Pub Maintenance Log: What to Track, How Often, and Who Signs It Off

The cellar cooler that's been "making a noise" for three weeks. The extraction fan that only works on setting two. The emergency light in the back corridor that nobody's looked at since the last owner. Every pub has a list like this, usually in the GM's head or on the back of a delivery note. A maintenance log gets it written down, dated and owned, so faults get fixed before they close the kitchen or end up in an accident report.

This guide covers what to log, how often the main checks should happen, and which frequencies come from law or official guidance versus good practice. Most of the official guidance referred to here applies in Great Britain, and some of the fire guidance applies only in England, so check the rules for your nation.

What the law actually requires

There's no single "maintenance law" for pubs. Instead, several regulations each require that something is kept safe:

• The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 require the workplace, and certain equipment and systems, to be maintained "in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair", and where appropriate to have "a suitable system of maintenance". A maintenance log is the simplest way to show you have one.
• The Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 require gas appliances, flues, pipework and safety devices to be maintained in a safe condition.
• The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require electrical systems and equipment that could cause danger to be maintained.
• Fire safety law requires the responsible person to carry out a fire risk assessment, review it regularly and keep fire safety measures maintained. In England and Wales this is the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules.
• Legionella control falls under general health and safety law and HSE's Approved Code of Practice.

What these laws mostly don't do is give you a fixed calendar. The frequencies below come from HSE and government guidance, manufacturers' instructions and your own risk assessment. Where a figure is from official guidance, we say so.

What to track in a pub maintenance log

Cellar and beer dispense

No law sets a cellar check frequency, but this is where pubs lose the most money when things go wrong.

• Cellar temperature daily, on your opening checklist.
• Cellar cooler: unusual noises, ice build-up, condensate drain clear. Service as your cooling contractor recommends.
• Beer lines: cleaned on the cycle your brewer or line-cleaning supplier specifies. Log every clean.
• Python and remote coolers: water level and temperature.
• Gas cylinders: stored upright and chained, no damage, regulators in good order. If your cellar has a gas detector, test it as the manufacturer instructs and log it.
• Cellar access: hatch, steps, handrails and lighting in good repair. Cellar steps are a classic accident location.

Gas appliances

• Annual inspection as a minimum. HSE's catering guidance says inspection periods should follow manufacturers' recommendations, but "as a general rule annual inspections will be a reasonable minimum frequency".
• Check the engineer is qualified. HSE says catering employers should take reasonable steps to check contractors are competent, for example by asking to see the engineer's Gas Safe identity card. Log the card number.
• Ventilation interlock. HSE's guidance for commercial gas appliances says the gas supply should be interlocked with the ventilation. If your extraction fan fails, the gas shouldn't stay on. Log any fault immediately.
• Daily: flame failure devices working, no gas smell, extraction on before gas.

Electrics and portable appliances

• No fixed PAT interval in law. HSE is clear that the Electricity at Work Regulations "do not specify what needs to be done, by whom or how frequently". It also says neither labels nor records are a legal requirement, though both help.
• Base it on risk. Kitchen kit, cleaning machines, extension leads and anything moved around often is higher risk than a till screen that never moves.
• User checks: train staff to look for damaged plugs, frayed cables and scorch marks before use. Log faults and take the item out of use.
• Fixed wiring: have it inspected periodically by a qualified electrician. Your insurer, landlord or pub company may set the interval.

Fire safety

For small non-domestic premises in England, the Home Office guide gives these frequencies:

The same guide says the findings of your fire risk assessment must be recorded and kept available for inspection. Larger pubs, those with accommodation upstairs, and those in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland should use the guidance that applies to them, but these frequencies are a sensible starting point for most.

Water system and legionella

• Risk assessment. HSE says every water system needs a legionella risk assessment, which can be simple where risks are low, and should be revisited if the system changes. Recording the findings is a statutory duty for employers with 5 or more employees.
• Temperatures. HSE guidance: store hot water at 60°C or above, distribute it so it reaches 50°C within one minute at outlets, and keep cold water below 20°C where possible. Watch for scalding at hand basins: HSE notes a scald risk above 44°C.
• Little-used outlets. The shower in the staff flat, the tap in the function room toilet. These are the ones to log and flush, as your risk assessment sets out.

Kitchen equipment

• Fridges and freezers: temperatures logged daily (see digital temperature logs), door seals checked, condensers kept clear.
• Extraction: filters cleaned on a set weekday, ductwork cleaned by a specialist on the frequency your insurer requires.
• Dishwasher and glass washer: chemicals, filters, door interlocks.
• Fryers: thermostat, oil condition, fire blanket and suppression system (if fitted) serviced.

Building and outside

Toilets (leaks, locks, hand dryers), flooring (loose tiles, worn mats), lighting, handrails, the beer garden (furniture, decking, heaters, lighting), and security (CCTV, alarm, locks).

A pub maintenance log template

Use one log for faults and another for planned checks.

Fault log

Planned checks log

Severity: what to fix first

Common mistakes

1. No owner. "Someone should call about that" means nobody does. Every open fault needs a name.
2. Faults reported verbally. A message to the GM on a Saturday night is forgotten by Monday. Write it down.
3. No photos. A photo saves the engineer a wasted trip and shows you what was found.
4. Certificates in the wrong place. Gas, electrical and fire service certificates should be easy to find in one place, not in the previous manager's car.
5. Never closing faults. An open list of 60 items is ignored. Review weekly and close what's done.

Logging maintenance in ShiftComplete

In ShiftComplete, anyone on shift can log a maintenance issue in seconds from their phone, with a photo, a severity level and a status (open or resolved). It shows on the manager's dashboard until someone resolves it and adds resolution notes. The weekly report includes your maintenance backlog, so you can see whether faults are piling up, and the audit log keeps a named, timestamped record with CSV export.

Planned checks like the weekly fire alarm test or the monthly emergency lighting test can go on the right weekday in your daily checklist, with a photo required if you want proof. If something goes wrong and someone is hurt, the same app holds your incident log; see our guide to accident and incident logs.

ShiftComplete costs £1.49 per staff member per month, every feature included, and it's free for 60 days with no card needed.