Block manager checklist:

Legal compliance made easy

As a block manager, your year is packed with tasks with strict deadlines. With such a demanding workload on your plate—from health and safety risk assessments to seasonal maintenance throughout the building—how do you stay on top of everything?

A proactive management strategy ensures that problems are identified early, when they are easier and less expensive to fix.

Keeping on top of Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) helps keep your buildings compliant and important assets like lifts and emergency lighting systems in optimal working order, improving the leaseholder experience and protecting the safety of residents. With this guide, you can stay one step ahead of all your planned risk assessments and maintenance tasks, meaning nothing will slip through the cracks.

Block Management Checklist guide hero

Statutory tasks

Statutory tasks are when the landlord, or the block manager on their behalf, is legally required to carry out these tasks at regular or specified intervals for every property they manage. 

Health and safety risk assessment

Under The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations (1999), all blocks of flats in the United Kingdom must have a risk assessment carried out for their common areas. It is recommended that this assessment be carried out once a year, plus whenever a major change to the building occurs. This includes remedial works and system upgrades.

The assessment should:

  • Be carried out by an appropriate individual with an understanding of health and safety.
  • Produce a report which identifies health and safety risks.
  • Provide recommendations on how to mitigate risks and improve the safety of the block.

Electrical safety

Under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, you must ensure that all electrical installations in workplaces are maintained to be safe to use. As cleaners or contractors may work in a block’s common areas, the law treats them as a workplace. This means fixed wiring systems and portable electrical equipment in these areas must legally be inspected and tested by a person who is qualified and competent at least every five years. You must obtain an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) from the person conducting the inspection. 

This should include:

  • The results of the inspection and test and the date of the next inspection and test.
  • An assessment of all electrical equipment supplied to common areas.
  • For example, appliances provided to contractors and employees must also be safety tested.
  • An assessment of any electrical equipment in onsite offices, such as those of the Building Manager.
  • Note that for PAT testing, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) does not provide a specific interval for how often electrical equipment and installations should be tested. However, it advises tests should be often enough for there to be little danger of deterioration between inspections. The frequency of checks should be according to the number and severity of faults found, according to best practice. 

Fire Risk Assessments (FRA)

The Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 require that all blocks of flats have a Fire Risk Assessment carried out by the Responsible Person (RP). This is the landlord or anyone else with control of the premises, such as a building manager or managing agent.

Best practice guidance also specifies that higher-risk buildings should have theirs reviewed every year and be reassessed every three years. The highest-risk buildings may need to be reassessed every year. An assessment should also be reviewed whenever there are changes made to the building, such as extensions or work to improve fire safety.

During a fire risk assessment, the assessor looks at:

  • How likely a fire is to start in a building;
  • What the consequences could be;
  • How its spread can be prevented.

Regulations specify that for multi-occupied residential buildings over 11 metres in height, you must undertake quarterly checks on all communal fire doors. The regulations also require that annual checks of all flat entrance doors that lead onto a building's common parts are undertaken. 

This should include ensuring that the self-closing devices for the doors are working. If any issues are identified, more detailed checks may be required, which could include consulting with a specialist or contractor. 

Checks should include:

  • Operational check: ensure the door closes fully and will prevent the spread of smoke.
  • A record of any alterations, damage or wear and tear that may have affected the door.
  • Inspections of the door frame and glazing, as well as any gaps around the frame, seals or hinges that could prevent it from closing.
  • A complete check of the door closing mechanism to ensure the door closes fully in frame. 

Best practice tasks

These are tasks that you are not legally required to do, but it is recommended you do them as a matter of best practice, as they will allow you to serve your landlords and residents better. 

Fire Risk Assessments (FRA)

The latest advice states that block managers should implement a plan to immediately undertake checks and distribute information as part of their Planned Preventative Maintenance and health and safety checks.

On a best endeavour basis block managers should also seek to annually assess all flat entrance doors. This check ensures that no doors are in a state of disrepair and that they will be effective in preventing the spread of fire or smoke. This is required for all buildings above 11 metres in height.

It is recommended that the block manager communicate in writing with the resident about why they should be granted access to the property to undertake these works, including information on why the check is important. If access is denied, block managers should gather evidence of their attempts to complete this part of their inspections. 

Asbestos assessment

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 places duties on those who manage premises to
identify and manage the risks of asbestos in common areas. 

In practice, this means:

  • Arranging an inspection by a suitably qualified professional to identify and test any asbestos in the building;
  • Producing an asbestos register that identifies where any asbestos is or might be found;
  • Assessing the risk to leaseholders, workers and visitors;
  • Making an Asbestos Control Plan to manage this risk;
  • Arranging any work that should be carried out by a licensed contractor.

If any part of the building is to be upgraded, refurbished, or demolished, you should arrange for a refurbishment and demolition survey at least a week prior to work being carried out. This will identify any asbestos-containing materials that could be disturbed due to work. Roofing felt, gutters, fascia and soffits are all classic components where asbestos-containing materials can be found, particularly on buildings pre-1990. 

Gas safety checks

Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, freeholders (and by extension, managing agents) have a responsibility to ensure a gas safety check is carried out on all fittings, flues and gas appliances they provide. This involves an inspection by a Gas-Safe registered engineer to ensure they are working safely and efficiently. The inspection produces a Gas Safety Certificate. 

Landlords or managing agents must:

  • Arrange for a Gas Safe engineer to inspect the gas supply, pipework and any provided appliances every 10-12 months;
  • Provide leaseholders with a record of a check within 28 days of its completion;
  • Give new leaseholders a copy of the latest record during their orientation;
  • Retain a record of the safety check for two years.

Though boilers for each flat are generally owned by individual leaseholders, don’t forget about other areas where there may be heating equipment, such as swimming pools and caretaker accommodation. 

A gas safety check can be carried out anytime from 10-12 months after the last check, without affecting the original check expiry date. If it’s less than 10 or more than 12 months after the last check, the new deadline for the next check will be 12 months from the most recent one. Getting the certificate sorted well before the 12-month mark will ensure any delays won’t cause you to miss the deadline. 

Working at height risk assessment

Under The Work at Height Regulations 2005, a risk assessment must be carried out prior to any work on the building that would require the worker to be at height, such as washing windows or fitting a lightbulb.

Work from height should be avoided where possible, and where this is not possible, it must be properly planned, supervised and carried out by competent professionals to reduce risk as much as feasible.

One of the most common examples of working from height is working from a roof. Taller buildings sometimes have safety features such as eyebolts or abseil points which allow the use of harnesses to protect workers from the risks of falling. These must be inspected by a competent person either every year or every six months, depending on whether they are to prevent falls or to allow work to be carried out via ropes. Anyone using a ladder to carry out work should undergo ladder training. This could include not just contractors, but also site-based building managers and concierges. 

Legionella Risk Assessment (LRA)

Block managers must assess the risk of legionella in the blocks they serve. This risk is normally low unless the flats or common areas are served by shared water storage or do not receive their water supply directly from a provider. 

If a risk is identified, an expert should be called for further investigation, and a plan should be constructed to control or reduce this. This may mean ongoing monitoring and management consisting of regular inspections, water testing and temperature checks by a qualified Legionella Risk Assessor. 

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), you are not required to keep a record of the assessment, but property managers are advised to maintain an audit trail in case they are later asked for it. If a legionella case were to occur in a building you managed, the landlord would be required to prove they had fulfilled their legal obligations. 

Reinstatement Cost Assessment (RCA)

A Reinstatement Cost Assessment is an estimate of how much it would cost to rebuild the building in case it is destroyed. It should be based on materials available today and labour costs. It is not the same as the building’s actual value. 

RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) recommends that RCAs are carried out every three years by a qualified, chartered surveyor. A reassessment should also be carried out whenever there is a major change to the building, such as an extension.

Periodic inspections

Inspect the building’s shared areas periodically to ensure everything stays safe and remains in good working order. 

Check for:

  • Personal objects blocking common areas, such as bikes and pushchairs,
  • Combustible items like rubbish bags,
  • Modifications to fire doors,
  • Tampering with fire safety equipment,
  • Signs of antisocial behaviour, such as graffiti and vandalism. 

Outside of these inspections, it’s good practice to carry out Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) at certain times to keep the building in good shape according to changing weather. This is also a good time to offer advice in the form of flyers and web links to your residents to help them keep their property in great condition. Here are some suggestions for what to look at. 

Autumn/Winter

Check shared heating systems

Increased use of radiators and hot water during winter months can put a strain on boilers and heating systems, potentially causing problems or even complete failure. Avoid leaving your residents in the cold by anticipating these sorts of problems ahead of the season, ensuring communal pipes are suitably insulated and providing residents with tips for dealing with those in their flat.

 

Clear the gutters in November

At this time, the leaves have fallen off the trees, ready for winter. Unfortunately, they can block gutters and drainage systems. Plan to clear them in the autumn before temperatures get colder. 

 

Prepare for winter

Cold temperatures can cause all sorts of hazards for residents and workers. Frozen paths can quickly become unsafe, so ensure plenty of grit is available, and residents are warned to be careful. If there are outside steps on the premises, these should be painted with non slip reflective paint so they can be seen in the dark. Refresh this paint yearly to ensure it can continue to be seen. 

Want to know more about how dangerous a property can be in the winter? Discover more in our blog.

 

Anticipate extreme weather

Large trees and plants can cause a risk if they fall due to strong winds or a storm. Consider trimming back large canopies to reduce the chance of them toppling over and causing serious damage. It is best practice to have arboricultural surveys and to identify risks associated with certain species. 

Spring/Summer

Clear the debris

Weather and wildlife can leave messes to clean up, so this is a good time to tidy up the block and its surroundings. 

 

Doors and windows

Heat makes wood and metal expand, which can cause door and window mechanisms to become difficult to open and close. Keep an eye out for this during warmer temperatures. 

Conclusion

We can help you stay on top of tasks all year round. Our software ensures the management of recurring maintenance responsibilities using automated reminders and scheduling, so you can rest easy knowing you are always one step ahead. 

☝️ How can we help?

  • Our Planned Maintenance module allows you to schedule planned maintenance tasks at regular intervals. 
  • We can reduce the time and resources required to arrange an inspection by automatically notifying preferred contractors and requesting quotes. 
  • Our customisable dashboards provide an at-a-glance view of all your service events so you can quickly see what upcoming works are required, and produce an audit trail of previous inspections.
An illustration of a woman managing her entire repairs and maintenance workflow through Fixflo

With leaseholders expecting a better resident experience for their service charge and stringent building safety reforms on the horizon, staying on top of repairs and maintenance management tasks will keep you at the top of your game.

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