Statutory Compliance Checklist UK: What Property Managers Need to Track
Your statutory compliance checklist UK: the core checks
A statutory compliance checklist UK property managers can rely on lists each legal safety check, how often it falls due, who is responsible and what proof to keep. For a typical residential let in England, the core items are the annual gas safety check, an electrical report at least every five years, working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and a legionella risk assessment. Blocks add fire risk assessments, lifts and asbestos management. This guide sets out each one and how to track them without missing a date.
This is general information, not legal advice. It covers England. Rules in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.
Your statutory compliance checklist UK: the core checks
Gas safety check: every 12 months. Gas appliances and flues in a let property must be checked each year by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Existing tenants must receive a copy of the gas safety record within 28 days of the check, and new tenants before they move in. Keep each record for two years, or until two further checks have been done. [VERIFY: HSE landlord gas safety guidance.] For the difference between gas and electrical paperwork, see our guide to gas safety vs electrical safety certificates.
Electrical report (EICR): at least every five years. In England, the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector Regulations 2020 require the fixed electrical installation to be inspected and tested by a qualified person at least every five years, or sooner if the report says so. Tenants must be given a copy, and any remedial work the report requires must be arranged within the set time.
Existing Tenants: Supply a copy of the EICR within 28 days of the inspection and test.
New Tenants: Supply a copy of the report before they occupy the premises.
Prospective Tenants: Supply a copy within 28 days of receiving a written request from a prospective tenant.
Local Housing Authority: Supply a copy within 7 days if requested in writing.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: at the start of each tenancy. Landlords must provide a working smoke alarm on each storey used as living accommodation, and a carbon monoxide alarm in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance, with some exceptions. Alarms must be checked as working at the start of each tenancy, and repaired or replaced when reported faulty.
Included Appliances: Carbon monoxide (CO) alarms are legally required in any room used as living accommodation that contains a fixed combustion appliance. This includes apparatus burning any fuel type - such as gas boilers, oil-fired systems, log burners, wood-burning stoves, and coal or gas heaters.
Excluded Appliances: Gas cookers are specifically excluded from the mandatory carbon monoxide alarm requirement under these regulations.
Fixed vs. Portable: The rules apply to fixed combustion appliances rather than purely portable appliances (though other safety or gas safety duties may apply).
Legionella risk assessment: review when things change. Landlords must assess and control the risk of legionella. For a typical home the HSE says this can be a simple assessment and that no “legionella certificate” is required, but it should be recorded and reviewed periodically and when circumstances change.
Extra checks for blocks and communal areas
If you manage a block, the list grows, because communal parts bring their own duties:
Fire risk assessment of the common parts. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, as amended, the “responsible person” must carry out and record a suitable assessment, keep it under review, and share relevant fire risk information with residents. The order applies to the communal areas, not inside individual flats.
Lift thorough examinations. Passenger lifts used at work and in communal blocks are generally treated as falling under LOLER, with a thorough examination at least every six months where the lift carries people, plus routine servicing.
Asbestos management. For buildings that contain asbestos, there is a duty to manage it, which usually means a register and a management plan covering the common parts.
Water systems. Blocks with shared water systems, such as tanks or communal hot water, need a legionella risk assessment that covers them and is likely to need specialist input.
Tenancy paperwork such as the EPC, deposit protection and the government’s information leaflet for tenants is a separate checklist, and the rules are changing under recent reforms, so check gov.uk for the current requirements.
For the wider picture of how these fit together, see property safety compliance best practices.
Reading the cycles correctly
The most common compliance slip is not missing a check entirely. It’s mis-timing it. Three habits help:
Track the expiry date, not just the date done. An annual check done on 10 March is next due by 10 March the following year, and some advisers suggest booking it a month early so it can never lapse. Early checks are generally fine, but check how they affect your next due date.
Set reminders with lead time. A reminder on the due date is too late. Set them 60 and 30 days ahead to allow for access problems.
Treat a failed check as an open job. A report with remedial work is not complete until the work is done and a clear report is on file.
Who is responsible?
The legal duty usually sits with the landlord, or in a block the freeholder, RTM company or RMC, or whoever controls the common parts. The managing agent often carries out the tasks under the management agreement, but the contract should say exactly which. Write down, for each item:
Who holds the legal duty.
Who instructs and pays the contractor.
Who receives and files the paperwork.
Who sends copies to tenants and residents.
Where these are left vague, checks tend to slip between the owner and the agent.
What evidence to keep
For every item, keep the certificate or report, the date of the check, who carried it out, any remedial work and proof it was done, and the date copies were sent to tenants. If someone challenges your compliance, a tidy file is your best answer. Our guide on keeping repair receipts and records explains how to organise job files so they’re easy to produce.
A simple tracker that works
You don’t need specialist software to start. A shared sheet with one row per property and one column per check is enough:
Property and responsible person
Check type
Date last done
Next due date
Reminder dates
Contractor
Remedial actions open
Copy sent to tenant (date)
Pair it with a property maintenance schedule so compliance work sits alongside routine jobs, and use automated repair requests to catch remedial work that comes out of a failed check.
Common mistakes
Relying on the contractor to remind you. Some will, many won’t.
Filing certificates but not remedial work. The failed-then-fixed trail is what proves compliance.
Forgetting to send copies to tenants. Doing the check is only half the duty.
Assuming a block is covered by the leaseholders’ own checks. Communal duties belong to whoever controls the common parts.
Using one date for everything. Each item runs on its own cycle.
Where Prolink can help
A compliance tracker only works if someone keeps it current: chasing access, instructing contractors, filing reports and sending copies. Prolink Property Support helps managing agents, landlords and RTM/RMC companies with compliance and admin support, so renewal dates and paperwork don’t depend on one person’s memory. To talk through how that could work for your portfolio. Book a call
This article is general information, not legal advice. Check the official sources for your situation.
Comments