Legionella Risk Assessments for rental properties

Only £85 including VAT

Back in September, we covered the topic of Legionella and the landlord’s responsibility to ensure legionella is suitably prevented in rental properties.

In short, The Health and Safety Executive updated legislation regarding the control of Legionnaires’ disease. For the first time, landlords of residential accommodation now have responsibilities for combating the spread of this potentially fatal illness.

What has changed for landlords?

All privately rented residential properties must now undergo a risk assessment to determine any threat of exposure. According to current health and safety law landlords now have a duty to take suitable precautions to prevent or control the risk of exposure to legionella.

How can you stay on the right side of the law?

If your property has a combi-boiler which instantly heats the water there is nothing to worry about. If you have an older style tank housed in the loft, the water will usually remain in the tank for more than 24 hours. In such cases, the cold water needs to be less than 20 degrees and the hot over 60 degrees to ensure it is safe. Furthermore, any dead legs in the system could also cause a problem.

If this description applies to your system, and particularly if you have an elderly or otherwise vulnerable tenant, then please contact your property manager and we will discuss next steps with you. Our usual heating engineers can undertake these checks for you at a price of £85 inclusive of VAT.

Avoid any serious consequences

By undertaking satisfactory risk assessments and quickly acting upon any areas of concern, you should stay on the right side of the law. Failure to do so could result in some weighty fines and even imprisonment for any landlords failing to prevent exposure to the legionella bacteria at any of their properties.

For further information please visit the Health & Safety Executive website at: www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires.