Legionella safety made simple: Protect your tenants and keep a clear record
Legionella risk assessments are an important part of looking after a rented property. They provide an opportunity to check the water system, identify conditions that could allow bacteria to multiply and take preventative action before anyone becomes ill.
For most residential properties, the process is straightforward. With clear guidance and a consistent approach, landlords can assess the risks themselves, record their findings and give tenants practical advice.
Understanding your responsibility
Landlords have a legal duty to assess and manage the risk of exposure to Legionella. The relevant legislation and guidance include:
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, particularly section 3: duties to protect people affected by the landlord’s undertaking, including tenants.
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), particularly regulations 6 and 7: assessing risks from hazardous substances, including Legionella bacteria, and preventing or adequately controlling exposure.
- Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999: risk assessment and appropriate health and safety arrangements where applicable.
- Housing Act 2004, including the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS): assessment and enforcement concerning housing hazards, including Legionella.
- Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, sections 9A and 10, as amended by the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018: requirements for rented homes in England to be fit for human habitation, including consideration of prescribed health hazards.
- HSE Approved Code of Practice L8 and HSG274 Part 2: the supporting code and technical guidance explaining how to assess and control Legionella risks in water systems.
Legionnaires’ disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia caused by inhaling small water droplets containing Legionella bacteria. Older people and those with weakened immune systems or certain underlying health conditions are particularly vulnerable.
An assessment helps establish how the property’s water system works and whether appropriate precautions are in place.
An unseen risk worth understanding
Legionella bacteria cannot be seen with the naked eye. They can multiply where water-system conditions allow and cause illness when contaminated droplets are inhaled.
Overseas research suggests substantial underdiagnosis, with many infections potentially recorded as pneumonia without Legionella being identified as the cause. Where specific testing is not undertaken, the underlying infection may go unrecognised. This makes prevention and awareness particularly important.
The potential scale of illness and NHS costs
Using overseas study rates as a basis for projecting the potential UK burden, the lower German figure of 3.8%, applied to a working baseline of 550,000 pneumonia cases a year, gives approximately 20,900 Legionella infections. With 42% requiring hospital treatment and mortality of 10% among those admitted, this equates to approximately 878 deaths, 87,780 hospital bed-days and £66.6 million in NHS bed costs, based on a ten-day admission at £759 per bed-day.
Applying the upper Ohio figure of 15% to the same baseline gives approximately 82,500 infections, 3,465 deaths, 346,500 hospital bed-days and £263 million in NHS bed costs. These projections use the same hospitalisation, mortality and bed-cost assumptions; they illustrate the potential burden of underdiagnosed infection rather than recorded UK totals. Even the lower projection shows why prevention deserves serious attention.
No water tank? You still need to assess the risk
Every rented property with a water supply needs a Legionella risk assessment, whether the water is stored or supplied directly from the mains.
A property supplied directly from the mains, with a combi boiler and regular water use, will generally present a lower risk than a more complex system with stored water.
However, having no storage tank does not remove the duty to assess the risk. Showers, little-used outlets, redundant pipework and periods when the property is empty can all be relevant.
The assessment establishes the circumstances of that particular property, giving the landlord a sound basis for managing it.
What should you look at?
A practical assessment considers:
- How hot and cold water are supplied, heated and stored.
- Water temperatures and whether suitable controls are maintained.
- Storage tank condition and secure lids, where tanks are present.
- Little-used outlets and places where water may stagnate.
- Redundant pipework and any changes to the system.
- Showerhead cleanliness and maintenance.
- Occupancy patterns and any relevant tenant vulnerabilities.
Landlords can assess their own domestic water systems. Legionella Guard includes a short, informative guidance section at the start, explaining what to look for and how to carry out the checks, helping landlords gain the knowledge needed to complete a competent assessment.
The checks can often be incorporated into a routine inspection, inventory visit or other arranged property appointment.
Make the record useful
A clear record helps you demonstrate what was assessed, when it was assessed and what you found.
Record the property address, assessment date, assessor’s details, relevant readings, findings and any action required. Supporting photographs can show the condition of the items inspected and provide a useful comparison at the next review.
A digital photographic report brings this information together, making it easier to retrieve, share and update. It also supports continuity when responsibility passes between landlords, agents or members of staff.
Review as circumstances change
HSE advises that assessments should be reviewed regularly and when there is reason to believe they are no longer valid. Changes to the water system, its use or the occupants may affect the risk.
An annual review can be a practical management routine, providing a recent record alongside additional reviews when relevant changes occur. The law does not prescribe a fixed annual assessment interval.
Tenant advice is also valuable. Explain relevant precautions, including cleaning and descaling showerheads, reporting hot-water problems and following any instructions arising from the assessment.
Penalties for failing to manage the risk
Landlords who fail to meet their Legionella health and safety duties can face prosecution. Relevant offences can attract unlimited fines, and individuals convicted of certain offences can face up to two years’ imprisonment.
A straightforward assessment, supported by a dated photographic record and regular reviews, helps landlords demonstrate that they have considered the risks and exercised due diligence.
Bringing the process together
Legionella Guard was developed to make this process simple for landlords and letting agents. Its guided assessment helps users work through the checks and produces a dated digital report with supporting photographs, together with a tenant advice sheet.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm checks can also be recorded during the same visit, bringing useful property safety information into one report.
At £9.99 per assessment, with a 10% discount for NRLA members, Legionella Guard offers an affordable way to establish a consistent assessment routine and keep accessible evidence of the work undertaken.
Available on iOS, Android and through the website, it helps turn an important responsibility into a manageable part of everyday property care.
