Some cars I've owned specify to check the oil when the engine is warm, but after standing for a number of minutes to allow the oil to drain back into the sump. Others recommend checking the oil on a cold engine. What's the recommendation from Skoda, I've read through the handbook, but must have missed the info.

Personally I leave it a good ten mins and check on a level standing.

Put it this way if a customer brings a car in for a waiting service and they have just driven 20 miles in i'm not going to let the engine cool all the way down so I can check the level before it goes out.

i thought it was the same for all engines. wait 40mins or so after turning it off and check it on a flat surface?

mainly i check mine when the cars stone cold

Like I said im not going to wait 40mins after servicing a car to check its oil level. But I dont think it will alter that much if left for 40mins or 4 hours.

IIRC, the manual says "wait a few minutes", just like it says in my motorcycle manual and the one for my SAAB. The difference between waiting just a few minutes and waiting an hour is probably barely noticeable, anyway.. it'll only take the first few minutes for almost all of the oil that's not already in the sump to drain back there, what little oil may be left after that you likely wouldn't notice on such crude a measuring device as the oil dipstick.

Be sure the oil level is within the "b" range...

ISTR from my Mk1 Fabia manual that the level's supposed to be checked when cold for all engines, except for the 1.2, which must be checked when warm. But like Ross says, 10 minutes it probably enough. Almost all of the oil will have drained back to the sump by then, and the amount that the oil will actually shrink by if it cools down any further will be pretty minimal... It may be that the 1.2's supposed to be done warm so that you don't take account of any oil held up in the engine pathways???