Buyer protection

Do you actually need this?

The services small businesses are most often oversold, one at a time. What you were told, what the law says, what it should cost, and what to say next time.

Do you need a new fire risk assessment every year?Required by law

You need a fire risk assessment, recorded in full. You do not need to pay for a new one every year unless people sleep on the premises or the risk is high.

Do you actually need annual PAT testing?Good practice

No. You need PAT testing. You do not need all of it every year, and you do not need every phone charger in the building on the invoice.

Seven compliance services small businesses are commonly oversoldOptional, often oversold

The law names very few of the things you are sold. Each of these seven is either not required, not required at that frequency, or not required from a supplier.

C3: the EICR code that pays for the electrician’s vanOptional, often oversold

C1, C2 and FI are yours to fix. C3 is a recommendation. A report with only C3s is satisfactory, whatever the covering letter says.

Does an office really need a fire alarm service contract?Good practice

You need the system serviced twice a year. You do not need a multi-year contract to achieve that, and you should not pay anyone to do the weekly test.

Legionella sampling or a legionella assessment: which one does the law require?Required by law

The assessment is the law. Sampling is a tool the assessment might call for, and for an ordinary premises it almost never does.

The notice clause: how a 90-day window becomes a three-year renewalInsurers, landlords or clients ask for it

Nothing in compliance law requires a term. Every term you sign is a commercial choice, and the notice clause is where the choice gets taken away from you.

Can you do your own weekly fire alarm test?Good practice

Yes. The weekly test is the user’s job under BS 5839-1. It needs a key, a log book and five minutes. It does not need a contractor.