# New Site Opening Compliance Checklist: free UK download

Canonical: https://paddl-ai.co/templates/new-site-opening-compliance-checklist
Last reviewed: 2026-09-11 by the Paddl team

Free new site opening checklist for restaurant and pub groups: registration, licences, SFBB and HACCP, training and the first-inspection pack, dated back from opening day

## In one sentence

The New Site Opening Compliance Checklist is a free PDF for UK food businesses with 5 record sheets: timeline checklist: eight weeks out, four weeks out, two weeks out, opening week, registration and licensing section: food business registration, premises licence or variation, dps, personal licence holders, pavement and music licences, food safety system section: sfbb pack or haccp plan, allergen matrix, cleaning schedule, temperature records, supplier list. Download it, print it or fill it in, and keep it with your food safety records; Paddl keeps the same records on a phone with timestamps and reminders.

A new site opens on the day the fit-out finishes, the licence lands and the team is trained, and those three do not happen in the same week unless someone makes them. This free checklist runs backwards from opening day: what has to be done eight weeks out (food business registration, licence application, insurance), four weeks out (the food safety system, risk assessments, training), two weeks out (certificates, equipment, deliveries) and in opening week (the first checks, the first records, the pack for the inspector who will arrive within the first few months). For a group opening site N it is the difference between starting from paper and starting from the library.

## Why you need it

- Food business registration must be in at least 28 days before you start trading; late registration is an offence
- A premises licence takes weeks and a DPS must be named before the first alcohol sale
- The first inspection usually comes within months of opening and sets the rating on the door for years
- Groups opening several sites need the same list every time so nothing depends on who ran the last opening

## What is included

- Timeline checklist: eight weeks out, four weeks out, two weeks out, opening week
- Registration and licensing section: food business registration, premises licence or variation, DPS, personal licence holders, pavement and music licences
- Food safety system section: SFBB pack or HACCP plan, allergen matrix, cleaning schedule, temperature records, supplier list
- People section: right to work, training by role, induction, rota and contracts
- Premises section: gas and electrical certificates, fire risk assessment, extraction, pest control contract, insurance schedule
- First-inspection evidence pack list: what to have ready when the EHO arrives

## Record sheets

- **Eight Weeks Out**: columns Item, Owner, Due, Done (Y/N), Notes
- **Four Weeks Out**: columns Item, Owner, Due, Done (Y/N), Notes
- **Two Weeks Out**: columns Item, Owner, Due, Done (Y/N), Notes
- **Opening Week**: columns Item, Owner, Due, Done (Y/N), Notes
- **First-Inspection Evidence Pack**: columns Document or Record, Where It Is Kept, Ready (Y/N)

## How to use it

1. **Set opening day and work backwards** Write the opening date at the top and date each section from it. The registration and licence dates are fixed by law; everything else moves around them.
2. **Name an owner for every line** Openings fail on the line nobody owned. Every item gets a name, even if it is the same name.
3. **Assign the group library, not a blank pack** For a group, the food safety system, routines, risk assessments and training requirements already exist. Assign them to the new site and adjust for its layout.
4. **Build the first-inspection pack in opening week** Have the registration confirmation, the food safety system, the training records, the certificates and the first week of records in one place from day one.
5. **Review at week four** Walk the checklist again a month in. The items that slipped are the ones the second site will slip on too.

## Tips

- Register the food business the day the lease is signed; there is no downside to registering early
- Apply for the premises licence before the fit-out starts, and name the DPS in the application
- Book the gas safety and electrical inspections for the week before opening, not opening week
- Photograph the kitchen on handover for the contents insurance and the structural score
- Paddl adds a new site to the group in an afternoon: assign the template library, invite the team, upload the certificates, and it starts scoring the same day

Download the file from https://paddl-ai.co/templates/new-site-opening-compliance-checklist (email required). The Paddl features that keep the same records: https://paddl-ai.co/features/compliance, https://paddl-ai.co/features/licences, https://paddl-ai.co/features/training, https://paddl-ai.co/features/documents.