A useful repair contact sheet tells a household member whom to contact and who can make a decision while the owner is away. Keep a readable offline copy, but leave account passwords, alarm codes, lock combinations and key locations in a separately controlled arrangement.
Before You Begin
The sheet is a directory of roles and contact routes. It does not itself give someone permission to enter the property, approve a repair or access an account. Agree those arrangements with the people and providers involved.
Plan Who Needs Which Information
Ready.gov's household-planning guidance, updated September 1, 2026, recommends planning how people will communicate and reconnect, accounting for individual needs and practicing the plan. Apply that approach to a small repair-contact exercise: can the person staying at the house find the appropriate contact without relying on the owner's unlocked phone?
Choose the minimum information needed for that task. A household copy can include agreed contacts and a non-sensitive reference to equipment paperwork. A copy shared with a contractor may need fewer names. Avoid publishing either copy online or posting it where visitors can read it.
Use These Seven Fields
Make one row for each service role relevant to the property. These example rows describe what to fill in; they contain no real contact details or implied availability.
Swipe or scroll sideways to compare every column. Keyboard users can focus the table area and use the arrow keys.
| Service Role | Business Contact | Availability Confirmed | Authorized Contact Person | Equipment Document Location | Escalation Route | Last Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heating service | Verified company phone or official website | Actual hours and after-hours route, or not confirmed | Person designated for this service discussion | Non-sensitive reference to the manual folder | Agreed alternate person or company callback route | Date checked |
| Plumbing service | Verified company contact | Record the actual arrangement | Person designated for this visit | Reference to relevant service records | Agreed route if the first person cannot respond | Date checked |
| Home-watch provider, if used | Agreed reporting contact | Scheduled visits and separate urgent-contact terms | Owner or named representative | Reference to the agreed visit checklist | Accepted notification sequence | Date checked |
Keep emergency-service and utility emergency contacts readily available through the household's emergency plan. Do not present an ordinary trade callback as emergency dispatch. Follow local emergency instructions for an active hazard.
Keep Access Arrangements Separate
Do not put an alarm PIN beside the property address or describe where a key is hidden. Write “contact the authorized person for access” instead. If a provider needs access, agree the permitted method and recipient privately through the actual arrangement. The sheet should identify the responsible person without exposing the secret.
CISA's password guidance recommends unique passwords and a password manager. The page is marked archived; it is background security guidance, not a new program or policy announcement. The separation of a contact sheet from access secrets is this worksheet's editorial design recommendation, not a claim that CISA prescribes this particular form.
If an unexpected message claims a contact number has changed or asks for account information, verify it through a route you already trust. The FTC's phishing guidance recommends contacting the company through a known genuine number or website when a message is suspect.
Test The Sheet And Retire Old Copies
Illustrative exercise: the owner is unavailable, and a household member needs to arrange a heating visit. Without sharing a password, can that person find the company, determine whether a visit is confirmed and reach whoever may authorize work? If the exercise exposes a missing step, add that step and confirm it with the people involved.
Date the sheet after review. When a company, responsibility or contact changes, update the copies held by the agreed recipients and dispose of obsolete copies securely. Keep a simple record of who has one so updates reach them.
For a paid property-check arrangement, use the home-watch guide. For a particular visit's spending and approval boundaries, keep a separate authorization record. A contact list should make those records easier to find without trying to replace them.
Sources And Local Resources
Sources checked November 9, 2026. Confirm current requirements with the authority responsible for your property.