What Should a Landlord Do After a Legionella Risk Assessment?
What Should a Landlord Do After a Legionella Risk Assessment?
A Legionella Risk Assessment is not simply a report to file away. It should help the landlord understand the water system, deal with any identified risks and know when the assessment needs reviewed.
Once a Legionella Risk Assessment has been completed, it can be tempting to save the report in a folder and consider the job finished.
In many straightforward rental properties, the overall risk may be low and there may be very little for the landlord to do.
But the report is still useful because it creates a record of how the water system was arranged at the time of the assessment, identifies any risk factors and sets out any recommendations or control measures.
If you are unfamiliar with the process itself, our Legionella Risk Assessments page explains what Thorn looks at during a typical landlord assessment.
Start by reading the findings
The first step is simply to understand what the assessment found.
A Legionella Risk Assessment considers how the property's hot and cold water system is arranged and used. That can include water storage, temperatures, showers, accessible pipework, little-used outlets and areas where water may be able to remain stagnant.
The type of system matters too. A property with a combi boiler can present a different arrangement from one with a hot-water cylinder or stored cold water. We looked at this in more detail in Combi Boiler, Hot Water Cylinder or Water Tank: Why Does It Matter for Legionella?
For many normal domestic systems, the assessment may conclude that the risks are low and already being adequately controlled.
Where something does need attention, the report should make that clear.
The assessment gives the landlord a snapshot of the water system at that point in time — what was found, what was considered a risk and what should be kept under review.
Deal with any recommendations
Recommendations will depend on the individual property.
They may relate to things such as redundant pipework, little-used outlets, water-storage arrangements, temperatures or parts of the system that would benefit from maintenance.
Not every recommendation means major work is required. Often the most appropriate controls are simple and proportionate to the level of risk identified.
If something does require attention, it is sensible to keep a record of what was done and when. That creates a useful trail between the original assessment and any follow-up action.
Make sure tenants know what they need to know
Legionella control is not only about the physical water system.
Landlords should make tenants aware of relevant control measures and anything they need to do as part of normal use of the property.
That can include keeping showerheads clean, reporting problems with hot water and avoiding unnecessary changes to stored hot-water temperature settings.
Simple information at the beginning of a tenancy can help prevent avoidable problems later.
Think about little-used outlets
Water systems generally benefit from regular use.
A spare shower, guest bathroom or other outlet that is rarely used can allow water to remain within the pipework for longer periods.
This is easy to overlook because the rest of the property may be occupied and used normally.
We covered this particular issue in Little-Used Water Outlets: A Common Legionella Risk in Rental Properties.
Vacant properties can change the picture
The way a property is occupied is also important.
When a rental property becomes vacant, the normal pattern of people running taps, using showers and flushing toilets stops. That means water can remain sitting within parts of the system for longer.
This is particularly worth considering between tenancies. Our guide to what landlords should check between tenancies covers water-system checks alongside some of the other practical areas worth reviewing before a new tenant moves in.
Keep the report with the property records
The assessment should form part of the property's wider compliance records rather than disappearing into an email inbox.
Keeping it alongside PAT reports, repair records, damp and mould assessments and other relevant property documentation makes it much easier to see the history of the property.
It also makes the next Legionella review easier because the previous assessment provides a useful comparison point.
For landlords managing several different areas of compliance, Thorn's Landlords & Letting Agents page brings the main property services together in one place.
Has anything changed since the assessment?
A risk assessment records the property as it was at the time of the visit.
If the water system changes afterwards, the previous assessment may no longer tell the full story.
Changes such as alterations to pipework, replacing a hot-water system, adding or removing outlets, or changes in how the property is occupied can affect the risk factors.
If the relevant risks have changed, the assessment may need to be updated rather than simply waiting until the next routine review.
Remember the review date
Scottish private-landlord guidance says Legionella Risk Assessments should be reviewed at intervals of no more than two years.
The purpose of the review is to consider whether the existing assessment still reflects the property and whether anything affecting the risks has changed.
If it has, a new assessment may be required.
The report is the start of the record, not the end
In many rental properties, a Legionella Risk Assessment will confirm that the water system is relatively straightforward and that the risks are low.
That is a good outcome.
But even a low-risk assessment is useful because the landlord now has a documented picture of the system, any sensible control measures and a point from which future changes can be judged.
The practical approach is simple: read the report, deal with anything that needs attention, keep a record of what was done and remember when the assessment needs reviewed.
Need a Legionella Risk Assessment?
Thorn provides Legionella Risk Assessments for landlords and letting agents across Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire, with clear reporting and practical recommendations.
If you would like a guide price or are unsure whether your property is due for an assessment or review, Ask Wendy can help.
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