The deadline doesn't move.
Be ready before it.
On 1 October 2026, Awaab's Law Phase 2 makes a cluster of higher-severity hazards enforceable on fixed timescales — and six of the nine groups are structural. PropertyDefect triages defects from a photograph in minutes, then escalates the serious structural cases to FBC's chartered engineers. AI speed. Engineering authority. One audit trail.
A technical officer drives an hour to a property.
The defect takes ninety seconds to diagnose.
Multiply that by a portfolio. Now add the small unreported defect that quietly becomes a defended disrepair claim — approximately £22,000 on a typical successful claim once legal costs are counted. This is the daily reality of social housing compliance in 2026 — and four forces are tightening at once.
Awaab's Law is live
Phase 1 has been enforceable since October 2025. Phase 2 follows in October 2026 — and it lands squarely on structural hazards. Fixed timescales, no discretion.
The Regulator inspects
The Regulator of Social Housing now carries out proactive consumer inspections. Compliance is no longer something you evidence only when asked — it's assessed.
The Ombudsman publishes
Damp and mould is the single largest complaint category. Severe maladministration findings are published by name — a reputational risk that sits at board level.
Disrepair claims surge
Housing disrepair claims have risen approximately fivefold this decade. The cost of a defended claim dwarfs the cost of catching the defect early.
The date isn't the problem. Being unprepared for it is. PropertyDefect is how you arrive ready — not scrambling.
Built on 48 years of structural engineering
We do two things for social landlords, and we do them with chartered authority behind every report.
FBC Structural Engineering
The chartered structural engineering core — 48 years of it. When triage identifies a high-severity structural issue, FBC step in as a fully engineered project: subsidence, heave and foundation investigations, structural diagnosis, and remedial schemes designed and implemented on housing stock under 18m. Appropriate fee proposals and agreed next stages apply.
- Cracking, subsidence, heave and bowing or bulging walls
- Foundation and ground-movement investigations
- Lintel failure, roof defects, structural movement
- Falls hazards and guarding integrity
- Structural and foundational remedial schemes for housing stock under 18m
- Site investigation + remediation design, scoped per project
- Engineered work delivered under FBC Professional Indemnity cover
FBC can act as your specialist structural engineer at later stages. Discuss the right next stage with Paul — or put FBC on your framework for a clean procurement route.
Full Awaab's Law Triage
The complete compliance triage layer. AI photo triage submitted by WhatsApp or QR, mapped to HHSRS, severity-scored in minutes, with serious structural cases escalated to FBC for specialist engineering where it matters.
- AI photo triage via WhatsApp or QR code
- Mapped to the reformed HHSRS hazard framework
- Severity-scored in minutes, not days
- Severity & triage codes tuned to your internal policy
- Portfolio compliance dashboard + audit trail
After the pilot, this runs as a rolling, yearly or 3-yearly subscription across your whole portfolio and tenants — with triage codes and severity thresholds configured to your property team's requirements.
Minutes, not days. No new software.
Your front-line teams and tenants already know how to use it — because it's WhatsApp.
Report or routine check
A tenant or officer photographs the defect and sends it via WhatsApp or a QR code. No app to download. No training day. No new system to learn.
AI screens the hazard
The AI maps the photograph to the HHSRS hazard framework and scores severity in minutes — so you know what you're dealing with before anyone is dispatched.
Team or engineer validation
Minor defects route straight to the repairs team. The cases that carry structural or regulatory weight escalate to a chartered engineer for signed-off validation.
The result: you stop sending technical officers on hour-long round trips to diagnose a trivial defect, and you catch the serious ones before they become claims.
Governance for the board. Effortless for everyone else.
Board & Leadership
Regulatory defensibility and a governance stamp. Portfolio-level risk visibility. Protection from the Regulator, the Ombudsman and disrepair claims — plus a hard cost-saving case.
Compliance Team
A timestamped, HHSRS-referenced audit trail from the moment a hazard is reported. Evidence that you investigated within timescale — ready for inspection, ready to defend.
Repairs & Inspections
No more wasted hour-long visits to find a minor defect. Triage before you dispatch. Send the right resource to the right job — and save the time and the money.
Tenants
Report a defect in seconds — a photo via WhatsApp or a QR code. No phone queues, no forms. Faster triage means faster resolution and a safer home.
Speed at the clock's pace. Authority under the clock.
Plenty of tools track deadlines. We assess the actual defect — and stand behind the verdict.
Triage at the clock's pace
Awaab's Law runs on fixed timescales. AI screening returns a severity-scored, HHSRS-referenced assessment in minutes — so your 10-day clock starts with clarity, not a queue.
Escalation to chartered engineers
Triage flags the serious structural cases. Where FBC then carry out a site investigation and design a remediation solution, that engineering work is delivered as an additional specialist service under FBC Professional Indemnity cover. FBC can act as your specialist structural engineer at later stages.
UK & EU data, held securely
All data is held and processed within the UK and EU. Photographic evidence and assessment records are stored securely and handled in a fully GDPR-compliant manner — so the audit trail you build is one your governance team can stand behind.
Aimed at the Phase 2 structural cluster
Six of the nine Phase 2 hazard groups are FBC's chartered core — and every one is visible in a photograph. This product is built for exactly the hazards that become enforceable in October 2026.
An audit trail by design
Every report is timestamped and HHSRS-referenced the moment it's submitted. Compliance isn't reconstructed after the fact — it's captured from day one, ready for the Regulator and the Ombudsman.
Tuned to your policy
On subscription after the pilot, severity thresholds and triage codes are configured to your internal policy and your property team's requirements — so the output maps to how you already work, not the other way round.
Know exactly what's coming, and when
Most of the Phase 2 cluster triages well from a photograph — which is exactly where we're aimed.
Phase 1
Emergencies made safe in 24 hours. Significant damp & mould on fixed timescales: investigate in 10 days, written findings in 3, made safe in 5.
HHSRS Reform
The hazard list drops from 29 to 21. A–J bands become High / Medium / Low. A clarity exercise — it doesn't raise the standard, but every report should speak the new language.
Phase 2
Fixed timescales extend to excess cold & heat, falls, structural collapse, fire & explosions, electrical and hygiene. Six of nine groups are FBC's structural core.
Phase 3
All remaining HHSRS hazards (only overcrowding excluded). Full-portfolio coverage becomes the expectation. The Renters' Rights Act later extends Awaab's Law to private rented homes.
"The honest problem is evidence and speed. We can be doing the right thing and still lose a disrepair claim because we can't show the timeline. Something that timestamps the hazard the moment it's reported and gets an engineer's name on the serious ones — that's the gap."
— A senior property manager at a large North West housing association [pilot scoping conversation · attribution kept generic pending permission]
Prove the model before you commit a penny
A no-brainer way to arrive at October 2026 ready — on tools your team already uses.
FREE
for qualifying social landlords who complete the pilot*
The risk is entirely ours
The pilot is free when you complete it. It runs on WhatsApp — tools your team already uses. There's no software migration and no integration project. You prove the model on 100 real reports before any commitment. Saying no is the expensive choice: October 2026 arrives either way.
Qualifying fit: portfolios of 3,000+ homes with active hazard-triage pressure, in the North West, Yorkshire or North East. The pilot runs with your property team, admin staff and inspectors as they integrate the service into your workflow — building the long-term savings and compliance from day one.
Be ready for October 2026 — before the spaces are gone
See triage run live on your own stock. In person, or a focused 30-minute online session. Your call.
Two ways to see it
Both walk you through a live triage and map the pilot to your portfolio. The 30-minute online session is the fastest way to start.
Talk to Paul directly
Booking and enquiries route straight to the Managing Director — a chartered structural engineer, not a call centre.