When the drainage contract changes, what should the block keep?

Plans are a good place to begin. Ask for a dated copy that connects the locations named in reports with recognisable parts of the building or grounds. If a report refers to a numbered chamber, someone reading the plan should be able to find that reference. Where different contractors have used different labels, request a simple explanation of how they correspond. Mark uncertain routes as uncertain rather than presenting an old drawing as a confirmed account of what is underground.

Inspection records need context too. Keep the report with its date, stated scope and any accompanying images or footage that are available. Ask the contractor to explain which areas were examined and which were not, including any recorded limitations. A reassuring conclusion about one section should not become a description of the whole block merely because the original qualification was lost from an email summary.

Repair history benefits from the same care. A quotation describes proposed work; it does not, by itself, establish that the work happened. Look for records describing what was completed, where and when. Keep any subsequent inspection or check alongside them, if one was carried out. Where completion evidence is missing, record that gap and seek clarification. Missing paperwork alone does not establish whether a repair took place.

Unfinished matters deserve their own short record. For each recommendation, set out the evidence it came from, its current status and who is taking the next step. Distinguish work awaiting a quotation from work awaiting approval, and both from work booked but not yet recorded as complete. If an earlier contractor described a concern as urgent, preserve that wording and its date so the incoming contractor can explain its present significance.

Before the outgoing contractor's access ends, check that the managing agent can actually open the material being retained. Download links, unfamiliar video formats and files held only in an individual employee's inbox can complicate an otherwise straightforward transfer. Test the files and agree where the block's working record will be kept. Share access instructions through an appropriately restricted channel.

Leaseholders do not need to interpret every survey image to ask useful questions. They can ask the managing agent for a plain-language account of known concerns, outstanding decisions and missing information. Where an explanation is unclear, ask which report supports it and whether it describes an observation, a recommendation or an assumption.

The incoming contractor can then review the available information and explain where clarification or further investigation would help. That conversation should distinguish an identified problem from uncertainty caused by incomplete records. It should also make clear what can be answered from the existing material before new work is proposed.

A useful handover leaves the block with a record it can continue to update. Each later visit or decision should fit into the same history, so the next change of contractor begins with an understandable account rather than another search through attachments.

Laurie Poulter handles Website & Marketing at Happy Drains.