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<!doctype html>
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later -->
<html lang="en">
<head>
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<title>Safe Repair Documentation Checklist | Habitable Evidence</title>
<meta name="description" content="Use this safety-first checklist to organize repair photos, notices, responses, and recurring conditions without posting private tenant data online." />
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<a class="skip" href="#main">Skip to content</a>
<header class="site-header">
<a class="brand" href="../"><img src="../img/icon.svg" alt="" width="42" height="42" />Habitable Evidence</a>
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<ul>
<li><a href="../how-it-works/">How it works</a></li>
<li><a aria-current="page" href="./">Documentation checklist</a></li>
<li><a href="../tenant-unions/">For tenant unions</a></li>
<li><a href="../review/">Review</a></li>
<li><a href="../trust-limitations/">Trust and limits</a></li>
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<ol><li><a href="../">Home</a></li><li aria-current="page">Documentation checklist</li></ol>
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<article>
<header class="article-header">
<div class="article-header-copy">
<p class="kicker">Safety-first field guide</p>
<h1>Safe repair documentation checklist</h1>
<p class="lede">Use this checklist to make a clear record of repair conditions without creating new safety or privacy risks. It covers observation and organization—not local notice rules, legal strategy, environmental testing, or emergency response.</p>
</div>
<div class="record-card" role="note" aria-label="Page status">
<p class="record-label">Checklist status</p>
<strong>Printable · general guidance</strong>
<p>Reviewed 10 July 2026. Local rules and deadlines vary.</p>
</div>
</header>
<div class="layout">
<div class="article-body">
<p class="safety-note"><strong>Safety comes first:</strong> do not enter a hazardous area, touch exposed wiring, disturb suspected asbestos or lead materials, climb unstable surfaces, or delay emergency help to take a photo. If there is immediate danger, leave and contact the appropriate emergency service.</p>
<section id="before" aria-labelledby="before-h">
<h2 id="before-h">Before documenting</h2>
<ul class="checklist">
<li>Choose a safe time and place. Ask another trusted person to accompany you if that reduces risk.</li>
<li>Check your lease, local tenant guidance, and advice from a tenant organization or lawyer for notice requirements and deadlines.</li>
<li>Write what you directly observe: location, size or extent, sound, odor, temperature, moisture, frequency, and effect on use of the space.</li>
<li>Keep a separate note for interpretations, health concerns, or questions that need a qualified professional.</li>
<li>Make sure the device is locked and has enough storage. Avoid shared cloud albums if they expose tenant identities or locations.</li>
</ul>
</section>
<section id="photos" aria-labelledby="photos-h">
<h2 id="photos-h">A useful photo sequence</h2>
<ol class="steps">
<li><strong>Start wide.</strong> Show the room or area so a reviewer can understand where the condition is located.</li>
<li><strong>Move to context.</strong> Show the condition in relation to a wall, fixture, window, doorway, appliance, or other stable reference.</li>
<li><strong>Capture detail.</strong> Photograph visible staining, damage, gaps, pests, standing water, or another observable feature without entering danger.</li>
<li><strong>Add scale carefully.</strong> If useful and safe, place a clean ruler or common object nearby. Do not cover or alter the condition.</li>
<li><strong>Describe each capture.</strong> Record the room, surface, direction, and what the image is intended to show. Avoid diagnosing a cause you cannot establish.</li>
<li><strong>Repeat consistently.</strong> For changing or recurring conditions, use a similar angle and note the new occurrence date rather than replacing an earlier image.</li>
</ol>
<p class="plain-note"><strong>Preserve the original:</strong> keep the unedited file. If you crop or annotate a copy for explanation, label it as a derivative and retain the original separately.</p>
</section>
<section id="trail" aria-labelledby="trail-h">
<h2 id="trail-h">Keep the repair and notice trail together</h2>
<ul class="checklist">
<li>Save each repair request in the form actually sent, plus a delivery confirmation when one exists.</li>
<li>Record the date and method of a phone or in-person conversation, who participated, and a factual summary.</li>
<li>Keep management responses, appointment messages, entry notices, invoices, work orders, and inspection reports.</li>
<li>After work, record what changed and what remained. Photograph recurrence as a new event.</li>
<li>Distinguish when something happened from when you added it to the record. Explain late entries in plain language.</li>
<li>Keep records received from inspectors or contractors separate from tenant-created descriptions; identify their source.</li>
</ul>
<p>For requests made through a text thread or property portal, follow the <a href="../guides/preserve-maintenance-request-records/">maintenance request record-preservation guide</a> to save the input, attachments, confirmations, status history, replies, closure, and a portable copy.</p>
<p>For complaint IDs, inspection reports, citations, reinspection, and closure records, continue with the <a href="../guides/housing-inspection-records/">housing inspection records guide</a>.</p>
<p class="plain-note"><strong>Organizing across households?</strong> The <a href="../templates/tenant-union-building-condition-survey/">blank building condition survey CSV</a> separates pseudonymous private-unit reports from common-area reports and records permission before aggregation. It is an organizing aid, not proof of notice, receipt, or a condition.</p>
</section>
<section id="privacy" aria-labelledby="privacy-h">
<h2 id="privacy-h">Reduce privacy and retaliation risk</h2>
<p>Documentation can contain addresses, faces, children, medical details, access codes, signatures, financial records, and the daily routines of a household. Collect only what serves the purpose, control who receives it, and review every export.</p>
<ul>
<li>Do not post tenant names, addresses, photos, evidence, or case details in GitHub issues or public forums.</li>
<li>Avoid including bystanders, neighbors, mail, prescriptions, identity documents, or screens unless they are necessary and you have a safe reason to do so.</li>
<li>Do not secretly record people without first getting advice about the law where the recording occurs.</li>
<li>Use synthetic records when evaluating Habitable Evidence. The project has not completed a real-world partner evaluation.</li>
</ul>
</section>
<section id="help" aria-labelledby="help-h">
<h2 id="help-h">Know when a tool is not the next step</h2>
<p>Eviction, repair, inspection, and retaliation rules vary by place and can involve short deadlines. <a href="https://www.usa.gov/tenant-rights">USAGov’s tenant-rights directory</a> links to state agencies and legal-help paths. The <a href="https://www.lsc.gov/">Legal Services Corporation</a> provides a national finder for LSC-funded civil legal-aid organizations.</p>
<p>For dampness and suspected mold, use health and cleanup information from a qualified local agency or clinician. The <a href="https://www.epa.gov/mold/mold-and-your-home">US Environmental Protection Agency’s mold and moisture guidance</a> explains why moisture control matters; it does not replace a local inspection or medical advice.</p>
</section>
</div>
<nav class="side-nav" aria-label="On this page">
<h2>On this page</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="#before">Before documenting</a></li>
<li><a href="#photos">Photo sequence</a></li>
<li><a href="#trail">Repair trail</a></li>
<li><a href="#privacy">Privacy</a></li>
<li><a href="#help">Get help</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
</div>
<aside class="related" aria-labelledby="related-h">
<h2 id="related-h">Continue with the evidence method</h2>
<p>See how condition notes, captures, repair requests, responses, recurrence, and the current whole-unit packet disclosure fit into one local record.</p>
<ul><li><a href="../how-it-works/">How Habitable Evidence works</a></li><li><a href="../trust-limitations/">Trust, security, and legal limitations</a></li></ul>
</aside>
</article>
</main>
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<ul class="footer-links"><li><a href="../">Home</a></li><li><a href="../tenant-unions/">Tenant unions</a></li><li><a href="../legal-aid-reviewers/">Legal aid and reviewers</a></li><li><a href="../inspectors-code-enforcement/">Inspectors</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/ChelseaKR/habitable">Source code</a></li></ul>
<p>Habitable Evidence is an independent open-source alpha. It is not legal advice, an emergency service, or a place to submit tenant data.</p>
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