Inside LetCompliance
Contractor address book for UK landlords
The plumber you liked, still findable in two years.
Most landlords keep their trades in three places at once: a few numbers in a phone, a business card in a drawer, and the rest in whoever recommended them. It works until the boiler fails on a Friday and you cannot remember whether the good gas engineer was the one from the first flat or the second. The contractor address book keeps every tradesperson in one list, tagged by trade and linked to the properties they already know, so the answer takes five seconds instead of an evening.
One list, tagged by trade
Electrician, plumber, gas engineer, damp specialist, locksmith, gardener and the rest — filter to the trade you need rather than scrolling a phone book. Star the ones you actually rate.
Linked to the property
A contractor who already knows the layout, the stopcock and the awkward boiler is worth more than a cheaper stranger. Link each one to the properties they have worked on so that knowledge is not lost.
Notes that survive you forgetting
Day rate, who to ask for, whether they turn up when they say, whether they invoice properly. The things you know after the second job and forget by the fifth.
What it does
- Stores company or trade name, trade type, phone, email and free-text notes
- Filters by trade so you find the right person in seconds
- Marks favourites, so your trusted few sit at the top
- Links contractors to the properties they have worked on
- Sits beside the tenancy, the compliance dates and the maintenance record for the same property
Who it's for
Any self-managing landlord who has ever rung the wrong number, or paid a premium to a stranger because the person they trusted was unreachable. It matters most from the second property onwards, when the trades stop being memorable and start being a list — and for anyone handing a portfolio to a partner, a family member or an agent, because a contractor list in one person's phone is not a handover.
The legal basis
Repairs are a legal duty, not a service level: section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 requires you to keep the structure, exterior and the water, gas, electricity, sanitation and heating installations in repair, and the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 sits alongside it. Response speed is what a court looks at on a disrepair counterclaim, and having the right trade to hand is a large part of responding quickly. Two competence points are worth recording against the contractor: gas work must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer (check the ID card front for the licence and back for the appliance types they are qualified on), and electrical work by someone registered with a recognised scheme such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA.
Guidance only, not legal advice. Always verify with your solicitor for contested matters.
FAQs
How do I keep track of which tradespeople I have used?
Put them in one list rather than in your phone, and tag each by trade and by property. The reason a phone fails is that it has no structure: you can find a name if you remember it, and nothing at all if you do not. A list filtered by trade answers "who is my electrician" without you having to remember anyone, and it survives a lost phone, a new number or handing the portfolio to somebody else.
How do I check a tradesperson is properly registered?
For gas, every Gas Safe registered engineer carries an ID card: the front shows the photograph, licence number and expiry, and the back shows the specific appliance types they are qualified for — someone qualified on boilers is not automatically qualified on a gas fire or a cooker. You can verify the licence number on the Gas Safe Register itself. For electrical work look for NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA registration and ask for the number rather than accepting the logo on the van. Record the number in the contractor's notes so you are not re-checking it every year.
Does this find contractors for me?
No — this is your own list of people you already use. If you have no one for the job, that is a different service: our [contractor sourcing](/find-a-contractor-for-landlords) concierge finds a local tradesperson, gets a quote and arranges the work for a one-off fee, refunded in full if we cannot cover your area. Be aware it is a founder-run service based around Crewe rather than a nationwide network. The address book, by contrast, works wherever your properties are.
Does it track what I have paid each contractor?
Not in the address book itself. Costs and completed jobs live on the maintenance side, against the property, with the invoice and completion evidence attached — which is what you need for a disrepair defence and for your year-end expenses. The address book answers "who do I call"; the maintenance record answers "what was done and what did it cost".
Why does it matter which property a contractor has worked on?
Because familiarity is worth money. A plumber who has been to the flat before knows where the stopcock is, which boiler it is and what was replaced last time, so the visit is shorter and the diagnosis is better. On a portfolio that knowledge is easy to lose between tenancies, and linking the contractor to the property is how you keep it.
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