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Gas capping

Gas capping risk assessment

This assessment helps you manage the risks after a gas cap and gives Compliance and Service Delivery a clear record. Answer each step as you talk with the customer. At the end you get the risks to manage and a ready-to-use action plan.

  1. Situation
  2. Customer
  3. Home
  4. Risks
  5. Plan

Step 1 of 5 · The situation

Is the gas supply already capped?

We only cap an occupied home for a dangerous or at-risk fault, or as a last resort when we cannot get access. Say whether you are assessing before or after the cap.

Is this a first assessment or a review?

A review revisits an existing capped case, for example the 3 or 6 month check or a visit before winter.

What is the reason for capping?

Pick the closest reason the supply was capped. A case can move between these as you learn more.

Step 2 of 5 · The customer

For the record. Optional.

When the current gas safety record runs out. Optional.

For the record. Optional.

Is the customer living in the property right now?

Welfare checks depend on whether they are there.

How well does the customer engage with you?

Rate from 1, not at all, to 5, fully engaged.

Who lives in the home?

Tick everyone who applies. A home without heating means more for some of these customers, and from October 2026 it changes what the law requires of us.

Any concern the customer cannot make decisions about their tenancy?

Capacity concerns change how we proceed and may need a Court of Protection route.

Social Services or any support agency, and whether they are aware. Optional.

Step 3 of 5 · The home

The heating duty. When a gas heating appliance is disconnected, we must make sure the customer has a way to keep warm. Alternative heating needs to be in place from the moment the supply goes off.
How is the customer heating the home?

The most reliable heat source in use.

How is the customer getting hot water?
How is the customer cooking?
What have you seen in the property?

Tick everything you have observed or confirmed. Damp and mould already sit under Awaab's Law. Excess cold joins in October 2026.

Any safety concerns to flag?

A capped home can lead people to heat it in unsafe ways or interfere with the supply. Tick anything you have seen, or that a colleague, contractor or engineer has raised with you.

How much debt is on the meter?

Record it if you know it. It helps the income team.

Step 4 of 5 · The risks

Does the customer need to be decanted?

Your judgement. Consider whether temporary heating is enough given any vulnerability or health needs. Decants are agreed with the customer, they are not compulsory.

How much risk is there to the customer or the property?

This is the heart of the assessment. Weigh up everything you have recorded: the customer, their heating and welfare, and the state of the home. Your answer sets the risk level on the plan.

Agreed actions, customer wishes, access history, or anything the case file should hold. Optional.

Step 5 of 5 · The action plan

Complete the earlier steps to see the risks and the action plan.

Optional.