Compliance is complicated. Buying it shouldn’t be.
Tell us what you run. We’ll tell you:
- what the law requires
- what depends on your premises
- what good practice recommends
- what it should cost
- and what you probably don’t need to buy.
Or start with:
Every service on this site is labelled. So you know, before anyone quotes you, whether you have to.
Start with what you run
What does your kind of business need?
Compliance isn’t organised the way you think about your business. Start from what you actually run, and see the obligations in the order they matter, each one labelled.
Do you actually need this?
The services small businesses are oversold, one at a time.
What you were told, what the law says, what it should cost, and what to say next time.
You need a fire risk assessment, recorded in full. You do not need to pay for a new one every year unless people sleep on the premises or the risk is high.
No. You need PAT testing. You do not need all of it every year, and you do not need every phone charger in the building on the invoice.
The law names very few of the things you are sold. Each of these seven is either not required, not required at that frequency, or not required from a supplier.
C1, C2 and FI are yours to fix. C3 is a recommendation. A report with only C3s is satisfactory, whatever the covering letter says.
The guides
Every compliance service, explained for the person paying.
Each has a plain-English guide with the law, your options and what it should cost, and a technical version. For professionals →
Health & safety risk assessment
The one the law expects you to do yourself. Written down at five staff.
Fire risk assessment
Required, and recorded in full since October 2023, whatever your size.
Fire alarms
Your assessment sets the category. Weekly test is yours; the contract is not required.
Emergency lighting
Monthly flick test by you. Annual duration test by an engineer. Batteries, not fittings.
Fire extinguishers
Buy, don’t rent. Annual service, not five-yearly replacement.
PAT testing
Yes, you need it. No, not everything, every year, per item.
EICR
C1 and C2 are yours to fix. C3 is a recommendation, and it’s where the money is.
Gas safety
Landlords: annual, by law. Businesses: annual, as proof. Check the card.
Legionella
The assessment is the law. Sampling almost never is.
Asbestos
Pre-2000: manage it, don’t remove it. Ask the landlord for the register first.
Safety training
Train for the risks people face. The law names almost no course.
The editor
I’m the number one expert in compliance buying for UK small businesses.
Not delivering it. Buying it.
Seven years running sales at a national compliance provider. Now on your side of the table. Everyone else with a public voice in this market sells the stuff. If you think someone else holds the title, name them.
David Smith, Founder & Editor
Reviews
The providers, reviewed from your side.
Contract length, notice window, price transparency, what’s bundled, exit terms, small-business fit. Same seven criteria for every national provider. Public sources. Right of reply.
Read the reviews →
For suppliers
Good at what you do? Prove it here.
Free review against published criteria for local fire, electrical, gas, water, asbestos and training specialists. Nobody can buy a place on the list.
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The Buyer’s Brief
One oversell exposed, every fortnight.
What they told you, what the law says, what it should cost, what to say next time. Free.