The 20-Point Home Hazard Audit, Every 90 Days

A home that was safe in March is not safe in July. A new charger, a gifted lily, a repaired window screen and a bag of hair ties arrive without a decision, and each one adds a hazard that stays for months because nobody walks the flat with a list. Twenty checks, 4 risk groups, 30 minutes, once every 90 days — that is the whole system, and it costs less than one emergency visit.

Score each item pass or fail. Four or fewer fails is a normal quarter; 5-9 fails means a weekend of fixes; 10 or more means the flat has drifted and needs a full afternoon.

Why 90 days and not spring cleaning

A hazard introduced in week 3 of a quarter sits in the house for 87 more days, which is why the calendar matters more than the effort. Cats also change the flat themselves: a 4 kg cat can pull a curtain, push a screen and knock a 1.2 m shelf in a single jump, and a kitten gains 100 g a week for the first 6 months, which changes what it can reach.

Two people, one list, 30 minutes, clockwise from the front door. Write the fails down before fixing them, or you will fix the easy 6 and miss the 4 that matter.

The 20 items

No.	Group	Check	Pass threshold	Days to fix
1	A fire	Exposed cable runs chewed or loose	10 mm trunking, clips at 30 cm	7
2	A fire	Floor sockets without covers	0 open holes below 50 cm	1
3	A fire	Hob knobs a cat can turn	Cover on all 4 knobs	3
4	A fire	Open flame, candles, incense	0 flames; 30 cm clear if used	1
5	A fire	Dryer lint and duct	Filter every load, duct at 90 days	1
6	B toxins	Cleaner cupboard not locked	Latch fitted, store above 120 cm	3
7	B toxins	Lilies and other toxic plants	0 lilies in the flat, vase water dumped	1
8	B toxins	Human medicine out of a drawer	All packs above 150 cm, boxed	1
9	B toxins	Essential oil diffuser running	0 diffusers in rooms under 12 sq m	1
10	B toxins	Bin without a lid	Lidded bin, food waste out nightly	1
11	C falls	Window screen loose or missing	Holds 5 kg push, 2 latches	7
12	C falls	Balcony without netting	Mesh 5 cm, height 2 m	14
13	C falls	Tall bookcase not anchored	L-bracket on every unit over 90 cm	7
14	C falls	Gap behind the fridge	5-10 cm airflow, gap sealed	7
15	C falls	Washer and dryer doors	Drum checked, child lock on	1
16	D tangles	Blind cord in a loop	Loop cut, cleat at 1.5 m	1
17	D tangles	Hair ties and rubber bands on floors	0 found in a 5 minute sweep	1
18	D tangles	Plastic bags within reach	All bags in a drawer with a latch	1
19	D tangles	Small parts on the floor	Nothing under 3 cm within reach	1
20	D tangles	High drop onto a hard floor	Pad 2 cm under drops over 1.5 m	7

Group A: fire and electricity, 5 items

The two that get skipped are the socket behind the sofa and the knob on the hob. A cat lying under a sofa meets a 220 V cord at mouth height and can work on it for 20 minutes without being seen; a single chewed cord can start a fire in the fabric 30 cm away. Socket covers cost 20-40 RMB for 6, and knob covers 30-50 RMB for a set of 4.

Item 5 is the one people answer from memory. Open the dryer, pull the filter, hold it up to a lamp: a film of grey fuzz that you can see light through is a fail. Ducts in a 2-cat home pack solid in about 3 months.

Group B: toxins, 5 items

Lilies are the item that must be absolute. Pollen, leaves, petals and the water in the vase are all a problem, and a cat that brushes a flower and then grooms a paw has been exposed. Zero lilies is the only passing score, and a bouquet from a guest counts as an arrival, not a gift.

Medicine is next. A single dropped capsule under a table is found by a cat in minutes, and child-resistant caps are not cat-resistant. All packs go in one lidded box at 150 cm or higher, and the box moves out of the bedroom before guests stay over.

Group C: structure and falls, 5 items

Push every window screen with a flat hand at 5 kg of force. A screen that pops out at that load will pop out under a 4 kg cat landing on it at speed, and the fall from a 6th floor window is not survivable. Two latches per screen, and no screen that opens more than 10 cm.

Bookcases over 90 cm get an L-bracket into a stud: a cat jumps onto the top shelf, the unit tips at about 15 kg of sideways load, and the shelf lands where the cat was standing 1 second earlier.

Group D: entanglement and choking, 5 items

The 5-minute floor sweep is the highest-yield item on the list. Bend down to cat height in each room and look for hair ties, ribbon, floss, ear plugs and the plastic clip from a bread bag; 3 items in a normal week is typical, and any one of them can become a linear foreign body that needs a 2,000-6,000 RMB operation.

Blind cords are item 16 and the fix is 20-40 RMB: cut the loop, fit a cleat at 1.5 m, and shorten the cord so its lowest point is 1.6 m above the floor.

Scoring, and what to fix first

Order the fails by cost of being wrong, not by ease: blind cord loop, screen, lily, medicine, cleaner latch. Those 5 take under 90 minutes and 150 RMB total, and they cover the outcomes that end with a dead cat rather than an expensive one. The rest can wait.

Photograph the 3 worst fails, fix them, photograph again; the pair is what makes the next quarter take 20 minutes.

Senior cats, weight, and the record

From about 11 years, a cat that used to clear a 1.2 m shelf stops clearing it, and the audit changes shape: add a step at 40 cm, cut the drop from the windowsill, raise the food bowl 10 cm if the neck is stiff. The senior adjustments list covers the 8 changes worth making.

Weigh the cat on the same day you run the audit, quarterly, and write both on one card. A 10% loss over 90 days, about 400 g on a 4 kg cat, is a vet visit; a 5% loss plus 2 new fails in group C usually means the cat is jumping less because something hurts. The weighing method matters more than the scale.

Put the audit date 90 days out in the calendar now. That single entry is what turns a list into a habit.

Terms mentioned in this article

Frequently asked

How long does the 20-item audit really take?

Thirty minutes for two people walking clockwise, plus the fixes. A first run takes 60-90 minutes because every fail needs a decision. The second quarter takes 20 minutes, since 15 of the 20 items will already pass and you are only re-checking the 5 that move.

Which single item should I fix tonight if I only have 10 minutes?

The blind cord. Cut the loop, fit a cleat at 1.5 m and shorten the cord so it ends 1.6 m above the floor. It costs 20-40 RMB, takes 10 minutes, and a loop at 40-60 cm is the one hazard on the list that can kill a healthy cat in under 2 minutes.

My cat is 13. Does the checklist change?

The list stays and the pass lines move. Add a 40 cm step to anything the cat used to jump onto, pad the landing under drops over 1 m, raise bowls 10 cm, and weigh quarterly, because a 400 g loss plus 2 new fails in the structure group usually means pain rather than clumsiness.