External Repair Priority Record Checklist

Give each face of the building a name you will use consistently, such as the road side, the garden side and each of the two ends.

Consistent naming is what allows a professional to find an item you described without you standing next to them.

Give every item its own entry with a reference, the elevation it sits on, its rough position and the date you first noticed it.

Separate entries let items be answered, tracked and closed off one at a time rather than being presented as one large grievance.

Take one photograph close to each item and one from further back showing where on the elevation it sits.

A close photograph without context is almost impossible to locate again, which is the most common flaw in owner records.

Describe what you can see in plain words, such as a crack, a stain, a missing piece or a loose edge, and stop short of saying why.

Working out the cause of an external defect is a matter for a suitably qualified professional; a guess in the record can mislead them.

Note the areas you cannot see at all, such as high roof slopes, a rear valley or a face you can only view from a neighbouring property.

Naming the blind spots stops the list being read as complete when it is only the part visible from the ground.

Keep the entries, the photographs and the dates in a single place rather than across messages, notes and different devices.

A record spread over several places gets partially updated, and the partial version is the one that gets sent.

Mark any external item that has a matching mark, damp patch or smell somewhere inside, and note where inside that is.

An outside item with an inside symptom is a different sort of entry, and pairing the two is genuinely useful information.

Mark the items that are about appearance alone as far as you can tell, such as tired paintwork or discolouration on a surface.

Separating appearance from performance keeps the list honest and stops everything being presented at the same pitch.

Note anything that appears loose, lifted or displaced, such as a slipped covering, a lifting edge or a piece that has come away.

Anything loose at height should be reported to a suitably qualified professional straight away rather than added to a list for later.

Record where staining or run-off marks appear on a wall, and note what sits directly above each mark on the same elevation.

What is above a stain is usually more relevant than the stain itself, and it is easy to photograph at the same time.

Note any item that has been repaired before and returned, and write down what was done and roughly when, even if only approximately.

A returning defect is a different conversation from a new one, and the history changes what a professional will look for.

For each item on a wall, note what is above it on the same elevation, such as a gutter, a joint, a sill or a roof edge.

Repairing a wall face beneath something that keeps wetting it is the classic example of work done in the wrong order.

Note where gutters, downpipes, hoppers or outlets appear blocked, split or discharging against the building rather than away from it.

Rainwater goods affect everything below them, which is why they usually come up early in any sensible sequence.

List any decoration or finish that would be spoiled if a nearby repair were carried out afterwards, and note which items those are.

Painting before an adjacent repair is a familiar way to pay for the same work twice over.

Note where a professional has said, or you suspect, that an area needs to dry out before anything is applied to it.

Whether a surface is dry enough to work on is a judgement for a suitably qualified professional, not something to decide by touch.

Ask a qualified professional what order they would put these items in and why, and write down the reasoning rather than only the order.

The reasoning is what lets you handle the next item sensibly without asking again.

Mark on your record which items you believe depend on another, and label each of those as a question rather than a conclusion.

Owner observed dependencies are often right and occasionally wrong, so labelling them keeps the record trustworthy.

Group the items by which face they are on and roughly how high they sit, so that anything needing the same access appears together.

Items grouped by access can be considered as one piece of work, which is how professionals will think about them anyway.

Mark every item that could not be reached from the ground, and note that you have not attempted to look at any of them closely.

Anything you cannot see from the ground has to be reached by a suitably qualified professional with the right access equipment.

Note any item that could only be reached from a neighbouring property, a shared path or land you do not control.

Access over land you do not own raises legal questions and neighbour agreements that belong with a suitably qualified professional.

Record what stands in the way around the building, such as planting, a conservatory, a store, a boundary structure or a parked vehicle.

Obstructions decide whether access is straightforward or awkward, and they are easy to photograph while you are out there.

Note anything you would want looked at while access is already in place, such as a fixing, a light or a hard to reach surface.

Access already in place is the moment to deal with the small items that otherwise never get done.

Mark the items where you genuinely cannot tell whether anything is changing, and keep them on the record rather than dropping them.

Uncertain items disappear from mental lists and then reappear as surprises, which is exactly what the record is for.

Photograph each watched item from the same spot each time, including something fixed in the frame so the images can be compared.

Comparable images are the only reliable way to see whether something has moved or spread.

Write down the weather and conditions when each observation is made, since the same wall can look quite different wet and dry.

Conditions explain most apparent changes, and without them a set of photographs can be genuinely misleading.

Ask a qualified professional what change would mean the item should no longer be watched, and write that answer into the record.

The point at which observation should stop and action begin has to be set by a suitably qualified professional who has seen the property.

Resist filling, sealing or painting over anything you are watching, since that removes the evidence you are trying to gather.

A patched crack tells nobody anything, and it is the most common way an observation record is quietly destroyed.

Note which items you have been told need settled dry conditions, and mark them so they can be grouped when the opportunity arises.

Grouping weather dependent items means they can be taken together rather than each waiting separately for its chance.

Record whether planting, nesting birds or growth against a wall would affect when an area can be reached or worked on.

Wildlife and protected species can restrict when work may be carried out, and this must be confirmed with a suitably qualified professional.

Note anything about how the property is used that constrains external work, such as a room that cannot be closed up or a route that must stay clear.

Occupancy constraints are easy to accommodate when known in advance and disruptive when they surface once work has started.

Write down which items sit on a shared wall, a shared roof or a boundary structure, and note who else is involved.

A shared or boundary structure brings another owner into the picture, so take advice from a suitably qualified professional before planning anything there.

Note where cables, a supply, a meter box or an outside unit sits on or near an item, since somebody else may need to attend.

Services on an elevation regularly hold up straightforward work because nobody arranged the attendance in advance.

Mark the items where you would not be surprised if more work appeared once the surface came off, based on the age or condition around them.

Naming these in advance turns a mid job surprise into something that was already expected by both sides.

Agree in writing what should happen if something unexpected is found, including who is told and whether the work pauses.

The rule is easy to agree beforehand and very difficult to agree while somebody is standing on a platform waiting.

Ask for photographs of anything uncovered before it is repaired or covered again, and keep them with the record.

These photographs answer questions long afterwards and take almost no effort at the moment they are made.

Note where an older property may involve materials that need careful handling, and treat that as a question before anything is disturbed.

Suspected hazardous materials must be identified and handled by a suitably qualified specialist and never disturbed on a hunch.

Record what you would want a repair to match in appearance, and note where an exact match is unlikely to be achievable.

Matching expectations set before the work happens are far easier to live with than disappointments discovered after.

Present the list as a set of dated observations rather than as a schedule of work, and say plainly that it may be incomplete.

How the record is introduced shapes how it is read, and an honest framing invites a proper look rather than a hurried response.

Ask what is not on the list that should be, particularly for the parts of the building you were never able to see.

The most useful response to an owner record is usually about the items it does not contain.

Ask which of the items are related to one another, since several entries can turn out to be one issue seen from different places.

Consolidating related entries usually simplifies the picture and changes what should be looked at first.

Write the advice you are given against the relevant entry, including who said it and when, rather than keeping it in your head.

Advice attached to the item it concerns is retrievable; advice held in memory is not.

Keep adding to the record after work is done, noting what was repaired and when, so the next person has the history you did not.

A maintained record is one of the few things that genuinely improves the position of the next owner of the building.