How do I write down instructions for a house sitter?

House sitter instructions fail in two directions: a single page that omits everything that matters, or twelve pages nobody reads. The useful version separates what happens daily from what happens in an emergency.

Safety

Step by step

1. Keep it to a page or two.Anything longer will not be read. Put the daily essentials on the first page and everything else on a second, and leave the manuals separately for reference.
2. Start with the emergency section.Stopcock location, consumer unit, gas shut-off, boiler reset, and a photograph of each. This is what is most often missing and most needed, and it belongs at the top rather than buried at the end.
3. Give a local contact.A neighbour, friend or family member nearby who has a key and can attend. You may be unreachable or in a different time zone, and this is the single most useful line on the sheet.
4. Include your own contact details and time zone.Phone, email, and roughly when you will be reachable. Also say what warrants contacting you and what they should just deal with.
5. Cover the alarm properly.Code, how to set and unset, what the different beeps mean, what to do on a false alarm, and the monitoring company's number and your password with them. Alarms cause more sitter problems than anything else.
6. Explain the heating and hot water.How to change the temperature, the timer, and how to reset the boiler if it locks out. Do not assume a modern thermostat is self-explanatory.
7. Write pet instructions in detail.Food, quantities, times, medication with doses, walking routine, vet name, address, phone number, and confirmation that you have authorised treatment. Pet care is where vagueness causes real problems.
8. Include the plant watering.Which ones, how often, how much. 'Water the plants' produces either dead plants or drowned ones.
9. Say which day the bins go out.And which bin on which week, and where they go. It is the most commonly forgotten instruction and the one with the most visible consequence.
10. Give the wifi details.Network name and password, written out. Consider setting up the guest network for them instead of giving the main one.
11. List what not to touch.A temperamental appliance, a door that must not be locked, a tap that drips if turned too far, a room to leave alone. Say it plainly rather than hoping.
12. Explain the quirks.The window that needs lifting, the front door that needs pulling towards you, the light switch that controls something unexpected. These are what make a house confusing to someone else.
13. Cover post and deliveries.Where to put post, whether to accept deliveries, and what to do about anything that looks urgent.
14. Say what you would like on arrival and departure.Where to leave keys, whether to strip the bed, what to leave on or off. Being explicit avoids awkwardness on both sides.
15. Check your insurance position.Many policies have conditions about who may occupy the property and how long it can be left unoccupied. Tell your insurer rather than assuming.
16. Walk them round if you can.Fifteen minutes in person is worth several pages. The written version is then a reminder rather than the only source.
17. Leave it somewhere obvious.On the kitchen worktop, not in a drawer. Send a copy by email as well so it exists if the paper one is mislaid.

Tips

• Emergency information first, not last. Stopcock, consumer unit, gas shut-off, and a local person who can attend.
• Photograph the stopcock and consumer unit and put the pictures in the document. Describing a location in words rarely works.
• Walk them round in person if you can, and treat the written sheet as the reminder.

Common mistakes

• Writing twelve pages — It will not be read, so the important parts are lost in it. One or two pages, with manuals available separately for anyone who wants them.
• Leaving no local emergency contact — You may be unreachable or hours away by time zone. Someone nearby with a key is what actually resolves a problem.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask