Printable pub opening and closing checklist: a weekly tick-box grid

Print this grid at the start of the week and pin it behind the bar or on the kitchen door. Whoever opens initials the opening box for that day; whoever locks up initials the closing box. Use the button below or press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on a Mac): only the sheet prints.

How to use the checklist

1. Cut it to fit your pub. Wet-led with no kitchen? Cross out the food lines. No cellar gas? Cross it out. Add your building's quirks in pen, like the fire door that needs a shove.
2. One person signs each list. Several people can do the jobs, but the "Opened by" and "Locked up by" boxes need one name. That's who you talk to if something was missed.
3. A failed check isn't a fail. If the walk-in reads 9°C at opening, write X, note what you did on the back, and tell the manager. A record of a problem found and fixed is worth more than a row of perfect ticks.
4. Date by trading day. A 1.45am close belongs in that day's column, not tomorrow's.
5. Keep last week's sheet with your other food safety records.

Where the checks come from

The food lines are the FSA's own. Its Safer Food, Better Business (SFBB) pack lists opening checks (fridges, freezers and other equipment working, staff fit for work in clean clothes, prep areas clean and disinfected, no sign of pests, plenty of handwashing and cleaning materials, hot water at every sink and basin, a working probe with wipes, and accurate allergen information) and closing checks (food covered, labelled and chilled, use-by food thrown away, cleaning equipment cleaned, waste out, prep areas cleaned and disinfected, washing up finished, floors swept, and cleaning done to the schedule). SFBB says to add your own checks to the list, which is where the bar, cellar and lock-up lines come in.

SFBB also asks for the diary to be signed every day by whoever is responsible, and says more than one signature may be needed when there's more than one shift. An opener and a closer signing this sheet works the same way.

For the full area-by-area lists (bar, cellar, kitchen, front of house, security and cash), weekday-only jobs like line cleaning, and what to do when a check fails, see our pub opening and closing checklist guide.

Why paper checklists drift

Paper checklists start strong and fade. Ticks appear in the same pen for the whole week. The sheet goes missing the week you need it. Line cleaning lives on a separate list nobody looks at. And when the close finishes at 2am, someone initials the wrong day.

The same checklist on a phone

ShiftComplete runs opening, closing and cleaning checks on staff phones or the tablet behind the bar. Checks can differ by weekday, so Tuesday's list includes line cleaning and Sunday's doesn't. Every tick is named and timestamped, you can make a photo required (the alarm panel, the cellar thermometer, the cash-up sheet), and a 2am close still counts as today. Fridge readings sit alongside as temperature logs with their own ranges, flagged on the dashboard if they're out, and the weekly report shows task completion across the week.

It helps you keep the records an EHO asks to see. It's £1.49 per staff member per month with every feature included, and free for 60 days with no card needed.