Awaab's Law comes into force in Scotland today. But what is the best way for landlords to meet the new timescales without creating even more administration for their teams?**
That's the question we found ourselves asking when reading the Scottish Government's guidance.
The headlines are easy enough to understand.
From 6 October 2026, social and private landlords in Scotland have new duties around reports of damp and mould.
A report must be investigated within 10 working days.
A written summary of the investigation findings must be provided within three working days after the investigation concludes.
Where substantial damp or mould is identified, required repair work must commence within five working days**.
For social landlords, work to make the home substantially free from damp and mould must then be completed within 20 working days from commencement**.
Those are the deadlines.
But we think the more interesting question is what happens between them.
Who is keeping the timeline?
Think about a typical case.
A resident reports mould.
Someone logs it.
A surveyor visits.
Photographs are taken.
Environmental conditions may be measured.
A diagnosis is made.
A contractor attends.
Work is completed.
Someone follows up.
Potentially every stage involves a different person — and possibly a different system.
So if somebody asks six months later:
When was it reported? What did the surveyor find? What evidence supported the diagnosis? When was action taken? Did conditions improve afterwards?
How quickly can the organisation answer?
That's where we think Awaab's Law becomes as much an information challenge as a repairs challenge.
Do monitoring sensors actually help?
This is something we're asked regularly.
Our answer is: yes, when they're used properly.
A sensor won't repair a leaking roof.
It won't replace a competent surveyor.
And it shouldn't be used to blame a resident for the conditions in their home.
What it can do is provide another part of the evidence trail.
Instead of two readings taken weeks apart, environmental monitoring can help show what happened **between visits**.
Temperature. Humidity. CO₂. Air quality. Changes following intervention.
That information can help experienced people make better decisions.
A mould wash isn't necessarily the answer
Something else in the Scottish guidance caught our attention.
The Government makes clear that the purpose of repair work is to tackle the root cause.
It specifically gives the example that a mould wash alone is unlikely to constitute a suitable repair where it won't keep the property substantially free from damp and mould.
That's important.
Because there is a difference between:
treating mould
and
resolving why it occurred.
If the problem returns, the guidance says landlords should consider whether the root cause was sufficiently addressed and retain a clear record of their assessment and decision-making.
For us, that's where evidence becomes particularly valuable.
The opportunity isn't more admin
Nobody working in housing needs another spreadsheet.
And nobody needs another isolated dashboard that creates another place to look.
The better question is:
Can the evidence already being created follow the property through the entire case?
Report → Investigation → Evidence → Action → Remediation → Verification.
At Smart Installers, that's how we're approaching the problem.
Environmental monitoring can become part of the wider property record, while integrations and APIs can connect information with the systems organisations already use.
Not another system replacing everything.
A better-connected evidence trail.
The clock has started
Awaab's Law is an important change for Scotland.
But meeting a deadline and being able to demonstrate what happened during that deadline are two slightly different things.
We think both will matter.
One property. One evidence trail.
Don't collect readings. Collect evidence.
Original evidence
Scottish Government — Awaab's Law: guidance for landlords in Scotland
Scottish Government — Awaab's Law: Repair Work guidance
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Smart Installers | Turning Building Data into Better Decisions.
Evidence over assumptions.
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✉️ [ian@smart-installers.co.uk](mailto:ian@smart-installers.co.uk)
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