Commercial · Water Hygiene
Legionella risk assessments in London.
A standing duty on every employer, landlord and person in control of premises, under the Health and Safety at Work Act and ACOP L8. It takes a couple of hours and almost nobody in London markets it.
A duty most people do not know they have.
The duty
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations require you to assess and control the risk from legionella. ACOP L8 is the approved code of practice that sets out how.
Who it applies to
Employers, the person in control of premises, and landlords. It applies to residential lettings as well as commercial buildings, which surprises most landlords.
The assessment
We survey the water system, identify where water stagnates or sits in the risk temperature range, and produce a written assessment with a schedule of controls.
Temperature monitoring
Monthly checks at sentinel outlets, recorded. This is the ongoing control and the part that gets forgotten between assessments.
Tank inspection
Cold water storage tank inspected for debris, insects, temperature and lid condition. Tanks are where most problems actually start.
Cleaning and disinfection
Tank clean and system chlorination where the inspection calls for it.
Remedial works
Dead legs removed, insulation corrected, TMVs serviced. We carry out the plumbing, so the assessment leads somewhere.
Review
Reassessed when the system changes or the use of the building changes, and periodically otherwise.
From assessment to monitoring.
Tanks, calorifiers, pipework, outlets, and how the building actually uses water.
Risks identified with a schedule of controls and who is responsible for each.
Monitoring set up, records started, remedials quoted.
Monthly temperature checks and annual tank inspection, scheduled so they do not lapse.
Answered
plainly.
Yes. Landlords have a duty to assess and control the risk in rented property. For a straightforward domestic property with a combi boiler and no stored water the assessment is short and the risk is low, but the duty to have assessed it still exists and is regularly missed.
There is no such thing as a legionella certificate, whatever anyone selling one tells you. What you need is a written risk assessment and a record of the controls being carried out. Anyone offering a certificate is describing something the regulations do not recognise.
There is no fixed statutory interval. The assessment must be reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to believe it is no longer valid, such as changes to the system, the building's use, or a case of legionellosis. Two years is a common review period for a stable system.
Water sitting between roughly 20 and 45 degrees, in places where it stagnates. Cold water tanks, unused outlets, dead legs of pipework left behind after alterations, and showers that are rarely run. Void and low-occupancy properties are higher risk, not lower, because the water sits.
A trained assessor. There is no legal monopoly on this work and no scheme you must belong to, which is why we can offer it directly rather than through a specialist. We will tell you the assessor's training before you instruct.
All 32 London boroughs, with a focus on west and south-west London.
Tell us the property
and we will survey it.
A site visit, an honest recommendation and a fixed written quote. London-wide.
Who needs a legionella risk assessment in London.
Anyone who controls a building where people could be exposed to water from the system. In London that covers far more properties than most owners realise, from a one bedroom flat let through an agent to an office block with a rooftop tank.
Landlords of rented homes
The duty sits with the landlord, not the agent, unless the management agreement passes it on in writing. A simple flat with a combi boiler needs a short assessment and a record of the advice given to the tenant. A house with a cold water tank in the loft and a hot water cylinder needs more.
Managing agents and blocks of flats
Communal tanks, booster pumps and long pipe runs in the common parts make blocks higher risk than individual flats. The freeholder or the agent acting for them is the person in control, and the assessment should sit alongside the fire risk assessment for the building.
Offices, shops, gyms and restaurants
Employers must assess the risk to staff and the public. Showers in gyms and offices, kitchen outlets that are rarely used, and plant rooms with calorifiers are the usual points of concern.
What the written assessment includes.
The assessment is a document you can show a council officer, an insurer or an HSE inspector. It sets out what is in the system, where the risk sits and who does what to control it.
Schematic and asset list
A simple drawing of the water system and a list of every tank, cylinder, water heater, shower and outlet, with the temperatures recorded on the day.
Control scheme and responsibilities
The checks that need to happen, how often, and who is responsible for each one. Where the person in control cannot carry out the checks, we can schedule them as part of a planned visit.
Common risks in London water systems.
Older London houses and conversions tend to share the same problems. Cold water tanks in lofts with loose or missing lids. Dead legs left behind when a kitchen or bathroom was moved. Hot water cylinders set below 60 degrees to save energy. Outlets in spare rooms or basements that nobody runs. Each of these lets water sit at a temperature where bacteria can grow, and each has a simple fix once it has been found.
Converted buildings with several flats on one supply often have pipework nobody has a drawing of. Part of the survey is tracing that pipework so the assessment reflects what is actually there, not what was intended.
Void periods and low occupancy.
A property that sits empty between tenancies is higher risk, not lower. Water stands in the tank and the pipework for weeks. Before a new tenant moves in, every outlet should be run through and showers flushed, and in a property with stored water the tank should be checked. We can carry out the flush and record it as part of a void inspection, so there is evidence that it was done.
Monitoring and record keeping after the assessment.
The assessment is only the start. Monthly temperature checks at sentinel outlets, an annual inspection of any cold water tank, and descaling of shower heads are the routine controls that keep the risk down. Each check is recorded with the date, the reading and the person who took it. If anything is ever questioned, the log is what shows the duty has been met. We set up the log on the first visit and keep it going on a schedule that suits the building.
One contractor from assessment to remedial work.
Most assessors write a report and leave. The recommendations then sit in a drawer because nobody has been asked to carry them out. We assess, quote the remedial work in writing, and send a plumber to remove dead legs, fit tank lids, insulate pipework or adjust cylinder temperatures. You have one point of contact for the whole job, and the assessment is updated once the works are done.
This sits well with other landlord compliance visits and with fire risk assessments for blocks, so the paperwork for each building is kept together.
Often needed
alongside this.
Areas we cover.
We take legionella risk assessments across all 32 London boroughs. Most of our work is in west London, in Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chiswick and White City, and in south west London, in Putney, Wandsworth and Wimbledon. We also work in south east London, in Greenwich, Blackheath and Lewisham.
If your property is outside these areas, call us anyway. We travel across London and will tell you honestly if a job is too far to price properly.