Damp-and-mould triage guide.

Eight steps from the moment of awareness to a verified-safe home. For repairs directors, damp-and-mould leads, and operations teams handling damp and mould under Awaab's Law.

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The clock you're running.

24
hours

Emergency hazards: investigate and make safe.

10
working days

Significant hazards (incl. damp and mould): investigate.

3
working days

Written summary to the resident, after investigation.

5
working days

Relevant safety work complete, after investigation.

Eight steps

From awareness to verified-safe.

  1. Step 01

    Decide: emergency or significant?

    You have become aware of a damp, mould, or related hazard in a home. What type of case is this?

    Action

    Apply the 24-hour clock (emergency) or the 10 / 3 / 5 working-day clocks (significant) to the case. The clock starts at the moment of awareness, not the moment of case creation in your system.

    What to weigh up before you act Close the detail
    • Emergency: a reasonable landlord would act within 24 hours. Examples include electrical hazards exposed by damp, severe structural issues, a flooded home with active water ingress, or a property that cannot be safely occupied tonight.
    • Significant: not emergency-level, but a hazard that poses a significant risk to the occupants. Damp and mould itself sits here under Phase 1 of Awaab's Law.
    • If you're not sure, treat it as an emergency. The test in the law is what a reasonable landlord would have done, and the guidance expects landlords to err on the side of caution when there is real doubt.
  2. Step 02

    Assess vulnerability at face value.

    Who lives in the home? Has anyone mentioned a vulnerability, even in passing?

    Action

    Promote the case in the queue if any vulnerability is present. Brief the investigator before the visit. Consider alternative accommodation earlier in the window, not later.

    What to weigh up before you act Close the detail
    • Vulnerability is taken at face value. MHCLG guidance is explicit: landlords should generally take reports at face value, should not wait for medical evidence, and should recognise that a tenant does not need a formally documented vulnerability to be at risk.
    • Common vulnerability markers: young children, elderly residents, respiratory conditions (asthma, COPD), pregnancy, mobility limitations, mental-health conditions, people on low income, and residents who have moved to the UK within the past 10 years.
    • Record the vulnerability on the case the moment it is mentioned. Do not park it behind a screening form.
  3. Step 03

    Open the case, attach the clock.

    A new case is created. What has to be on it?

    Action

    The case has the property ID, awareness timestamp, hazard type, vulnerability flag, and the four deadlines. Have your system set the deadlines automatically if it can, because every date typed in by hand is a chance to get one wrong.

    What to weigh up before you act Close the detail
    • The moment of awareness is the timestamp. Not "when we assigned this to a team" or "when the ticket was triaged". The MHCLG guidance treats this bar as low - a resident mention, a staff observation, or a third-party report all count.
    • The statutory deadlines follow immediately: 24 hours for emergency, 10/3/5 working days for significant.
    • Record who found out, when, and how. If a case is ever questioned, this record is the starting point.
  4. Step 04

    Dispatch the investigation.

    Who is going to the home, and when?

    Action

    Brief the investigator with everything on the case before they go. Their notes go on the same case record the alert opened.

    What to weigh up before you act Close the detail
    • Investigation must complete within 10 working days for a significant hazard, 24 hours for an emergency.
    • If in-house capacity is tight, bring in an outside contractor before the investigation window runs out. A case that passes the window with no recorded attempt to send anyone is very hard to defend.
    • Brief the investigator with what you know: sensor trend, vulnerability flag, any prior cases in the same property, any construction notes.
  5. Step 05

    Record the root cause, not the symptoms.

    The investigation has concluded. What does the record say?

    Action

    Findings logged to the case. Photos attached. Sensor trend referenced. Root cause categorised (ventilation, insulation, leak, design, other).

    What to weigh up before you act Close the detail
    • 'Mould on the wall' is not a finding. 'Under-specified extraction in the bathroom driving persistent moisture, compounded by a thermal bridge in the north-facing bedroom' is a finding.
    • The landlord is responsible for root causes within their control: insulation, ventilation, openings, damp-proofing, design. New-build warranty cover does not remove that responsibility.
    • The record should say what the investigator saw, what the sensor data confirmed, and what the root cause is. Not: what the resident is doing differently.
  6. Step 06

    Send the written summary within 3 working days.

    The investigation concluded on day X. When does the resident get the written summary?

    Action

    Written summary sent. Copy in the case record. Resident has a concrete picture of what happens next.

    What to weigh up before you act Close the detail
    • Within 3 working days of the investigation concluding. This is a statutory deadline, not a best-practice target.
    • The summary should be plain English, no-blame, and concrete about what happens next and when. See the no-blame templates resource for a starting point.
    • Do not wait for a full remediation plan before sending. The summary can say "we are arranging X, with a target of Y date, and will confirm the booking by Z" - that is compliant.
  7. Step 07

    Complete the safety work within 5 working days.

    Relevant safety work must complete within 5 working days of the investigation. What does that actually look like?

    Action

    Relevant safety work completed inside the 5-working-day window, or alternative accommodation offered. The case record shows both paths if both were considered.

    What to weigh up before you act Close the detail
    • Fix the cause as well as the mould. A wipe-down that leaves the ventilation as it was will show up again in the sensor data within weeks.
    • Relevant safety work must be completed within 5 working days - if it can't be, the alternative accommodation duty applies. Supplementary preventative work (fixing the root cause) must start as soon as reasonably practicable, and within 12 weeks at the latest.
    • If the home cannot be made safe in the period at all, the landlord provides suitable alternative accommodation at their expense until the safety work is complete.
  8. Step 08

    Verify the fix with sensor data.

    The remediation is complete. Is the case closed?

    Action

    Verification window defined (typically 4-6 weeks through the next heating cycle). Case remains open, monitored, and closes only on stable sensor readings.

    What to weigh up before you act Close the detail
    • Not yet. A case closes when the sensor data confirms the home has stabilised through at least one heating cycle, not when the works are signed off.
    • If the risk score re-elevates after the fix, the case re-opens automatically. That protects you from the worst kind of disrepair claim: 'we reported it again and nothing happened'.
Triage, automated

MouldWatch automates the clock and the case record at every step. Your team makes the judgement calls.

It records the awareness time, attaches the clock, moves vulnerable households up the queue, dispatches the investigation, drafts the written summary, and checks the fix against sensor data. Your team handles the conversations and the decisions that need a person.

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