Block management compliance checklist: one building, named duties, current evidence

A useful block-management checklist identifies the building, the people who actually hold each duty, the evidence that a control is working, and the open action that prevents the block being marked complete. A single row saying “fire safety ✓” hides too much. Shared areas, external walls, flat entrance doors, water systems, lifts, planned work and resident communication may involve different legal regimes and responsible people. Some extra obligations apply only in England and only to buildings meeting specific thresholds.

Copy the tables below for one building at a time. The form is a management aid, not a certification that a block complies with every UK law. The user must identify whether the building is in England, Wales or Scotland, the tenure and management arrangements, the actual fire and building-safety dutyholders, and the specialist checks required. The observed Complys block-management product page owns the software-buying task; this page provides a fillable block-level action and evidence tool.

Cover sheet: classify the building and responsibilities

Do not assume the managing agent automatically replaces the landlord or responsible person. The Home Office's fire-safety guidance and fire-service guidance for blocks explain that control, repair duties and contracts matter. More than one person or organisation can have obligations. Document who decides, who carries out the task, who receives evidence and who follows up a failure. Delegating administration is not proof that a legal duty disappeared.

For England, a building at least 18 metres high or at least seven storeys with at least two residential units can fall within the occupied higher-risk building regime under Building Safety Act 2022 Part 4. The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 use a high-rise residential building definition and impose additional responsible-person duties. The thresholds may look similar, but the regimes, definitions, responsible entities and required evidence are not interchangeable. Have a competent person check both rather than setting one “high rise” checkbox.

Table A: building-level evidence and actions

Do not insert a single national interval for every item. Inspection and testing requirements depend on the actual system, risk assessment, equipment, contract and local law. Enter the *source for the interval* in the duty field. A certificate can be in date while the system is defective; log the defect and interim controls rather than marking the row green.

Communal fire safety: more than a certificate

The Home Office resident guide for England explains that the Fire Safety Order applies to the common parts and relevant building structure, external walls and flat entrance doors, and that the responsible person must assess risk, control it and share fire-safety information with residents. The exact work needed follows a suitable fire risk assessment and the building's strategy. Record the assessment scope and assessor, significant findings, action owners and evidence of close-out. Do not treat an external-wall appraisal or an EWS1 form as a universal substitute for the fire risk assessment; they serve different decisions.

In England, the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 guidance adds duties by building category. For high-rise residential buildings it includes information to the fire and rescue service, plans in a secure information box, wayfinding signage and checks of firefighting lifts/equipment. Other residential buildings have different requirements. Add the specific applicable regulation and responsible person to each row instead of ticking “2022 Regulations comply” at block level.

From 6 April 2026, England's residential evacuation-plan changes affect specified high-rise residential buildings and certain 11–18 metre buildings with a simultaneous evacuation strategy. Determine whether the building is in scope and use current Home Office guidance on the process, consent and information sharing. Do not infer that every 11-metre block needs an identical personal plan. This is a publication-day legal gate because guidance and application detail matter.

Asbestos and maintenance work

HSE's duty-to-manage guidance applies to non-domestic premises and common parts of multi-occupancy domestic premises in Great Britain. The responsible dutyholder should know where asbestos is present or presumed, keep the register and management plan current, and provide relevant information before work that may disturb it. A survey report stored in a folder is insufficient if contractors cannot find its exclusions. For a copyable record, use the separate asbestos register template only after its route and competent-review gates are passed.

Water, lifts and communal plant

Add the water-system risk assessment and controls specific to the block, including any communal hot and cold water, spa or cooling system. Do not mark a whole block “legionella compliant” merely because a contractor took one temperature reading. Record the competent assessor, identified risks, control scheme, monitoring and failures. For lifts, distinguish maintenance, statutory thorough examination where applicable, defect management and any special firefighting/evacuation lift duties. A lift service visit is not automatically the same as a statutory examination or a fire-regulations check. For electrical and gas systems, identify what equipment is actually communal and who controls it; do not apply a private-flat certificate schedule to every shared system without a legal basis.

Table B: higher-risk and England-specific module

Complete only after confirming the building's status and current requirements with a competent person.

The module is a triage, not a full safety-case template. Building Safety Act Part 4 and current regulator guidance govern the actual duties. Do not use a generic checklist to certify a building as registered, safe or compliant. For Wales and Scotland, build a separate module from those nations' current fire, building and housing law; do not copy England-specific thresholds or regulations across the border.

Table C: contractor work and resident change log

This is where building records meet physical work. Before a riser is opened, the contractor needs the asbestos information for that riser, the fire-stopping design or restriction, other services and resident access plan. After work, the manager checks reinstatement, fire-stopping evidence and affected records. A current accreditation certificate is only one input; the contractor must also be appropriate for this specific task. If a defect creates immediate risk, arrange interim control and escalation rather than waiting for an annual report.

Leaseholder and service-charge evidence

Major works and long-term agreements may require consultation under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 and its regulations in England, with thresholds and exceptions that depend on the proposal. Keep the scope, advice, notices, estimates, observations, decisions and delivery evidence together. Do not allow a consultation calendar to delay urgent safety action without competent legal advice; nor assume urgency removes every consultation or cost-recovery issue. The lease and actual management contract also affect authority and payment.

Practical weekly review

1. Check open life-safety actions and who is making the interim condition safe.
2. Review new fire, lift, water, asbestos and contractor defects against the actual building risk and occupants.
3. Confirm scheduled checks happened and that failed results generated corrective actions.
4. Check upcoming works for survey, resident information and dutyholder approvals.
5. Update the active evidence links and residents' contact route.
6. Escalate overdue actions to the person with authority to fund and approve the work.

Scenario. A block's firefighter lift fails a routine check. The manager records the defect, confirms whether the building falls under the relevant England high-rise rule, obtains competent advice on interim fire strategy and repair priority, and checks whether the fire and rescue service must be informed because the fault lasts longer than the regulatory trigger. The repair is not “closed” until tested, the relevant records are updated and affected people are told what they need to know. A green certificate from last month does not cancel today's defect.

Next step

Complete the cover sheet for one block, then identify the three highest-risk open actions in Table A. Assign owners and evidence of safe closure. Use the observed Complys block-management page only after verifying its current implemented features, pricing and CTA. This checklist does not imply that Complys determines legal dutyholders, registers higher-risk buildings, validates a fire strategy or certifies compliance.

Source, owner, link, product and writer-side QA

Terminal writer-side disposition: READY.