CP12 is an old form number from a British Gas era of paperwork, and it has outlived the form. Landlords, agents and engineers still use it to mean the landlord's gas safety record, and everyone in the trade knows what is meant. There is no legal document called a CP12 today; there is a record of the annual check, and CP12 is its nickname.
Why the name stuck
The number was the form's identifier in the old CORGI paperwork, and it was short, memorable and unambiguous in a way that record of the annual gas safety check is not. Trade language rarely gives up a short name.
What the document is now
The record required by the gas safety regulations, produced by a Gas Safe registered engineer, usually on the engineer's own software or on a pad from a trade supplier. Its validity comes from the engineer and the content, not from a form number.
What it costs
The same as the gas safety check that produces it: a visit, an appliance count, and any service bundled with it. Anyone selling a CP12 without attending the property is selling a fraud, and a landlord who buys one has paid for a document that will not survive the first question an inspector asks.
Related codes you may see
CP12 for the domestic landlord record, and CP17 and CP42 in commercial work. The commercial codes cover different scopes and are issued after different inspections, so a business premises should check which one it is being quoted for.
Questions people ask about cp12
What is a CP12 certificate?
The everyday name for the landlord's gas safety record: the document a Gas Safe registered engineer issues after the annual check.
Is a CP12 a legal requirement?
The record is. The name is not: the regulations require a record of the check with specific content, however the engineer formats it.
Can I get a CP12 without an inspection?
No. Anybody offering one is committing an offence and the document is worthless. The check is the product; the paper is the receipt.