The certificate nobody has seen since last year
An owner's gas safety certificate expired last month. The owner thought you arranged it; your team thought the owner did. Nobody noticed until a guest reported a smell of gas, or an insurer asked for the record, or a new team member finally went through the spreadsheet. Meanwhile guests have been staying.
Across a portfolio of owner-arranged checks, with different contractors and dates for every property, this is easy to miss and hard to defend.
Why records slip in holiday lets
In many agency agreements, owners remain responsible for arranging some checks and the agency for others, and who does what varies owner by owner. Certificates arrive by email to whoever the owner happens to know, or not at all.
The dates are written on PDFs, not held anywhere that can send reminders. A spreadsheet can list them, but nobody updates it reliably, and it does not know which properties have bookings coming up.
What lapsed records cost
We will not advise on what a property legally needs; your advisers and the relevant guidance decide that. Practically, a lapsed or missing record means uncertainty about whether a property should be let, awkward conversations with owners and insurers, and scrambling to book a contractor before the next arrival. It also puts your agency's name at risk if something goes wrong at a property you are marketing.
The records tracker we build
We build a tracker that knows which checks each property needs under your policy, who is responsible, and when each is due.
- Required checks: for each property type, your policy sets the records required, based on your advisers' guidance. We configure them; we do not decide them.
- Responsibility: each check is assigned to the owner or the agency per the owner's agreement, so reminders go to the right person.
- Certificate upload: owners and contractors upload certificates through a link. A document model reads type, date and expiry and proposes them for a person to confirm.
- Reminders: the responsible person is reminded ahead of expiry, then chased, with your team copied if nothing arrives.
- Booking awareness: properties with missing or expired records and upcoming bookings are flagged prominently, so your team can decide what to do in good time.
- Evidence file: every property's current records can be produced for owners, insurers or inspections on request.
| Example record | Usually arranged by | Tracked as |
|---|---|---|
| Gas safety | Owner or agency, per agreement | Annual, with reminders |
| Electrical check | Owner or agency, per agreement | Per interval your policy sets |
| Fire risk assessment | Owner, often with a specialist | Review date with actions |
| Alarms and extinguishers | Owner or maintenance contractor | Servicing dates |
| Appliance testing | Agency or owner | Per interval your policy sets |
After the change
Every property's records are in one place, with dates and responsibilities clear. Owners get reminders directly and early. Your team sees problems while there is still time to act, rather than after an incident or an insurer's question. New owners are onboarded with their records collected from the start.
Is this your situation?
- Safety certificates for properties are tracked in a spreadsheet, or not at all.
- It is not always clear whether the owner or the agency arranges each check.
- Certificates have expired without anyone noticing.
- Producing records for an insurer or owner takes time.
- You find out about lapsed records when a booking is imminent.