Organising the landlord compliance checklist across a portfolio
Use a separate property record with columns for scope, evidence held, unresolved questions, action owner and completion evidence. Distinguish a self-contained house from a flat with shared entrances or plant. Mark items outside your control for discussion with the freeholder or managing agent instead of recording them as complete.
National Building Compliance arranges accredited, qualified assessors through a single point of contact. Send the property list and existing reports through the landlord compliance package or the landlords page. Identify energy certification enquiries through the EPC service and describe any planned works separately so the requested reports match the instruction.
Landlord energy performance duty: check the letting evidence
For a home being let, GOV.UK says an EPC must be ordered before marketing and made available to prospective tenants, subject to the exemptions it describes. Use the GOV.UK domestic EPC guidance to check applicability rather than assuming every building follows the same route.
Match the certificate to the actual accommodation offered. A file for a neighbouring flat or a differently described unit is a reason to investigate, rather than mark the task complete. Record who checked the address, where the document is stored and who will send it to the letting agent. This is a suggested filing method, not an additional statutory form.
- Arrange EPC services where certification is needed. Send the letting description and any existing certificate so the scope can be checked before booking.
Landlord legionella duty: assess the water system
HSE says landlords must assess and control the risk of exposure to legionella. Its landlords' responsibilities guidance explains that a simple domestic system may need only a straightforward assessment, and that the law does not require a legionella testing certificate. Avoid treating a purchased certificate as the duty itself.
HSE's L8 Approved Code of Practice addresses assessing risk and managing control measures. For your working checklist, identify the water supply, storage arrangements, little-used outlets and any shared plant. Note what information is missing and who can provide access. A flat with its own supply presents different questions from accommodation served by shared storage, so do not copy another property's assessment without checking the system.
- Use Legionella Risk Assessments for support with the assessment and its findings. For more detail, read legionella risk assessment for landlords.
Landlord fire safety duty: identify responsibility for common parts
The Fire Safety Order applies to common parts of buildings containing separate dwellings, rather than treating each private home as a workplace. GOV.UK explains the responsible person's duties to assess fire risks and put appropriate precautions in place in its fire safety responsibilities guidance. Establish who controls the shared areas before commissioning a report.
GOV.UK's fire risk assessment guidance requires the responsible person to carry out and record an assessment and review it regularly. In your action file, separate the assessment from the work it identifies. Assign each finding to someone able to arrange access or authorise repairs, and keep evidence of the response. A report sitting in an agent's inbox gives the next manager little useful information about outstanding work.
- Arrange Fire Risk Assessments for the relevant premises and shared areas. Use fire risk assessment for flats to prepare the building information.
Landlord asbestos duty: separate common parts from private accommodation
HSE's duty to manage asbestos guidance covers non-domestic premises and common parts of multi-occupancy domestic buildings. It does not impose that management duty throughout an individual private dwelling. Check maintenance and repair responsibilities when identifying the dutyholder; ownership alone may not describe how responsibilities are divided.
HSE explains that managing asbestos involves identifying materials, assessing their condition, keeping records and planning their management in its duty to manage guidance. For a block, organise records by shared area so a contractor can distinguish the entrance hall from a service cupboard. Keep survey exclusions visible. An inaccessible area should remain an unresolved question in the working file, rather than disappearing because a report has been delivered.
- Arrange a Management Asbestos Survey to support management during normal occupation. Send existing registers and explain which common areas fall within the instruction.
Landlord asbestos checks when refurbishment is planned
HSE distinguishes management surveys from refurbishment or demolition surveys in its guidance on arranging an asbestos survey. The latter identifies hidden asbestos within the proposed work area before structural work begins. A management report should not be assumed to answer questions about materials concealed behind finishes that contractors intend to disturb.
Send the surveyor the actual work description: affected rooms, service routes, openings and any areas outside the tenant's accommodation. Ask for the survey scope to be matched to those works. If the design changes, flag the changed area before treating the existing report as sufficient. Keep proposed works separate from the routine management checklist so an occupied property's records do not conceal a new investigation need.
- Discuss a Refurbishment and Demolition Survey before intrusive work. Include drawings and access restrictions with the enquiry.