Backup compliance date reminders for pubs with Zapier

A pub has a run of dates that carry real consequences if missed: gas safety check, fire alarm and extinguisher service, electrical inspection and the annual premises licence fee. Chasing around 14 dates by hand, at about 30 minutes a week of diary and folder checking (30 x 4.3 = 129 minutes, about 2.2 hours a month), is easy to let slip.

The primary record stays as it is: every date is entered first in your main diary or compliance system, with a named person and a human check, whether that's your pub company's system or your own. This use case adds a second line of defence. Make a Google Calendar event for each date, then build two Zapier automations that start 'a specified amount of time before an event starts', one at 30 days and one at 7 days, and send an email through Gmail to the licensee and owner. The reminders are a prompt to check the real record, not proof that a certificate is valid or a fee is paid.

A freehouse in Shrewsbury with a licensee and one assistant manager has about 14 compliance dates a year. The licensee keeps them in the pub's compliance folder and diary and adds a backup calendar event and two Zapier emails for each.

The value here isn't monetary: it is a second line of defence behind the licensee's primary diary, so the monthly value is set at nil. The reminders also save about 1.4 hours a month (86 minutes), which isn't priced. 14 dates x 2 reminders = 28 emails a year, so about 2 or 3 tasks a month on Zapier's Free plan (100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps).

1. 1List every date first in your primary diary or compliance system with a named person responsible and the proof you'll need, such as the certificate, and have a second person check that list.
2. 2Add a Google Calendar event for each date with a clear title, such as 'Gas safety check due' and who books it.
3. 3In Zapier, create one Zap that starts 30 days before an event starts and sends a Gmail email to you and your manager, and a second at 7 days.
4. 4Test with a dummy event and confirm both emails arrive.
5. 5Once a month, compare your calendar events with the main record and check a test email still arrives.

• Automations can fail silently: a disconnected Google account or an expired connection stops emails with no warning. Check that a test arrives every month.
• On Zapier's Free plan the check for new triggers runs every 15 minutes, which is fine for this, but a reminder is only a prompt. The date must be right in your main record.
• Don't move the primary record into Zapier or the calendar. If a certificate is renewed, update the main record and the calendar event together.
• Your premises licence conditions, your licensing authority's notices and your gas, fire and electrical engineers decide the real dates; reminders don't replace their paperwork.