What to include in an Irish property condition report

A property condition report records how a rented home looked and worked at a named point in time — usually check-in and again at check-out. It is a structured inventory: what was there, what condition it was in, and who reviewed the record — not a sales brochure, and not a folder of unlabelled phone pictures.

This is a practical template of what to include. It is not legal advice.

Identify the property and the tenancy

Start with enough detail that this dwelling cannot be mixed up with another.

• Full postal address, including apartment or unit number
• Eircode
• County and town or city
• Property type, if you record it (house, apartment, and so on)

The Eircode is the cheapest way to stop two similar addresses colliding in your files. Put it on the first page of the report.

A condition report belongs to a tenancy, not to a property in the abstract. Record landlord name, tenant name (and a joint tenant if they are on the tenancy), tenant email if you will send a signing link, tenancy start date, expected end date if known, inspection type (check-in or check-out), and the date of the walk-through.

If you hold an RTB registration number, you may note it on the file. Do not treat registration as a substitute for a condition record, and do not assume any particular outcome at the Residential Tenancies Board. Registration, gas, and BER sit in a different file — see Irish landlord compliance. Deposit and rent figures are useful tenancy context, not a substitute for room-by-room condition.

Walk the property room by room

A usable inventory is a list of items grouped by space, not a single paragraph about “the house was grand”. Use a consistent order so check-in and check-out can be compared.

Typical rooms: hallway, living room, kitchen, each bedroom named separately (Bedroom 1, Bedroom 2), bathroom, and ensuite if there is one. Add garden, balcony, utility, garage, or shared hall when they form part of the letting. A template is a starting point, not a claim that every dwelling has the same layout.

Within each room, list fixtures as separate lines. Walls, floor, ceiling, windows, doors, and light fittings belong in almost every space. Then add what is specific: kitchen cabinets, countertops, sink and taps, oven or hob, fridge, extractor; bathroom bath or shower, toilet, tiles, extractor, mirror; hall smoke alarm if present; bedroom wardrobe, radiator, curtains or blinds.

Furnished lettings need a line for each significant piece of furniture. “Contents as seen” is not an inventory.

Rate condition on a shared scale

“Fine” means different things to different people six months later. Use the same short scale on every item, for example:

• Good — clean, intact, working as expected for age
• Fair — worn or marked, still serviceable
• Poor — well below a reasonable standard
• Damaged — broken, badly stained, or not working
• N/A — not present in this property

The labels matter less than using the same labels at both inspections. Age and ordinary wear belong in the notes: a fifteen-year-old worktop can be “fair” without being a dispute. Wear and tear versus damage is a practical way to describe what you see. It is not a legal determination.

The rating records state; the note records why. Assume the reader is not you, and is reading a year later. Be specific: location (“north wall, behind the sofa”), nature (“hairline crack, about 8 cm, no damp”), and extent (“chip on the left hob pan support”). Avoid vague praise and vague blame. If nothing is wrong, say so briefly: a blank field can mean “good”, “not inspected”, or “forgot”.

Take photos that can stand on their own

A useful photo is one you could hand to someone who has never been in the property.

Capture a wide shot of each room, a closer shot of each item you have rated — especially anything fair, poor, or damaged — and detail shots of existing marks, chips, stains, mould, cracked tiles, and appliance faults. Photograph meter displays and the key set if you record them.

A usable photo is in focus, lit well enough to see the surface (not a silhouette against a window), and tied to a room and an item. A short caption (“Kitchen sink — limescale on left tap”) is better than none. Device timestamps help; a report that stores capture time with the file is stronger than a printout with no metadata.

Avoid twenty near-identical shots of the same corner. If you take a large set, select the shots that illustrate the record rather than stuffing every burst into the PDF.

Meters, keys, and signatures

On the inspection day, write electricity, gas (if fitted), and water (if accessible) readings, and photograph the displays so the digits are readable.

If you hand over access, list door keys, window keys, mailbox keys, and fobs or cards for gates, halls, or bins. Record that an alarm code was given; do not print the code on a document you will email around. “Three keys and one fob” is enough if it is dated and signed.

An unsigned inventory is still better than nothing. A signed one is clearer. Include landlord and tenant signatures, printed names, and dates, plus a short statement that they have reviewed the condition record for this property and tenancy. Signing does not mean the tenant agrees every later deduction. It means they had the report. See tenant sign-off on a condition report. If a tenant refuses to sign, keep the report and note that it was offered. Do not backdate a signature.

At check-out, tenant signing is optional. If they cannot attend, still complete the landlord record and add a short tenant-absent note. TenureFolio starts a check-out from a signed check-in: it clones the rooms and items, and leaves condition ratings and photographs blank for you to fill in as you walk.

Master checklist

Copy this and complete it on the day.

Cover

• [ ] Address, unit number, Eircode, county
• [ ] Landlord and tenant names
• [ ] Tenancy start date (and end date if known)
• [ ] Inspection type and inspection date

Each room

• [ ] Room name that will match check-out (Bedroom 1, not “back room”)
• [ ] Item list: walls, floor, ceiling, windows, doors, lights, plus room-specific fittings
• [ ] Condition rating on every item (or N/A)
• [ ] Notes for anything not obviously good
• [ ] Wide photo of the room
• [ ] Detail photos of defects and existing wear, with captions

Whole property

• [ ] Electricity, gas, and water readings, plus photos of the displays
• [ ] Keys, fobs, and cards counted
• [ ] Garden, balcony, shed, or parking if they form part of the letting

Close

• [ ] Landlord signature and date
• [ ] Tenant signature and date, or a note that signing was offered
• [ ] One complete copy stored as a single document, not a scatter of files

A structured PDF, not a camera roll

The finished artefact should be one document you can find again: branded pages, photos next to the items they belong to, timestamps, and signatures when they exist. There is no AI analysis of condition — the report is the rooms, ratings, notes, and photographs you recorded.

TenureFolio is built for that job for Irish DIY landlords. You walk a room checklist on your phone, rate items, attach photos, record meters, and produce branded PDFs — check-in, a standalone check-out, a comparison of the two, and an evidence pack. If the photo set is large, you select which images go in. Landlord and tenant signatures are included when present.

Start free with one property and one tenancy. Unlock a finished report for €4.99, or subscribe (Starter €9, Portfolio €19, Pro €39 per month).

Create a free account and run the next check-in as a proper condition report.

This article is general information for landlords in Ireland. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for the Residential Tenancies Act, RTB guidance, or professional advice on your tenancy. TenureFolio records property condition. It does not decide deposit disputes or guarantee any outcome.