide alarm was seen near a gas fire. What gas-safety inspection has that absence not replaced?
The absence of a carbon-monoxide alarm has not replaced a gas-safety inspection of the fire. No alarm was seen near the gas fire, and that is a gap in warning equipment, not a test of the appliance. The survey has recorded that no alarm was seen there. It has not inspected the fire for combustion, flue condition, or ventilation, and it has not produced a gas-safety record. An alarm, even if one were later fitted, would still not be that inspection.
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?
A carbon-monoxide alarm is there to sound if the gas is already going wrong. It does not check the burner, the flue, or whether the fire is suitable for the room. The surveyor's note is that none was seen near this fire. Gas safety inspections are a different job, done by a registered engineer, with their own record. The home survey does not do that job by remarking on a missing alarm.
Ask a Gas Safe registered engineer to inspect the gas fire, including the flue and ventilation, as a separate visit. Tell the solicitor no carbon-monoxide alarm was seen near it and that the survey did not carry out a gas-safety inspection. Do not treat a plan to buy an alarm as a substitute for that inspection. Keep the alarm question and the appliance question as two items.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was a carbon-monoxide alarm absent only beside this gas fire, or elsewhere too?
- Did you carry out any gas-safety inspection of the fire itself?
- What would a later alarm still not test on that appliance?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask a Gas Safe engineer to inspect the gas fire, flue, and ventilation.
- Tell the solicitor no carbon-monoxide alarm was seen near the fire.
- Do not treat a new alarm as a substitute for that inspection.
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
If there is a smoke alarm elsewhere, does that cover the gas fire?
No. A smoke alarm elsewhere is a different device for a different hazard. The note is that no carbon-monoxide alarm was seen near the gas fire. That absence has not replaced a gas-safety inspection, and a smoke alarm does not become one. The fire itself was not tested.
If you fit a carbon-monoxide alarm after the visit, has the inspection been done?
No. Fitting an alarm afterwards would address the warning the survey did not see. It would still not be a gas-safety inspection of the fire, the flue, or the ventilation. The survey has not produced that record, and a new alarm does not write it in.