Legionella Risk Assessment

York EPC can produce a Legionella Risk Assessment for residential properties at just £85 plus VAT which will be carried out by a member of our team who has completed the ‘Legionella Control for Property Management’ training, which is approved and validated by The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the world’s only Chartered body for health and safety professionals and the world’s largest health and safety membership organisation.

You can call or use our contact form to ask for further information or to arrange a Legionella Risk Assessment and we will respond to you the same working day to confirm the date and time.

For multiple properties at the same location on the same date or for large volume we would propose a preferential rate.

When would I legally need a Legionella Risk Assessment for a residential property?

If you are a homeowner, there is no requirement for you to carry out a risk assessment on your property, however if you are a landlord who provides residential accommodation, as the person in control of the premises or responsible for the water systems in your premises, you have a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act (Legionnaires’ disease: The control of legionella bacteria in water systems. Approved Code of Practice) to ensure that the risk of exposure of tenants to legionella is properly assessed and controlled. This duty extends to residents, guests, tenants and customers.

If you are a residential managing (or letting) agency, the management contract should clearly specify who has responsibility for maintenance and safety checks, including managing the risk from legionella. Where there is no contract or agreement in place or it does not specify who has responsibility, the duty is placed on whoever has control of the premises and the water system in it, and in most cases, this will be the landlord themselves.

What are the risks from Legionella?

Any water system that has the right environmental conditions could potentially be a source for legionella bacteria growth, which may lead to Legionnaire’s disease which is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia. There is a reasonably foreseeable legionella risk in your water system if:

  • water is stored or re-circulated as part of your system;
  • the water temperature in all or some part of the system may be between 20–45 °C;
  • there are deposits that can support bacterial growth, such as rust, sludge, scale and organic matter;
  • it is possible for water droplets to be produced and, if so, if they can be dispersed;
  • it is likely that any of your employees, contractors, visitors etc could be exposed to any contaminated water droplets.

What does a risk assessment involve?

Our assessor will visit your property to examine the hot and cold water system in the property, test water temperatures and identify and assess any possible risks, for example with cold water storage tanks, shower heads or infrequently used outlets. This information will be documented along with control measures to be implemented and monitored. The completed risk assessment will be accompanied by a basic schematic drawing of the hot and cold water system in the property and a simple floor plan showing the location of water outlets.

All water systems require a risk assessment but not all systems require elaborate control measures. A simple risk assessment may show that there are no real risks from legionella, but if there are, implementing appropriate measures will prevent or control these risks. The law requires simple, proportionate and practical actions to be taken, including identifying and assessing sources of risk, managing the risk, preventing or controlling the risk; and periodically checking that any control measures are effective.

For most residential settings, the risk assessment may show the risks are low, in which case no further action may be necessary, eg housing units with small domestic-type water systems where water turnover is high. If the assessment shows the risks are insignificant and are being properly managed to comply with the law, no further action may be required, but it is important to review the assessment periodically in case anything changes in the system. However, the frequency of inspection and maintenance will depend on the system and the risks it presents.