Vacant property inspections: What to check, record and follow up
A widening damp patch, a locked cupboard and a repair awaiting approval can all disappear behind two words: “all secure”. A useful vacant property inspection leaves a clearer record. It shows what has changed, which areas remain unchecked and who is responsible for dealing with each problem.
Agree the plan before the first visit
Start with the insurance policy’s vacancy conditions: notification requirements, inspection intervals and any instructions for heating or utilities. Ask the insurer or broker to clarify ambiguous wording before setting the schedule. Weekly visits are not a universal rule.
Agree who holds keys, receives urgent reports and authorises repairs. Give the visitor access instructions and emergency contacts, with clear safety limits: stay out of unsafe areas and report suspected intrusion without approaching anyone.
On the first visit, establish a dated baseline using photographs of accessible rooms, notes on existing defects, meter readings and documented utility settings. Keep it alongside the inspection plan for comparison on later visits.
Check utilities against the agreed arrangements
Checking for leaks and managing water hygiene are separate tasks. Use the property’s Legionella Risk Assessment and associated water-management plan to establish the controls needed during vacancy. Reduced use can leave water standing in pipework, and a search for leaks alone cannot establish microbiological water safety. Seek competent advice where the arrangements no longer reflect the building’s use.
Check that supplies and heating are in their agreed state, recording accessible meter readings where these form part of the plan. Flag unexplained changes in consumption for investigation.
Shutdown decisions belong in the vacancy plan, rather than being improvised during a visit. Alarms and other essential equipment may need power; water and frost-protection arrangements depend on the property. Record any departure from the agreed setup and refer it to the person responsible.
Follow the same route and look for changes
Begin outside with accessible boundaries, gates, doors and windows, looking for damage or tampering. Note dumped rubbish, accumulating post and visible drainage problems. Observe roofs and gutters from a safe position at ground level.
Inside, use a consistent room sequence. Look for fresh staining, damp, pooling water, damaged glazing, pest activity and combustible waste. Compare areas of concern with earlier photographs: a stain that has spread beyond its previous outline tells the maintenance team more than another entry saying “damp present”.
Take a close-up and a wider photograph showing the location. Together, they help someone unfamiliar with the building find the defect.
Give unchecked areas their own entries, stating the reason and what access is needed. “Store cupboard locked, interior not checked” accurately describes the visit. A satisfactory result from last time should never be carried forward as though the room had been inspected again.
Write findings someone can act on
Identify the property, visitor, date and time, areas covered and access limitations. Each defect needs a location, observation, photograph reference, follow-up action, responsible person and target date. Adapt these recommended fields to the property and its policy requirements.
Keep observations separate from diagnosis. Report a wet ceiling; leave the cause, whether a roof defect or something else, for investigation by a suitable contractor.
A hypothetical entry might read: “Ground-floor rear office: staining below the window extends beyond the area photographed at the previous visit. Photograph 06 attached. Property manager to arrange investigation by Friday and upload the findings. Cause unconfirmed.”
Set deadlines according to the seriousness of the finding. Communicate urgent hazards immediately through the agreed response route, then record that communication in the report. For routine work, note who accepted the task and when an update is due. The reader should be able to distinguish a newly observed problem from one under investigation or awaiting repair.
Follow repairs through to handover
At the next visit, return to outstanding actions. Establish whether the contractor attended, what work was completed and which supporting records are available. Keep “repair requested” and “repair completed” as distinct statuses, with evidence supporting closure.
Retain the original reference for unresolved defects and update their progress. This preserves the history and makes delays visible. Arrange cover when the person responsible is unavailable, particularly where urgent work is pending.
Before reoccupation, hand over the inspection history, utility arrangements, specialist maintenance records and unresolved defects to whoever manages reopening. Highlight checks still required before people return. An up-to-date inspection log supports this handover; readiness for occupation depends on completing the relevant reopening checks.
