PPM contracts — London
Planned preventive maintenance contracts for London landlords
Annual gas safety (CP12), EICR, smoke and CO alarms, and Legionella risk assessments covered in one contract. We manage renewal dates across your entire portfolio so compliance certificates never lapse — across all 33 London boroughs.
What is PPM?
Scheduled maintenance before failure — not after
Planned Preventive Maintenance — PPM — is work carried out on a regular schedule regardless of whether a defect has been reported. A boiler is serviced annually, an electrical installation is tested every five years, gutters are cleared quarterly. The schedule is set by regulation, manufacturer recommendations, or maintenance standards — not by a breakdown happening first.
This is the opposite of reactive maintenance, which responds to a fault once it has already occurred. Reactive repairs are unavoidable — no PPM programme eliminates all unexpected failures — but a structured programme reduces their frequency, and eliminates the category of problem that matters most to landlords: missed compliance certificates.
A Gas Safety Certificate that lapses is not a minor administrative oversight. It is a criminal offence under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, it blocks service of a Section 21 notice, and it exposes the landlord to prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive. An overdue EICR carries a civil penalty of up to £30,000. These are not risks that responsible landlords take — but without a system tracking renewal dates across a portfolio, certificates do lapse, sometimes without the landlord even being aware.
A PPM contract with Prestige Engineers transfers that tracking responsibility to us. We hold the renewal calendar, issue reminders, book access with tenants, carry out the work, issue the certificates, and store them in your compliance dashboard. You receive the certificates; we own the process.
PPM vs reactive: the key difference
| Type | Trigger | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| PPM | Calendar schedule | Prevent failure; maintain certificates |
| Reactive | Reported defect | Fix what has already broken |
Who PPM contracts serve
- Professional landlords with 5 or more properties
- Managing agents with client portfolios to maintain
- Property management companies needing auditable compliance records
- Commercial property owners with residential elements
- HMO operators with annual licence renewal obligations
- Build-to-rent operators requiring SFG20-aligned schedules
Legal framework
Why London landlords cannot afford missed renewals
Four separate legislative frameworks impose mandatory inspection and certification requirements on London residential landlords. Each carries its own renewal frequency, documentation obligation, and penalty for non-compliance. All four are tracked and delivered on time under a Prestige Engineers PPM contract.
Every 12 months
CP12 — Gas Safety Certificate
Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998
If missed or non-compliant:
Criminal offence to let without a valid certificate; blocks Section 21 notice
Every 5 years (or at tenancy change if sooner)
EICR — Electrical Installation Condition Report
Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020
If missed or non-compliant:
Civil penalty up to £30,000; blocks Section 21 notice
Test at start of each tenancy; repair promptly if reported faulty
Smoke and CO alarm test record
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022
If missed or non-compliant:
Local authority remedial notice; fine up to £5,000
Risk assessment review annually; cold tank inspection every 6 months if applicable
Written Legionella risk assessment
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 / HSE L8 ACOP (Legionella)
If missed or non-compliant:
HSE prosecution for failure of duty; civil liability if occupant harmed
Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations 2022
The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (Amendment) Regulations 2022 extended the requirement for CO alarms to all rooms containing a fixed combustion appliance — not just solid-fuel appliances — and placed a positive duty on landlords to repair or replace alarms promptly when informed by the tenant that one is not working. A PPM contract includes testing every smoke and CO alarm at each tenancy changeover. This is the point at which the obligation is hardest to track: during the gap between tenancies, when access windows are tight, inventories are being conducted, and compliance checklists are easily skipped under time pressure.
Contract scope
What a London residential PPM contract covers
Our residential PPM contracts are built around four service pillars: gas and heating, electrical, water and Legionella, and drainage and exterior maintenance. The statutory compliance items form the non-negotiable core. Condition-based and periodic tasks — gutter clearance, drain inspection, plumbing checks — are included at portfolio level.
Gas and heating
Annual- Annual gas safety inspection (CP12) per property
- Annual boiler service — heat exchanger, burner, flue, controls
- Combustion efficiency and flue gas analysis
- Pressure and expansion vessel check
- Gas Safe engineer attendance — certificate issued on the day
Electrical
5-yearly + interim- EICR every five years (sooner at tenancy change where due)
- Interim visual condition check at tenancy changeover
- Smoke and CO alarm test and function record
- C1 and C2 remedial works included in contract scope
- PAT testing for furnished lets (on request)
Water and Legionella
Annual- Annual Legionella risk assessment review (HSE L8 compliant)
- Cold water tank inspection where applicable
- Showerhead descale and sentinel outlet temperature check
- Written risk assessment record issued
- Thermostatic mixing valve service if fitted
Drainage and exterior
Quarterly / Annual- Quarterly gutter clearance and downpipe flush
- Annual drain inspection — CCTV on first contract year
- Rodding access check and flow test
- Minor plumbing checks: dripping taps, running cisterns, system pressure
Boiler service in detail
The annual boiler service is not a safety inspection — it is a maintenance visit. The engineer cleans the heat exchanger, inspects and tests the burner, checks the flue for spillage and integrity, tests all controls and safety devices, checks system pressure and expansion vessel pre-charge, and records appliance readings. A boiler serviced annually is significantly less likely to fail mid-winter: internal scaling, ignition electrode fouling, and expansion vessel failure are all detectable during a service visit.
EICR and interim checks
An EICR tests the entire electrical installation — consumer unit, circuit protective devices, earthing and bonding, sockets, lighting circuits, and fixed appliances. The five-year statutory period runs from the date of the last satisfactory EICR. At tenancy changeover we carry out a visual condition check: consumer unit examination, RCD operation test, and a note of any changes since the last full inspection. The interim check does not replace the EICR but protects against circuit faults developing between full inspections.
Legionella L8 in residential property
Most residential lettings pose a low Legionella risk — a single-tenancy property with a combi boiler has no stored water conditions that favour Legionella growth. But the landlord still has an L8 duty to assess the risk, and in properties with cold water storage tanks, deadlegs, or stored hot water cylinders, the risk can be non-trivial. Our annual review updates the written risk assessment, checks water temperatures at sentinel outlets, and identifies any installation changes that might elevate risk.
Who uses PPM contracts
Built for professional landlords, managing agents, and property managers
PPM contracts are most valuable when the cost of missing a compliance deadline — financial, legal, or reputational — outweighs the cost of the preventive work itself. For anyone managing more than a handful of London properties, that threshold is crossed almost immediately.
Professional landlords with 5+ properties
Once a portfolio exceeds four or five units, manually tracking renewal dates across CP12, EICR, and Legionella assessments becomes unreliable. A single lapsed Gas Safety certificate across a five-property portfolio is a criminal exposure. PPM contracts remove the scheduling burden entirely and ensure compliance is systemised rather than reliant on memory or spreadsheets.
Managing agents
Residential managing agents handle compliance obligations on behalf of multiple landlord clients simultaneously. A PPM contract gives managing agents a consolidated compliance dashboard across all managed properties, a single contractor invoice for client reporting, and a clear audit trail for Section 11 and HHSRS defence — accessible per client at any time.
Property management companies
Build-to-rent operators, institutional landlords, and property management companies managing blocks of 20 or more units require a contractor who can operate at scale — coordinating access with multiple tenants, issuing certificates in bulk, and reporting per unit. Our PPM service is built for this operating model, with SFG20-aligned task schedules and BS 8210-framed reporting.
Commercial property owners with residential elements
Mixed-use buildings — ground-floor commercial with residential above — often have complex heating and electrical systems serving both tenures. PPM contracts for these buildings account for commercial boiler servicing, three-phase electrical inspection, and the different compliance regimes applying to each part of the building under one management agreement.
Compliance calendar
We manage renewal dates across your entire portfolio
The compliance problem for London landlords with multiple properties is not carrying out individual inspections — it is keeping track of which certificate expires when, across which properties, while tenancies change and boiler replacement dates shift the service calendar. Our digital compliance dashboard solves this at portfolio scale.
Portfolio onboarding
We survey each property, record current certificate status and expiry dates, installation details, and tenant access arrangements. Every property is entered into the compliance calendar with its next due dates for every covered service.
Advance renewal reminders
At 90, 60, and 30 days before each certificate expiry, automated reminders are sent to you and your managing agent. We book tenant access at 60 days — enough lead time to rearrange if the first attempt cannot be agreed.
Access coordination
We liaise directly with tenants to arrange access. Landlords and managing agents do not need to be present. We confirm appointment times with tenants, send reminder messages, and notify you on completion. If a tenant refuses access, we document the attempt in writing.
Certificate issue
Certificates — CP12, EICR, Legionella risk assessment — are issued on the day of the visit, or within 24 hours for reports requiring desk review. They are emailed to the landlord, stored on the compliance dashboard, and where legally required (Gas Safety), sent to the tenant.
Digital compliance dashboard
Your entire portfolio compliance record is accessible via a single dashboard. The dashboard shows current certificate status — valid, due within 90 days, or expired — across every property and compliance category, with download links for every certificate and visit report.
No missed certificates
If a certificate lapses because we failed to schedule and carry out the visit on time — with no access refusal by the tenant — we cover the cost of any council remedial notice issued as a direct result. Our renewal tracking system is built to prevent this ever happening.
SLA within PPM
Priority reactive response for PPM clients
A PPM programme reduces the frequency of emergency callouts — but it does not eliminate them. Boilers still fail between services. Pipes still burst. Tenants still call on Sunday mornings. PPM contracts with Prestige Engineers include priority reactive response terms: PPM clients go to the front of the queue for unplanned emergency and urgent callouts.
The SLA structure within our PPM contract mirrors the three-tier response framework we apply across all reactive works. Response times are guaranteed in writing as part of the contract and reported monthly.
Confirmed with tenant via email and SMS. Rescheduled within 7 days if access cannot be arranged.
No heating Nov–Mar, gas leak, burst pipe, flooding, loss of building security, total electrical failure.
No hot water (all seasons), partial heating failure, roof leak with active ingress, partial electrical failure.
Dripping taps, running cistern, stiff door, minor plaster crack, single failed light fitting.
Reactive works arising from PPM visits
PPM visits regularly surface defects requiring a follow-up repair beyond the inspection scope. A boiler service may reveal a cracked heat exchanger. An EICR may identify circuits requiring immediate remedial works. A Legionella review may find a deadleg requiring removal.
For PPM clients, all remedial works arising from inspections are quoted and scheduled within 48 hours of the inspection report. Where a defect presents a safety risk — a C1 or C2 electrical code — we attend for the remedial within 24 hours on the same priority terms as our reactive contracts.
One point of accountability
Managing separate contractors for gas, electrical, drainage, and maintenance creates coordination overhead and accountability gaps. A defect spanning two trades — a leak that has caused electrical damage — can fall between contractors.
A Prestige Engineers PPM contract gives you a single contractor covering gas, electrical, plumbing, drainage, and exterior maintenance across your entire London portfolio. One call, one invoice, one compliance record, one point of accountability.
Cost model
PPM vs reactive-only: 5-year cost comparison
The argument for reactive-only maintenance is that you only pay when something breaks. The counterargument is that emergency callouts carry out-of-hours surcharges, missed EICR deadlines attract civil penalties, and boilers that fail mid-winter generate tenant compensation claims that PPM would have prevented. Across five years and five properties, PPM is typically 25–35% cheaper than reactive-only when full costs are accounted for.
| Scenario | Year 1 | 3-year total | 5-year total | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PPM — 5-property portfolio | £1,680 | £5,040 | £8,400 | Includes CP12, boiler service, EICR (5-year cycle), gutter clearance, drain inspection, Legionella. No surprises. |
| Reactive-only — same 5 properties | £2,100 | £7,350 | £13,650 | Estimated. Emergency callout premiums (out-of-hours 40% uplift), one missed EICR penalty, tenant compensation for a 72-hour winter heating failure. |
Illustrative estimates based on a 5-property portfolio of mid-terraced Victorian houses in inner London. Reactive-only costs include estimated out-of-hours surcharge uplifts, one missed-EICR penalty event over the period, and one tenant compensation payment for a 72-hour winter heating failure. Actual costs will vary.
25–35%
cheaper than reactive-only over 5 years (typical)
£30,000
maximum civil penalty for an EICR breach under the 2020 Regulations
40%
higher hourly rate for out-of-hours emergency callouts vs standard rate
Pricing
Per-property annual pricing with portfolio discount
PPM contracts are priced per property per year, inclusive of all labour for scheduled visits. Parts and consumables — boiler parts, smoke alarm replacements, drain jetting consumables — are charged separately at cost with itemised receipts. Portfolio pricing applies from the fifth property.
Basic compliance package
Single property
£350–£650per property / year
- Annual gas safety check (CP12)
- Annual boiler service
- Smoke and CO alarm check
- Annual Legionella risk assessment review
- Digital compliance dashboard and certificate storage
Price range reflects property size, boiler type, and access complexity.
Most popular
Portfolio compliance package
5–9 property portfolio
From £280per property / year
- All single-property compliance items
- EICR (5-year cycle, next due date tracked)
- Quarterly gutter clearance per property
- Annual drain inspection
- Annual plumbing check
- Priority reactive response between visits
- Dashboard — landlord and managing agent access
Portfolio discount applied from the 5th property. Price fixed for 12 months on signature.
Full PPM management
10+ property portfolio
Bespoketailored to your portfolio
- All portfolio items above
- Dedicated account manager
- SFG20-aligned maintenance schedule
- Managing agent portal and per-client invoicing
- Annual compliance audit report
- Negotiated reactive labour rates
We survey the portfolio before pricing. Contact us for a site visit and scope review.
All prices exclude VAT. Parts, consumables, and specialist sub-contractor costs charged at cost with receipts. Pricing confirmed in writing before contract signature.
Industry standards
SFG20 and BS 8210:2020 — the standards we align to
Our PPM contract structure and maintenance task schedules are aligned to the two principal British standards for building maintenance management: SFG20 and BS 8210:2020. This matters most for managing agents and property management companies who need to demonstrate to clients, lenders, and regulators that maintenance is being carried out to a recognised standard.
SFG20
BESA Standard Maintenance Specification
SFG20 is the industry-standard maintenance task library published by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). It defines the tasks, frequencies, and competencies required for mechanical and electrical building services maintenance across over 70 equipment categories. Our PPM schedules reference SFG20 task codes where applicable, giving managing agents and property management companies a recognised benchmark against which to audit our scope and verify that maintenance intervals are set to a published standard rather than contractor discretion.
BS 8210:2020
British Standard for Building Maintenance Management
BS 8210:2020 sets out the principles and framework for managing building maintenance, covering maintenance policy, planning, execution, and review cycles. It provides the strategic framework within which SFG20 task schedules operate. Our PPM contract structure — initial condition survey, annual planning cycle, scheduled execution, post-inspection reporting, and annual review — follows the BS 8210 plan-do-check-act management loop. For institutional landlords and property management companies, BS 8210 alignment is increasingly expected by lenders, insurers, and corporate clients as evidence that maintenance is managed to a recognised British Standard.
What standards alignment means for your portfolio
SFG20 and BS 8210 are not legally mandatory for residential lettings — the legal baseline is set by the Gas Safety Regulations, the Electrical Safety Regulations, and related housing legislation. But for managing agents and property management companies, operating to a published standard provides a defensible audit trail: if a maintenance failure is challenged, you can demonstrate that the programme was designed and executed to an industry-recognised specification rather than an ad hoc schedule. For portfolios above ten properties, and for any portfolio managed under a duty-of-care framework — commercial, mixed-use, or purpose-built block — standards alignment is increasingly expected by institutional clients, lenders, and insurers.
Coverage
All 33 London boroughs
Our engineers are based across London and carry out PPM visits in every borough — from Barking and Dagenham in the east to Hounslow in the west, Enfield in the north to Croydon in the south. Outer London boroughs that some central London contractors decline — Havering, Sutton, Hillingdon, Bromley — are covered as standard.
Common questions
PPM contracts London: frequently asked
What does a PPM contract include for a London landlord?
A residential PPM contract for a London landlord typically covers: annual gas safety inspection and CP12 certificate per property; annual boiler service; EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) every five years with an interim visual check at tenancy change; smoke and CO alarm test at each tenancy changeover; annual Legionella risk assessment review; quarterly gutter clearance; annual drain inspection (with CCTV where required); minor plumbing checks covering dripping taps, running cisterns, and system pressure; and PAT testing for furnished lets. The exact scope can be tailored to your portfolio, but the compliance certificates — CP12, EICR, Legionella — form the non-negotiable core because they carry statutory renewal dates and legal obligations.
How much does a PPM contract cost for a 5-property portfolio?
For a 5-property portfolio, indicative pricing ranges from £280 to £420 per property per year depending on property type, age, and the scope of services included. A single-property basic compliance package (CP12, annual boiler service, smoke alarm check) starts from around £350–£650 per year. Portfolio pricing applies a discount from the 5th property onwards; a 10-property portfolio is typically priced from £280 per property per year. All pricing includes labour; parts and consumables are charged separately at cost with receipts. VAT is charged at the standard rate. Contact us for a site-specific quote.
How do PPM contracts help with Section 21 notices and legal compliance?
A valid Section 21 notice under the Housing Act 1988 cannot be served unless the landlord has complied with prescribed pre-tenancy obligations, including providing a current Gas Safety Certificate (CP12) to the tenant at the start of their tenancy and a copy of the current certificate annually. Under the Deregulation Act 2015 and associated prescribed requirements, failure to provide the certificate at the start of the tenancy prevents service of a Section 21 until the certificate has been provided (even retrospectively for certificates issued after June 2019). A PPM contract ensures the CP12 is renewed on time every year, the certificate is issued promptly, and a record is maintained — directly protecting your ability to recover possession via Section 21 when required. The same logic applies to EICR: failure to carry out and provide an EICR to the tenant within 28 days of a new tenancy is a breach of the Electrical Safety Standards Regulations 2020 and blocks Section 21.
Can PPM contracts be customised for my portfolio?
Yes. We build PPM contracts around your portfolio rather than applying a fixed template. If you have a mix of gas and electric properties, the gas safety and boiler service scope will apply only to gas-heated units. If some properties are unfurnished, PAT testing can be excluded. If you have a block with a communal boiler room, the EICR scope covers the communal installation separately from individual flat installations. The core statutory compliance visits — CP12, EICR renewal, Legionella review, smoke and CO alarm checks — remain in every contract because they cannot legally be omitted; everything else is configurable. We issue a draft scope schedule before contract sign-off so you can review exactly what is included per property.
What is the difference between PPM and reactive maintenance?
Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) is work carried out on a scheduled basis regardless of whether a defect has been reported — annual boiler service, five-yearly EICR, quarterly gutter clearance. The goal is to prevent failure before it happens and to ensure compliance certificates never lapse. Reactive maintenance is unplanned work carried out in response to a reported defect — a boiler breakdown in February, a burst pipe, a blocked drain. Most London rental portfolios need both. A PPM programme reduces the frequency of reactive callouts by catching deterioration early: a boiler serviced annually is far less likely to fail mid-winter than one left unserviced for three years. Our PPM contracts include priority response terms for reactive works arising between scheduled visits, giving you one contractor relationship for both sides of property maintenance.
Get a quote
Get a PPM contract quote for your London portfolio
Tell us how many properties you have, their locations across London, and whether you currently hold valid Gas Safety Certificates and EICRs for each one. We will prepare a detailed scope and price within 48 hours. No obligation.