Checking a shared hallway: a ten-minute list

If you own or manage a building with shared parts, the hallway is where problems start. It is also the easiest place to check, because you can see most of it from the front door.

Here is the walk we would do, in the order we would do it. It takes about ten minutes.

Start at the front door. Stand where a resident would stand and look at the floor first. A clear floor is the aim. Bikes, pushchairs, shoe racks, post and parcels all turn a way out into an obstacle course, and they are hardest to see in the dark.

Look up and along. Check that the lights work, including any that come on if the power fails. Look for smoke detectors and make sure none has been covered, taken down or had its battery removed. A detector that has been silenced is worse than none, because everyone assumes it is working.

Test the doors. Open each door that leads onto the hallway and let go. A fire door should close by itself, all the way, onto its latch. If it stops short, drags on the carpet or has to be pushed, make a note. Look at the gap round the edge: it should be narrow and even, with no daylight showing.

Check the cupboards. Meter cupboards and the space under the stairs collect things quickly. If one holds anything that burns, such as bags, boxes or cleaning supplies, empty it. Keep it locked if residents have no reason to go in.

Read the walls. Is there a notice that tells people what to do if they hear the alarm? Is it current? Do residents know who to call?

Write it down. Photograph anything you want fixed and note the date. A short, dated list is more use than a long memory, and it shows that you looked.

A walk like this is not a fire risk assessment. It cannot tell you whether the stair is built to do its job or whether the alarm covers the whole building. What it does is keep a good hallway good between assessments. If you find something you do not understand, or the same problem returns every month, ask someone to look properly.

Most landlords find that the first walk turns up three or four small things and the second turns up none. That is the point. Repeat it every month, and again after a change of tenant, any building work or a complaint from a resident.

If the same problem keeps coming back, the building needs a better answer, not a sterner notice. A bike store, a bin store and a post box usually settle more arguments than a letter does.