Compliance report 2025: essential compliance trends for facilities management risk and safety teams

What this 2025 Compliance Report means for you:

Data-Driven compliance for facilities and safety leadership

The data we have compiled exposes the truth: organisations using integrated compliance systems are seeing measurable reductions in repeated risk items.

When compliance software is connected to CAFM tools and risk registers, your ability to identify recurring failures and target them proactively is hugely streamlined.

Most compliance issues fall under Priority 2, meaning they are not immediately life‑threatening but require timely attention, making proactive workflows essential for long‑term resilience.

Top compliance trends from the 2025 report

1. Slip and trip hazards lead all non‑conformities

Slip and trip events continue to be the most frequently identified compliance issues across all facilities. These incidents often stem from inconsistent inspection routines, broken or uneven flooring, inadequate housekeeping, or signage that fails to warn effectively.

Strengthening site-level accountability is critical, ensuring that premises teams conduct regular walk-rounds, report hazards without delay, and follow up until resolution.

Live dashboards and site-based compliance alerts can help facilities managers track recurring issues and direct resources to persistently problematic zones.

2. Electrical safety requires systematic oversight

Risk assessments highlighted electrical safety as a growing concern. It is important to clarify the issue is not due to poor intent, but often due to missing asset data or checks on hidden equipment.

Portable appliances, BMS panels, and plant-room devices are commonly omitted from periodic inspection schedules.

Successful compliance programmes now include digital tagging, centralised asset tracking, and scheduled tests visible in compliance logs. These systems ensure that no appliance or fixed electrical asset is overlooked.

Electrical safety compliance can thus shift from reactive repair to scheduled maintenance.

3. Permit-to-work gaps undermine contractor safety

Manual, paper-based permit-to-work systems remain in widespread use despite being prone to human error, lost documentation, and poor audit trails.

Compliance report findings identify manual PTW as a critical weak point, especially when multiple contractors operate concurrently. Automated permit systems reduce error, speed up approvals, and preserve audit history.

For any high-risk task, such as working at height or hot works, digital PTW systems reduce liability and enhance transparency.

4. Traffic management deficiencies are overlooked

Site reviews often reveal gaps in pedestrian and vehicle risk control. Poor signage, undefined walkways, and shared zones with no segregation contribute to unnecessary risks.

Compliance audits repeatedly show that even small interventions, such as installing barriers, adding reflective markings, or reconfiguring parking zones, can significantly reduce risk levels.

Integrating traffic risk assessments into regular site reviews ensures that traffic controls remain in sync with site changes throughout the year.

5. Fire safety shortfalls persist in passive measures

Three passive fire safety issues stand out: damaged fire doors, incomplete compartmentation, and unassessed void spaces. These elements appear consistently across property types, even modern estates.

Poor documentation, assumptions about contractor compliance, and limited verification of completed work contribute to this issue.

Strengthening the quality and consistency of contractor oversight, formal handover documentation, and fire door inspection logs helps close these gaps.

Facilities and compliance teams should prioritise regular fire strategy audits that include compartmentation reviews and void inspections.

6. Legionella control protocols are frequently missed

Legionella risk management failures commonly arise from low water outlet temperatures and inconsistent flushing routines. Safety teams often assume compliance, yet irregular logs and lapses in scheduling indicate otherwise.

Automated reminder systems, better documentation, and clear ownership of water hygiene protocols can prevent these lapses.

Many site teams benefit from regular cross-checks between routine logs and actual system temperatures, plus ownership of flushing schedules tied to compliance dashboards.

7. Asbestos management is effective but communication lacks follow‑through

The report confirms that in situ asbestos management remains industry best practice, avoiding the disruption and cost of widespread removal. However, many facilities lack consistent signage, accessible registers, or contractor awareness programmes.

Simple steps such as clear labelling, awareness training, and accessible asbestos registers can significantly reduce risk and bolster confidence among onsite staff and visitors. The list is not comprehensive but a huge step in the right direction when tackling such a high-stakes issue.

8. Supply chain compliance shows improvement

Nearly 40% of suppliers in the Vantify dataset now hold full SSIP certification. This illustrates a clear improvement in supplier risk management and compliance maturity.

Centralising supplier documentation in compliance platforms and integrating CAFM-linked service records allows for faster compliance checks and cleaner audit trails.

Facilities teams can now reduce supplier risk by enforcing certification standards and reviewing vendor performance systematically.

9. CAFM drives strategic, proactive compliance

Over one million support requests were processed through Vantify CAFM in the last year. While reactive tickets remain high, growing use of scheduled and preventive maintenance shows a shift in mindset.

Facilities teams that prioritise trend analysis and predictive scheduling reduce repeat non-conformities. Compliance becomes a proactive tool rather than a reactive checklist.

Central dashboards, automated workflows, and trend reporting help build long-term resilience and support audit readiness.

Why this matters to facilities and compliance teams

For decision-makers and teams managing large estates or multiple properties, these insights offer more than just data. They offer a foundation to:

• Benchmark performance across your portfolio
• Identify high-impact, cost-effective interventions
• Improve supplier and contractor compliance management
• Shift from reactive responses to strategic planning

As noted by Rob Mead, Chief Product Officer at Vantify, “Compliance is no longer about reacting quickly, it is about predicting issues and addressing them before they escalate.”

Our product team works tirelessly to install product updates that enable proactive steps to be taken in spotting and preventing potential issues, and our products are deliberately designed with integration in mind.

When products within an ecosystem are integrated, teams stay aligned through the complete visibility enabled by our intuitive interface. By integrating seamlessly across the ecosystem, our products ensure that all stakeholders have access to the same up-to-date information. This removes the need for manual coordination and supports clearer, faster decision-making through a shared, real-time dashboard.

How to use these insights in your operations

1. Review outstanding Priority 2 issues across compliance logs
2. Prioritise workflow upgrades for permit-to-work, traffic control, and fire safety
3. Audit asset records and electrical equipment tagging in CAFM
4. Cross-check Legionella logs and flushing schedules regularly
5. Review supplier SSIP status and digitise certification tracking
6. Adopt proactive maintenance workflows and predictive trends analysis

Download the full report

To access all 12 compliance trends, detailed data, and practical recommendations, download the full Compliance Report 2025 below:

📄 Download the 2025 Compliance Report

Watch the webinar
For additional context and commentary from our team, including insight from Chief Operating Officer Philip Jones and Chief Product Officer Rob Mead, watch the 2025 Compliance Report webinar on demand. The session covers key findings, practical takeaways, and what they mean for safety and facilities leaders.

Conclusion
The data from Vantify’s Compliance Report 2025 makes clear that strong compliance relies on systematic oversight, digital transformation, and proactive risk management. Facilities and safety teams that respond early, connect data streams, and support visibility are best positioned to succeed, today and beyond.