Awaab's Law turns "within a reasonable time" into fixed deadlines. There are five that matter, and each one starts from a specific event. Getting the start date wrong is as serious as missing the deadline, so this article sets out both.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the GOV.UK guidance for social landlords before relying on it.
The Deadlines in One List
- 24 hours: investigate an emergency hazard and make the home safe
- 10 working days: investigate a potential significant hazard
- 3 working days: give the tenant a written summary after the investigation concludes
- 5 working days: complete relevant safety work for a significant hazard after the investigation concludes
- 5 working days, with a 12 week backstop: begin supplementary preventative work
Day Zero: When the Landlord Becomes Aware
Every clock starts when the landlord becomes aware of a potential hazard. That is the day of a tenant's report, the day an operative spots it in the home, or the day a third party such as a contractor, managing agent or health visitor tells the landlord.
The day of awareness is day zero, and day one is the next working day. Deadlines are counted in working days, not calendar days, apart from the 24 hour emergency deadline.
Where a report comes from a third party, the clock starts on the date the landlord is notified. Recording the date and source of every report, and how it reached you, is the first job, and making sure contractors and managing agents pass reports on the same day stops time being lost before anyone knows about it.
24 Hours: Emergency Hazards
An emergency hazard poses an imminent and significant risk of harm: one a reasonable landlord would make safe within 24 hours. Within 24 hours of becoming aware, the landlord must investigate and carry out the relevant safety work to make the home safe.
Emergency hazards have been in scope for every hazard type, apart from overcrowding, since Phase 1. Making safe does not have to mean a full repair. It means removing the imminent risk, with any further work following on.
10 Working Days: Investigating a Significant Hazard
For a potential significant hazard, the investigation must happen within 10 working days of becoming aware. It must be done by someone the landlord reasonably considers competent, and it should establish whether there is a significant or emergency hazard and, where possible, what work is needed.
If the investigation finds an emergency hazard, the 24 hour deadline applies from that point.
If the investigation is carried out remotely, from photographs or video, the tenant can ask for an in-person investigation. That must happen within 10 working days of their request. If the investigation cannot establish the cause or extent of the problem, a further investigation is required.
3 Working Days: The Written Summary
Within 3 working days of the investigation concluding, the tenant must receive a written summary. It must say whether a hazard was found and what it is, what action will be taken and the target dates for it, or that no action is needed and why, and how to contact the landlord.
The investigation concludes when the findings are complete, not when the report is typed up. An inspector who writes up on Friday a visit made on Monday has used most of the time already.
5 Working Days: Relevant Safety Work
Where a significant hazard is found, the relevant safety work, the work that makes the home safe, must be completed within 5 working days of the investigation concluding.
If that is not possible, the landlord must offer suitable alternative accommodation until the home is safe.
5 Working Days and 12 Weeks: Supplementary Preventative Work
Some hazards need more than making safe: work on the cause so the hazard does not come back, such as improving ventilation or fixing a leak behind a damp wall. This is supplementary preventative work.
It must begin, or steps must be taken to begin it, within 5 working days of the investigation concluding. If it genuinely cannot physically start within that time, because specialist workers, materials, approvals or detailed surveys cannot be secured, it must physically start within 12 weeks. It must then be completed within a reasonable time.
When a Deadline Cannot Be Met
The law recognises that some things are outside a landlord's control. The defence is that the landlord took all reasonable steps to comply and could not for reasons genuinely beyond its control. Access being refused, contractors or materials being unavailable, and approvals not being granted are the examples the guidance gives.
The defence has to be proved. For every deadline at risk, the record should show what was tried, when, and what happened. What records Awaab's Law requires lists what that means in practice.
Do the Timescales Change in Phase 2?
No. When Phase 2 brings in more hazards on 30 November 2026, the same deadlines apply to them. More hazard types means more investigations running against the same clocks. See Awaab's Law Phase 2 and the HHSRS hazards.
