What Should a Landlord Review After Plumbing Work or Property Alterations?
What Should a Landlord Review After Plumbing Work or Property Alterations?
When something changes in a rental property, it is worth checking whether the reports and records already on file still reflect the property accurately.
Rental properties change over time.
A bathroom may be refurbished, a new shower fitted, a boiler replaced, a kitchen altered or landlord-supplied appliances changed.
Most of these jobs are dealt with individually, but what can easily be forgotten afterwards is whether the change has affected any of the existing property records or risk assessments.
For landlords, a useful habit is to ask one simple question after significant work has been completed: does anything we already have on file now need reviewed?
Plumbing changes can alter the water-system risk
Plumbing work is one of the clearest examples.
A Legionella Risk Assessment is based on the water system that exists at the time of the assessment. It looks at how hot and cold water is supplied, whether water is stored, the outlets present and any factors that could encourage stagnation.
If the system changes, the previous assessment may no longer tell the full story.
Scottish Government guidance says Legionella assessments should be reviewed regularly, and if that review identifies a change in the risk factors, a new assessment should be carried out.
What sort of plumbing changes might matter?
Not every small repair will affect a Legionella assessment.
Replacing a washer in a dripping tap, for example, is unlikely to transform the risk profile of the whole property.
But more substantial alterations may be different.
Fitting a new shower, adding an en-suite, altering pipework, replacing a hot water cylinder, changing from stored hot water to a combi boiler or removing an old water tank can all change how the system is arranged and used.
Removing an outlet also deserves some thought. If pipework is simply capped and left in place, it may create an unused section of the system. Redundant pipework and dead ends can be relevant when considering Legionella risk.
We looked at the different types of domestic hot-water systems in more detail in our article Combi Boiler, Hot Water Cylinder or Water Tank: Why Does It Matter for Legionella?
What about a new bathroom or en-suite?
Adding another bathroom can look like a straightforward improvement, but from a water-management point of view it introduces additional outlets.
The new shower or basin may be used every day, in which case water movement through that part of the system may be regular.
On the other hand, if it becomes a guest bathroom or spare en-suite that is only occasionally used, it may create another little-used part of the system that needs to be considered.
We covered this particular issue in Little-Used Water Outlets: A Common Legionella Risk in Rental Properties.
This is why the actual use of the property matters as much as simply knowing which fixtures are installed.
A useful rule after alterations
If the work changes the way water is supplied, stored, heated or used, it is worth checking whether the existing Legionella Risk Assessment still describes the property accurately.
Boiler changes can matter too
Changing the hot water system can significantly alter the layout and operation of the property.
A property that previously used a hot water cylinder may be converted to a combi boiler, or an older cylinder may be replaced with a different stored-water arrangement.
Neither system is automatically a problem, but they work differently and should be reflected accurately in the assessment.
If you are unsure whether an existing assessment still reflects the property, Thorn provides Legionella Risk Assessments for landlords and letting agents in Glasgow.
Do not forget changes to landlord-supplied appliances
Property alterations are not always about plumbing.
Kitchens are often upgraded between tenancies, and that can mean appliances being replaced, removed or added.
If a landlord-supplied microwave, kettle, washing machine or other movable electrical appliance is replaced, the property records should reflect the new item rather than continuing to list equipment that is no longer there.
Where appropriate, new or replacement landlord-supplied appliances can also be included in the property's next PAT testing visit.
Keep previous reports, but make sure they still make sense
An older report does not suddenly become useless just because something has changed.
Previous reports provide a useful history of the property and show what was present at the time.
The important thing is not to rely on an old document as though the property has remained unchanged when significant alterations have taken place.
A simple note in the property file explaining when work was carried out can make future reviews much easier.
A tenancy changeover is also a useful opportunity to review the wider property. Our guide What Should a Landlord Check Between Tenancies? looks at some of the other practical things worth checking while access is straightforward.
Think about how the property will actually be used
Physical alterations are only part of the picture.
Sometimes the work changes the way a property is likely to be occupied.
Creating an extra bedroom, adding an en-suite or converting part of the property may mean more people using the water system, or it may create areas that are only used occasionally.
That does not automatically mean the property has become higher risk, but it is another reason to check whether the information held for the property is still current.
What if the property has been empty while the work was carried out?
Refurbishment can sometimes leave a property vacant for several weeks or months.
During that time, normal water use may stop completely.
Longer periods without regular water use can allow stagnation to become part of the risk picture, so the length of the vacancy is worth considering when the property is being prepared for occupation again.
We looked specifically at this in Why Empty Properties Can Create Legionella Risks.
Review rather than assume
The aim is not to create another layer of paperwork every time somebody works on the property.
Most routine maintenance will not require every report to be replaced.
The useful approach is simply to review what has changed and decide whether any existing information no longer reflects the property accurately.
That is particularly relevant to Legionella because changes to the water system can affect the risk factors on which the original assessment was based.
Our earlier article Does a Landlord Need a Legionella Risk Assessment Every Year? explains how reviewing an assessment differs from simply arranging a new assessment every 12 months.
Thorn provides PAT testing and Legionella Risk Assessments for landlords and letting agents across Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire, with Legionella assessments carried out by an Elmhurst-accredited Legionella Risk Assessor.
Changed something in your rental property?
If you are unsure whether plumbing work, new appliances or alterations mean an existing Legionella assessment or PAT record needs another look, Ask Wendy can help you work through the property details and provide initial guidance and guide pricing.
Ask Wendy Legionella Risk Assessments