Site Condition Record Before Works Checklist

Go through each room and write a plain description of every existing mark, chip, crack, stain and worn area, naming the wall or surface it sits on.

A written description with a location is far easier to use later than an image alone, because it says which wall and what was already there.

Note the condition of floors beneath any covering you can lift at an edge, including boards, tiles, thresholds and any loose or hollow-sounding area.

Floors are worked on, walked on and covered by protection, and their earlier state is disputed more often than almost anything else.

Record doors that already stick, windows that already do not close properly, and handles, catches or hinges that are already loose.

Existing faults are attributed to the work unless they were written down first, and the small ones cause the most friction.

Write down anything already repaired or patched, because a patch that reopens during the work looks like fresh damage to everybody involved.

Old repairs move again with vibration, and knowing they were there changes the conversation entirely.

Note the condition of anything decorative that cannot easily be replaced, such as cornice, a tiled hearth, an original stair or a coloured glass panel.

Ask a qualified professional how fragile original features should be protected before any work begins near them.

List what stays in the property and where it is stored, so items are not later described as damaged, moved or missing without a starting point.

Stored contents get shifted repeatedly during works, and an inventory prevents an unwinnable argument at the end.

Write down the condition of the drive, paths and every hard surface a vehicle, container or barrow will cross or stand on.

Surfaces designed for a car behave differently under repeated heavy loads, and the difference shows up as cracking.

Note existing cracked slabs, sunken areas, loose kerbs, leaning gate posts and damaged edging, since any of them may later be attributed to the works.

External defects accumulate slowly over the years and nobody remembers which were already there once heavy vehicles have visited.

Record the condition of gates, fences, railings and the fixings holding them, particularly anything already leaning or already loose in the ground.

Boundary structures move on their own, and without a record every movement becomes somebody's responsibility.

Note existing damage to external walls, sills, downpipes, air bricks and render before scaffolding, ladders or plant go anywhere near them.

Ask a qualified professional about anything on the external fabric you cannot describe confidently rather than guessing at it in the record.

Record the position and condition of every drain cover, gully and inspection chamber on the route in and around the working area.

Ask a qualified professional what protection a drain, gully or chamber needs before any load passes over it.

Note the state of the pavement, verge or shared surface immediately outside, and confirm locally who is responsible for it.

Damage to a public surface is somebody else's to pursue, which makes a dated record outside the boundary worth having.

Write down where each existing crack is, what it runs across, and whether it appears to stop at the finish or continue into what lies behind.

Nothing here tells you what a crack means. Describe what you can see and ask a qualified professional to look at anything that concerns you.

Mark the ends of any crack you want to keep an eye on and date the mark, without attempting to judge what any change would mean.

A dated mark gives a professional something concrete to work from later, which a description alone does not.

Note where floors feel uneven and where doors clear the floor unevenly, describing what you notice rather than what you think causes it.

Owners are good at noticing these things and poor at explaining them, so the record should stop at the observation.

Record existing staining, tide marks, blistered paint or soft plaster, and note whether the area feels damp or cold to the touch.

Damp signs need a qualified professional to establish the cause. Recording them is useful; interpreting them is not something to attempt yourself.

Photograph each item you have described so the wording and the image sit together in one record rather than in two separate places.

Descriptions and images separated across a phone and a notebook are almost impossible to reconcile afterwards.

Keep your descriptions factual and free of conclusions, since a record that speculates about causes is much easier for anyone to dismiss.

A plain factual record carries more weight in a later discussion than one full of guesses about why something happened.

Write down the reading on every meter at the property on the day the work begins, and photograph each display alongside the written figure.

Readings taken at handover give both sides a starting point for any later question about what was used during the work.

Record where the water stopcock, gas control, consumer unit and any isolating valve are, and whether each one can actually be reached and operated.

An isolation point behind a cupboard full of belongings is not an isolation point when it is needed in a hurry.

Note which supplies will be used by whoever is working at the property, and how that use is to be accounted for between you.

Use of water and power during works is normal, and agreeing how it is treated at the start avoids an awkward conversation at the end.

Record the position of any external tap, drain connection, aerial, satellite fitting or external light that could be disturbed by the work.

Small external fittings are removed without comment during works and are noticed only when somebody wants to use them.

Note what is working at the point of handover and would be missed immediately if it stopped, such as heating, hot water or a boiler control.

Recording what worked beforehand removes any doubt about whether a fault existed before anyone arrived.

Ask who to contact about a supply problem while the property is in someone else's use, and keep that contact with the record.

Contact the relevant supplier or a qualified professional about any supply, meter or isolation question rather than acting on the record alone.

Identify every structure shared with a neighbour, including a party wall, a boundary wall, a shared drive, a fence and any joined outbuilding.

Shared and adjoining structures raise legal questions. Take advice from a qualified adviser about what applies before work is planned near them.

Record the visible condition of the neighbour's side where you can see it, with their agreement, and offer them a copy of what you write down.

A record shared openly with a neighbour is far more useful than one produced only after a disagreement has started.

Note where their planting, outbuilding, path, parking or vehicle sits close to the working area, and describe its condition now.

Items close to a boundary are the ones most affected by scaffolding, spoil and delivery vehicles.

Record the condition of anything belonging to others that the work depends on using, such as a gate, an alley or a section of fence.

Using something that belongs to somebody else makes its condition your concern from the day the work starts.

Ask the neighbour whether they want to make their own record, and agree how both records are kept and referred to later.

Two records made at the same time and exchanged are much harder to argue with than one produced by a single side.

Note any existing disagreement about a boundary or shared structure, and keep the condition record separate from that discussion entirely.

Existing boundary disagreements belong with a qualified adviser. Do not use a condition record to advance a position on one.

Record the position and condition of trees, hedges, mature planting and anything that would take a very long time to replace.

Confirm locally what protections apply to trees and hedges, and ask a qualified professional, before any work happens near them.

Note where lawn, borders and topsoil are, and write down what would happen to them if material or a container stood there.

Ground under stored material rarely recovers on its own, and reinstating it is a separate piece of work nobody has agreed.

Record garden structures, external lighting, irrigation, a pond, a washing line and anything buried in the garden that you know about.

Buried garden services are found with a spade, and telling people about them beforehand is the only real protection.

Note anything you would want reinstated exactly as it is, such as a step, an edging line, a gravel margin or a paved pattern.

Reinstatement to the same appearance only happens if it was recorded and asked for before anything was lifted.

Write down what has been agreed to be lifted, stored and put back, and where those items will be kept while the work continues.

Paving and planting lifted for storage often disappear because nobody wrote down that they were meant to return.

Photograph the garden from fixed positions you can find again, so the same views can be repeated once the work has finished.

Gardens change so gradually during works that only matching views make the difference visible.

Decide who receives the record before work begins, and send it to them rather than simply offering to show it if asked.

A record nobody received is easily characterised later as something written after the event.

Ask for written acknowledgement that the record was received, and keep that acknowledgement stored with the record itself.

Acknowledgement is what turns a private note into a shared starting point everyone accepts.

Agree how any disagreement with the record is raised, and that it should be raised before work begins rather than at the end.

Objections raised at the start are easy to settle; the same objection at the end is a dispute.

Note that a record produced by a qualified professional is a different thing entirely, and ask whether one is appropriate for your situation.

Whether a professionally prepared condition record is needed depends on the property and the work. Ask a qualified professional rather than deciding yourself.

Keep the record unchanged once it has been issued, and add later observations as separate dated notes rather than editing the original text.

An edited record loses its value immediately, while a dated series of additions keeps it intact.

Store the record where it can be found afterwards, together with the acknowledgement and the images it refers to.

Questions about a property surface long after the work, usually when the papers have been split up or lost.