Lighting Handover Information Request Checklist

Ask for a written list of every fitting by room, with its supplier reference and finish, rather than accepting a verbal summary.

Without a list, identifying a fitting later means guessing from a photograph, which rarely works.

Walk each room with the list in hand and note anything present that is not on it, or listed that you cannot find.

Discrepancies are easy to resolve while the people who did the work are still available.

Ask whether anything supplied differed from what was originally chosen, and note what changed and where.

Substitutions happen quietly during a project and are almost impossible to reconstruct afterwards.

Include the spaces that get left off lists, such as cupboards, lofts, the garage, a porch and anything outside.

These are exactly the fittings nobody can identify when one eventually fails.

Photograph each room with the lighting on and again with it off, and keep the pictures with the list.

Photographs taken at handover become the reference for how everything was meant to look.

Record who supplied each item and who carried out the installation, since the two are frequently different people.

Knowing which of them to approach saves considerable time when something needs attention.

Ask which documents relating to the electrical work will be issued to you, and by whom, before the work is treated as finished.

Asking in advance is far more effective than chasing paperwork after everyone has moved on.

What documentation applies to electrical work where you live must be confirmed with a qualified electrician and the relevant local authority.

Keep every document, information sheet and instruction that arrives, including those that came in fitting packaging.

Packaging inserts are usually thrown away on site and contain information that cannot be recovered later.

Where a document is unclear to you, note your question and put it to a qualified professional rather than forming your own conclusion.

Interpreting any document issued in connection with electrical work is a matter for a suitably qualified professional.

Ask whether anything about the lighting remains outstanding or is to be returned to, and get that written down.

Outstanding items agreed only in conversation tend to disappear once the site is cleared.

Ask for the maker information for every fitting and any control equipment, and keep it in the same place as everything else.

This material is the only source for what a specific item needs and what its maker says about it.

Note the name of the person who gave you each document and when, and keep that note with the paperwork.

Handover conversations blur together quickly, and a name written at the time is worth a great deal later.

Ask what light source each fitting takes, recorded in the terms the supplier uses, and add it to your room list.

The description in the maker terms is what allows a replacement to be found without opening the fitting.

Keep the packaging or a single example of any light source used, since it carries the description you will need again.

A physical example removes all doubt when someone is trying to match it.

Ask whether any spare fittings or components have been left on the property, and record where they have been put.

Spares left in a loft or cupboard are lost as soon as nobody remembers they exist.

Ask for a list of any fittings that cannot be relamped, so the household knows which ones mean a fitting change.

This distinction matters most when the first failure happens and expectations differ.

Note anything you are told about matching the colour of light when a replacement is needed, in the words you were given.

A mismatched replacement in a row is visible immediately, and the guidance is easily lost.

Ask which replacements a qualified electrician should carry out, and record that answer alongside the list.

Any replacement involving a fitting, its supply or a concealed component should be arranged with a qualified electrician.

Walk every control with whoever set it up, and write down what each one operates in your own words as you go.

Labels rarely survive, and a written note made while walking round is far more reliable than memory.

Photograph every control plate and panel as it was left, including any markings on it.

A photograph of the original arrangement is the fastest way to restore something later.

Note the settings that were established for each room and what each was intended for, describing them by activity rather than by level.

A setting described by its purpose can be recreated, while one described by a position on a dial usually cannot.

Ask what the household can adjust itself and what needs a qualified person, and write the boundary down plainly.

Any adjustment beyond ordinary everyday use should be carried out by a qualified electrician rather than attempted by the household.

Ask what happens to the settings if the supply is interrupted, and whether anything needs doing afterwards.

Households are caught out by this at the worst possible moment and usually with nobody to ask.

Note how you would explain the controls to a visitor, a guest or anyone staying, and write that short explanation down.

A scheme only one person understands becomes a nuisance for everyone else in the household.

Ask for photographs of the ceilings, walls and joinery before they are closed, with something in shot to give a sense of position.

These pictures are the only lasting record of what runs where behind a finished surface.

Ask where any concealed components sit and have those positions marked on a plan as well as photographed.

A photograph shows what is there and a plan shows where, and both are needed to find it again.

Ask for a record of where supply routes run behind walls and ceilings, and keep it with the property paperwork.

Anyone later hanging a picture or fitting a shelf will want this, and it is impossible to reconstruct.

Before drilling or fixing into any wall or ceiling, treat the record as guidance only and have the position checked by a qualified person.

Note where any access panel has been provided in joinery or a ceiling, and photograph it before furniture goes back.

Access panels vanish behind furnishings as soon as the household moves back in and the rooms are refilled.

Ask what has been left in lofts and voids that relates to the lighting, and note it in the record.

Items in voids are forgotten completely unless somebody writes down that they are there.

Ask for a copy of the final lighting drawings as built, rather than the version issued before the work started.

Positions change during work, and the early drawing quietly becomes misleading.

Ask for a walk round after dark rather than accepting a daytime demonstration of the lighting.

Almost every lighting scheme is handed over in daylight, which shows nothing about how it performs.

Sit in the usual seats and lie on the beds during that walk, noting any fitting that is uncomfortable to look at from there.

Glare is only found from the positions people actually occupy, and standing in the middle of a room reveals none of it.

Operate every switch and control yourself during the walk, and note anything that does not do what you expected.

Controls that seem obvious to the installer are often puzzling to the household, and that is worth saying at the time.

Write down anything that seems wrong as an observation to raise, rather than as a conclusion about the work.

An observation invites an explanation, while a conclusion invites a disagreement.

Whether anything requires attention is for a suitably qualified professional to determine, not for an owner walk round.

Include the cupboards, the loft, the garage and any outside fitting in the walk, since these are missed most often.

Faults in rarely used spaces go unnoticed until long after everyone has gone.

Send your notes from the walk in writing to whoever is responsible, and keep a copy with the lighting record.

A written note fixes what was raised and when, which serves everybody involved.

Keep the whole lighting record in one place with the rest of the property paperwork rather than spread between folders and messages.

Information split between paper, email and memory is effectively lost when someone else needs it.

Make a copy of the paperwork and photographs and store it somewhere separate from the originals.

Paperwork kept only on the property is lost with the property in the event of damage.

Label the record in plain language that somebody other than you would understand, naming rooms as the household names them.

A record labelled with drawing references is unusable by whoever needs it in a hurry.

Tell everyone in the household where the record is kept, rather than relying on one person knowing.

The person who assembled the record is rarely the person at home when a light fails.

Keep the record in a form that could be handed to a future owner or occupier with the property.

Lighting information is among the first things lost when a property changes hands, and it is easy to preserve.

Leave room in the record for later notes, adding anything replaced, adjusted or found to be awkward in use.

A record that grows stays useful, while one that is closed at handover becomes historic quickly.