How to Keep One Calendar of Certificate Dates Without Losing the Folder

Three dates in a phone calendar and the PDF still in an engineer’s email is the usual mess. One spreadsheet row per document — property, type, issue, next due, PDF path, proof-of-send — plus one folder per address so a red date opens a file. Build the six columns, colour 90 / 30 / 7 as a habit, keep voids on the sheet, and stop.

Sunday. Beth’s two lets in Nottingham. The phone says “gas — 12 Oak” in 11 days. The PDF is in last October’s engineer email; last year’s paper is in a drawer. The EICR — Electrical Installation Condition Report — on the empty terrace is off the sheet “because nobody is in”. In practice a six-column row, a 90 / 30 / 7 colour, and a folder named 12-Oak-Street would have been the file.

A date without a path is not a file. HSE’s landlord gas FAQ (checked 12 September 2026): you may check up to two months early and keep the anniversary; there is no grace after expiry. An empty let does not pause the sheet. Typical mistake: treating leftover days on an old CP12 as carry-over.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

What does one row per document need in six columns?

One row per document, not one “property due” cell. The six columns are property, type, issue date, next due, where the PDF lives, and proof-of-send. Gas, EICR, EPC, a smoke and CO log and a legionella next-review cannot share one cell. Copy next due off the document.

Do write those six. Do not add Right to Rent, a deposit scheme or How to Rent as the spine. For example, Beth needed a gas row for 12 Oak and a separate EICR row for the empty terrace.

Type is the document, not the house. CP12 is the Landlord Gas Safety Record — twelve months. The EICR is at least every five years, and GOV.UK electrical-safety guidance (1 November 2025) says the report sets the next date — use any earlier printed date. An EPC — energy certificate — lasts ten years once lodged, per the GOV.UK dwellings guide. Smoke and CO are a day-one log; legionella is a next-review date. HSE’s landlord legionella page says there is no test certificate and no annual statute clock.

Proof-of-send is a path: sent email, signed receipt, or “not sent yet”. The 28-day clocks live on the CP12 file and the EICR file. A new tenant gets those copies before they occupy, plus a copy of the lodged EPC. This card only stores where that proof lives.

How do you traffic-light the next 90, 30 and 7 days?

The colours are a booking habit, not a statute. Reminder tools often fire at 90, 30 and 7 days; the regulations do not. At 90 days confirm the PDF path still opens. At 30 days book. At 7 days confirm the visit, or escalate. Red means overdue or the path is dead.

Do set the colours as a Sunday glance, not as law. Do not claim 90 / 30 / 7 sits in the regulations. For gas, 30 days sits inside the HSE two-month window, so September can stay September. Booking six months early can move the anniversary. There is no late grace.

Green is more than 90 days and a path that still opens. Amber at 90 is “look at the folder”. Pressure starts at 30: a name and a slot. A typical mistake is painting the house red because gas is due while the EPC has years left.

How do you pair the sheet with one folder per address?

One folder per address, not one giant “all gas certs” pile. Name it the address — 12-Oak-Street. Current PDFs in CURRENT, last year’s in ARCHIVE. Name files with type and expiry. Paste that path into “where the PDF lives”. A date without a path is a hunt.

Do paste a Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or disk path. Do not leave the live file in email. For example: Drive/12-Oak-Street/CURRENT/CP12-expires-2026-10-12.pdf. The smoke and CO alarm test log and the legionella one-page record live in the same address folder. They still need a path.

Do file current plus the previous record in that address folder. Do not keep one portfolio-wide gas pile. A dead path is already red.

Do you pause the sheet when the let is empty?

No. Clocks do not pause for a void. A still-valid gas record can be copied to a new tenant; if it expired while empty, renew before they occupy. A still-valid EICR does not need a new test just to re-let — you still give a copy. Keep the row on the monthly pass.

Do start the Sunday pass with occupied and empty lets together. HSE’s “what if” gas page (checked 12 September 2026): the record is valid twelve months from the check; a new tenancy inside that period takes a copy. Hide the empty terrace and you find the expiry at keys-out. That was Beth’s problem on 8 Elm.

The monthly pass is short: open every amber and red row, click the PDF path, and check proof-of-send or leave “not sent yet”. Book if you are inside 30 days. If the void’s CP12 or EICR will expire before keys-out, book now. A long empty period can move the legionella next-review; it does not invent a two-year certificate.

When do you stop and leave each certificate file alone?

This card is a date-and-folder habit. It is not a landlord-software category page. Once the six columns exist, the colours are a glance, each date has a path, and the void is still on the Sunday list, you stop. The how-tos live next door.

Do not turn the sheet into a 2026 statute dump. Gas, EICR, EPC, alarms and legionella how-tos sit next door. Workflow: Build six columns → Colour 90 / 30 / 7 → Paste the folder path → Fill send-proof or “not sent yet” → Monthly void pass → Stop.

Success bar: open the sheet, click a red or amber path, and land on the current PDF plus send-proof or “not sent yet”, including the empty let, in a minute. Verify that checklist, then stop. An IziRento workspace can hold the property, a reminder and a path to the PDF. It does not certify the let.