Reference · Glossary

A plain-English reference to UK property compliance terminology.

The terms below are the ones London landlords, managing agents, Registered Providers and CQC-registered care operators routinely encounter in correspondence from insurers, licensing officers, Fire and Rescue Services, the Housing Ombudsman, the Regulator of Social Housing and the CQC. Each entry sets out a short plain-English summary, a technical note, the regulatory source, and links to the related HSE service page.

Terms: Current specimen set covering the core fire safety, electrical, HMO, housing, CQC and building-safety terms
Sources: British Standards (current revisions), Approved Codes of Practice, primary legislation, secondary legislation, regulator guidance
Audience: Landlords, HMO operators, managing agents, freeholders, RMC directors, RPs, ALMOs, care-home operators
Updated: April 2026 · reviewed at each standards revision

Orientation

How to use this glossary

Each entry has three layers. The first line is a plain-English one-sentence summary of what the term means for a non-technical reader. The paragraph below that expands into the regulatory and technical detail a professional reader will expect. The italicised note at the foot of each entry cites the primary legislation, British Standard, Approved Code of Practice or regulator guidance the term originates from, so the reader can go to source.

Where a term has a direct service counterpart at HSE, the entry links through to the relevant service page. Related or adjacent terms are listed inline so that a reader following a regulatory thread can move between connected concepts.

Jump to a letter using the A–Z band below. Letters with no current entry are dimmed.
Filter by discipline using the category buttons, fire safety, fire doors, electrical, fire alarm, emergency lighting, HMO, housing, CQC, building safety, legionella.
Search by term, abbreviation or substring. The filter works across all three.
Standards citations use the current revision wherever one applies, BS 8214:2026, BS 9792:2025, BS 7671:2018+A2:2022 and so on.
Plain English first. Technical readers can read the second paragraph; non-technical readers will normally find the first line sufficient.

Reference

Terms

Terms are grouped alphabetically. Filter or search above to narrow the list. Standards, legislation and Approved Codes of Practice cited in the italic source line are accurate as of April 2026, the glossary is reviewed at each major standards revision.

No terms match the current filter or search. Try clearing the search, or switch the discipline filter back to “All”.

Resources

Further information

For the HSE service counterparts to the terms above, and for a wider treatment of how the underlying duties are delivered in practice, the following pages go into more depth.

Fire risk assessment and fire door inspection, the two most commonly referenced statutory assessments under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Emergency lighting, fire alarm and compliance remedial works, the electrical and life-safety disciplines that typically sit downstream of an FRA.
HMO compliance and compliance packages, how the multi-discipline evidence stack is bundled and delivered over a twelve-month cycle.
Private landlords, block management, social housing and care homes, sector pages mapping the specific duty stacks each audience is expected to meet.
About HSE Property Checks, the team, registrations, coverage and corporate detail for the firm that prepared this reference.

Get in touch

Ask about a term

If a term you have encountered is not listed, or if regulator correspondence uses language that is ambiguous in context, contact HSE directly and the relevant lead will come back with a written clarification. A detailed enquiry form is available on the contact page.