School Estates Statutory Compliance Checklist

A trust-wide compliance view starts with a reliable record for each site. You need to know which inspection or review applies, who carries it out, when it is due and what happened after the last visit.

This checklist covers seven common areas in school estates across England. It does not replace your risk assessments, competent-person advice or the requirements that apply to a particular building. Use it to review your records and find gaps in the follow-up work.

Start With Ownership and Evidence

Record the responsible body and the people who manage each duty locally. A trust may delegate tasks to a school, but the employer or dutyholder keeps its legal responsibility.

For each check, hold:

• the asset, system, building or area covered
• the risk assessment, inspection or maintenance requirement
• the competent person or contractor and their relevant credentials
• the due date, completion record and certificate or report
• defects, remedial actions, owners and closure evidence

The DfE's health and safety guidance for school estates explains the employer and premises responsibilities and lists the documents schools should maintain.

Fire Safety

The responsible person must complete and review a fire risk assessment. Keep the written assessment, emergency plan, staff training records and the maintenance history for detection, alarms, firefighting equipment, doors and escape routes.

Check that:

• the fire risk assessment covers the current layout and use of the premises
• significant changes trigger a review
• your schedule follows the risk assessment, system guidance and competent-person advice
• fire drills, alarm tests, servicing and remedial work have dated records
• actions from the assessment have an owner and closure evidence

The Home Office publishes fire risk assessment guidance for educational premises.

Asbestos

For academies and free schools, the academy trust is generally the asbestos dutyholder. Responsibility follows control over maintenance and repair and may be shared with other dutyholders. The dutyholder must identify asbestos-containing materials, record their location and condition, assess the risk and maintain a management plan.

Check that:

• the asbestos register and management plan match the current estate
• the plan sets inspection and review arrangements
• staff and contractors can see relevant asbestos information before work starts
• damage or deterioration leads to an assessment and recorded action
• anyone who may disturb asbestos has suitable training and competence

HSE provides an asbestos management checklist for schools based on issues found during inspections.

Legionella and Water Hygiene

The dutyholder must assess and control the risk of exposure to legionella. The control scheme should follow the water-system risk assessment and name the people responsible for the work.

Check that:

• the risk assessment reflects the current hot and cold water systems
• the written control scheme identifies outlets, temperatures and other monitoring points
• flushing, temperature monitoring, cleaning and sampling follow the risk-based scheme
• closed outlets, changes in use and holiday periods receive review
• failed readings or other exceptions lead to recorded action

Use HSE's HSG274 guidance for hot and cold water systems when setting the control scheme.

Gas Installations and Appliances

Gas appliances, installation pipework and flues must remain in a safe condition. A Gas Safe registered engineer with competence for the relevant non-domestic work must carry out gas work.

Check that:

• each appliance, flue and section of relevant pipework appears in the maintenance plan
• the schedule follows manufacturer instructions and competent-person advice
• the school records inspections, servicing, defects and remedial work
• unsafe or suspect equipment stays out of use until a competent person clears it
• any residential accommodation on the estate receives the additional landlord checks that apply

DfE guidance describes at least annual gas safety checks of appliances and associated pipework as good practice for schools. Treat this as guidance for the maintenance plan, not as a substitute for the requirements that apply to the installation.

Electrical Installations and Equipment

The Electricity at Work Regulations require electrical systems and work equipment to be maintained to prevent danger. The law does not set one inspection interval for every installation or portable appliance.

Check that:

• a competent person sets fixed-installation inspection intervals from the risk
• reports identify the installation covered and any limitations
• observations and defects lead to prioritised remedial work
• portable-equipment checks reflect the equipment, environment and way it is used
• damaged equipment comes out of use until repaired or replaced

Avoid treating annual portable appliance testing as a universal legal requirement. DfE and HSE guidance support a risk-based maintenance regime.

Lifts and Lifting Equipment

LOLER requires lifts used to carry people at work to receive a thorough examination every six months and goods-only lifts every 12 months, unless a competent person sets an examination scheme. Maintenance and thorough examination are separate activities.

Check that:

• the lift register identifies passenger, goods and accessibility equipment
• a competent person completes thorough examinations at the required interval
• the school retains reports and resolves defects within the stated timescale
• maintenance visits do not get recorded as thorough examinations
• breakdown, alarm and emergency arrangements are current

HSE explains the requirements for passenger lifts and thorough examinations.

Emergency Lighting

Emergency escape lighting helps people use escape routes when normal lighting fails. Its inspection and testing regime should reflect the fire risk assessment, system design and competent-person advice.

Check that:

• the asset list covers fittings, batteries, test points and the routes they serve
• staff record routine function tests and any failures
• a competent person completes the detailed condition and duration tests
• failed fittings lead to prompt repair and closure evidence
• changes to escape routes trigger a review of coverage

DfE guidance encourages schools to record a monthly flash test and describes a more detailed six-month condition test, including a three-hour battery test, as good practice.

Connect the Record to the Remedial Work

A certificate does not close a defect. Link each observation to the person responsible, the target date and the evidence that shows what they did. Across a trust, use the same statuses and reporting fields at each school so the central team can compare sites without rebuilding the data in a spreadsheet.

CalmCompliance schedules recurring work, holds certificates and reports against the relevant premises or asset, and keeps follow-up actions with the source record. It helps your team organise evidence and spot gaps; competent people still carry out the work and the responsible body keeps its duties.

For the wider DfE picture, read SEMS, GEMS and MYEE: what schools need before September 2026. You can also see how school compliance software brings the estate, policies, risks and training into one trust-wide view.

Try it Free or Book Demo to see the workflow across your schools.

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Sources

• Department for Education, Good estate management for schools: health and safety, updated 20 July 2026.
• Department for Education, School estate management standards annual return, published 17 July 2026.
• Home Office, Fire safety risk assessment: educational premises, updated 12 September 2023.
• Health and Safety Executive, Asbestos management checklist for schools, accessed 10 August 2026.
• Health and Safety Executive, Legionnaires' disease: technical guidance HSG274, second edition, March 2024.
• Health and Safety Executive, Passenger lifts and escalators, accessed 10 August 2026.