How to Keep a Smoke and CO Alarm Test Log That Proves the Day-One Check

A Thursday “alarms ok” text plus an inventory line that says “alarms present” will not prove the start-day check. On the day the tenant is entitled to possession, press every required smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarm, write one timed line each, get a tenant sign or a same-day email, replace any fail before keys leave, and file the sheet with the tenancy — not in chat.

Saturday 17:40. Nia’s two-storey terrace in Derby. Keys on the hallway table. A log burner in the lounge. She pressed the hall alarm on Thursday while the cleaner was in, so Saturday would stay tidy. The landing unit is silent. Nobody writes a line. The tenant signs the inventory “as seen”. In March they tell the council the landing alarm never worked. In practice three timed lines, a tenant sign, and a replace/re-test before keys would have been the file.

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

When to test — the start day, or last Thursday?

Test on the calendar day the tenant is entitled to possession — the day they may take the keys — and write that day’s time on the log. A mid-week cleaner test is useful prep. It does not replace the start-day line. A gas-safety visit last month does not replace it either.

England’s working-order check sits on that possession day if it is a new tenancy. SI 2015/1693 regulation 4 says a tenancy begins on the day they are entitled to possession. GOV.UK’s landlord and tenant Q&A (updated 29 July 2022; still live as of 10 September 2026) says keep a record of when alarms are tested; the local housing authority judges the evidence. A gas-safety visit does not replace the start-day check. Typical mistake: treating “sometime that week” as close enough. CertNudge (reviewed 9 March 2026) calls that the weak file. Do press Thursday to catch a dead unit. Do write a Saturday line when Saturday is possession day.

What to write on one line per alarm?

Walk the empty house and list every required unit before anyone arrives. Write one smoke line per lived-in storey — a hall or landing counts as a room. Write one CO line for every living-accommodation room with a fixed combustion appliance other than a gas cooker. Then press each listed button and fill the line.

A test log is a same-day sheet with one line per alarm: address, start date, time, type, exact location (“first-floor landing ceiling”, not “hallway”), result, who tested, acknowledgement, follow-up. For example, Nia’s terrace needs hall smoke, landing smoke, and lounge CO — three rows, not “alarms present”. SI 2022/707 put the “fixed combustion, not a gas cooker” wording in from 1 October 2022 — boiler, gas fire, oil boiler, wood burner or open fire. NRLA (updated 13 August 2025) restates the same storey and combustion-room coverage. Staple this log to the check-in inventory. Do not replace the per-unit lines with one inventory sentence, and do not start a room-by-room schedule here.

How do you get tenant acknowledgement on the same sheet?

Ask them to watch each beep and sign the same sheet — that those units were tested and they are satisfied they work. GOV.UK suggests a first-day inventory signature as one possible proof. A blanket “as seen” at the bottom of a room list is the modest scrap that signature becomes if you stop there.

Stronger: a one-page log, or the inventory with these rows, lists each unit, room, time, result and who tested, then they sign that list. CertNudge’s sheet treats the sign as useful evidence, not a statutory form. TemplatesUK prints two copies. If they will not sign, email the lines the same day and note “declined to sign”. Do not invent e-sign. Do not refuse keys as theatre. Do refuse to leave a failed alarm unreplaced.

When does one dated photo help?

One dated phone shot of the unit on the ceiling or shelf — room readable — helps the line. Optionally a two-second clip of the beep. File the photo next to that row. Stop there. This is supporting evidence, not a photography lesson.

LetSafe’s 2026 guide treats a single dated photo of each alarm as strong supporting evidence. Use that habit, not their statute table. LegalDocuments says timestamped photos count if they are contemporaneous; a reconstruction later is weaker. Do not teach wide-then-close-up, EXIF, or “how many photos per room”. That camera SOP is inventory photograph standards — a different file.

What if a unit fails before the keys leave?

Write FAIL on that line. Replace the battery only if that is the obvious fault and the unit then sounds. Otherwise replace the unit. Re-test. Write the new pass line and keep the receipt. Do not leave keys on a silent alarm. Day-one working order has to be true, not assumed.

GOV.UK’s booklet puts a civil-penalty risk of up to £5,000 per breach where a landlord fails a remedial notice — the council’s written order to put alarms right. After day one, once a tenant reports a fault and the unit is found not working, repair or replace as soon as reasonably practicable. Latch puts the ops rule in one sentence: press every unit, replace fails, record the date and which alarms were checked. Add that fault line on the same file.

Where does the log live after Saturday?

File the signed or emailed log, the photos, and any replace receipts beside the lease. Give the tenant a copy. When they later report a dead unit, add a dated line, repair or replace as soon as reasonably practicable, re-test, and keep the receipt.

After the start-day check, tenants should test regularly — manufacturer instructions; monthly is common practice — and report faults. Give a demonstration or the instruction sheet. A later occupied-home walk can spot a dead unit; it is not this log. That walk is the periodic inspection checklist. Same parties on the same premises usually do not re-trigger the day-one test (SI 2026/325). Still test when new people get possession. Wales, Scotland and NI differ.

Workflow: List every required unit → Press on the possession day → One timed line per alarm → FAIL → replace → re-test before keys → Tenant sign or same-day email → File with the tenancy.

Success bar: start-day walk, one line per unit, tenant sign or same-day email, any fail replaced before keys, sheet filed with the tenancy. Verify that pack, then stop. IziRento is operations software for that record — property, lease, inspections — not a fire engineer or a lawyer.