Legionnaires Leeds

Boiler Installation & Central Heating Installation in Leeds

Legionnaires Risk Assessments

As a landlord or letting agent acting on behalf of your landlords, you must understand the health risks associated with legionella.

As a landlord, or a person in control of the premises, you are responsible for health and safety and need to take the right precautions to reduce the risks of exposure to legionella.

Landlords duties for Legionnaires

Organisations, or self-employed individuals, who provide residential accommodation or who are responsible for the water system(s) in their premises, are responsible for ensuring that the risk of exposure to legionella in those premises is properly assessed and controlled. All water systems require an assessment of the risk which they can carry out themselves if they are competent, or employ somebody who is.

In most residential settings, a simple assessment may show that the risks are low and no further action may be necessary. (An example of a typical lower risk situation may be found in a small building (eg housing unit) with small domestic-type water systems, where daily water usage is inevitable and sufficient to turn over the entire system; where cold water is directly from a wholesome mains supply (no stored water tanks); where hot water is fed from instantaneous heaters or low volume water heaters (supplying outlets at 50°C); and where the only outlets are toilets and wash hand basins). If the assessment shows the risks are low and are being properly managed, no further action is needed but it is important to review the assessment regularly in case anything changes in the system.

Simple control measures can help control the risk of exposure to legionella such as:

  • flushing out the system prior to letting the property
  • avoiding debris getting into the system (eg ensure the cold water tanks, where fitted, have a tight fitting lid)
  • setting control parameters (eg setting the temperature of the calorifier to ensure water is stored at 60°C)
  • make sure any redundant pipework identified is removed

Tenants should be advised of any control measures put in place that should be maintained eg not to adjust the temperature setting of the calorifier, to regularly clean showerheads and to inform the landlord if the hot water is not heating properly or there are any other problems with the system so that appropriate action can be taken. If there are difficulties gaining access to occupied housing units, appropriate checks can be made by carrying out inspections of the water system, for example, when undertaking mandatory visits such as gas safety checks or routine maintenance visits.

Where showers are installed, these have the means of creating and dispersing water droplets which may be inhaled causing a foreseeable risk of exposure to legionella. However, if used regularly (as in the majority of most domestic settings) the risks are reduced but in any case, tenants should be advised to regularly clean and disinfect showerheads. Instantaneous electric showers pose less of a risk as they are generally coldwater-fed and heat only small volumes of water during operation.

It is important that water is not allowed to stagnate within the water system and so there should be careful management of dwellings that are vacant for extended periods (eg student accommodation left empty over the summer vacation). As a general principle, outlets on hot and cold water systems should be used at least once a week to maintain a degree of water flow and minimise the chances if stagnation. To manage the risks during non-occupancy, consideration should be given to implementing a suitable flushing regime or other measures such as draining the system if it is to remain vacant for long periods.

Identify and assess sources of risk

Carrying out a risk assessment is your responsibility. You may be competent to carry out the assessment yourself but if not here at Ignite Gas Care we have a team of qualified engineers to assist you with your legionnaires risk assessment. Please complete the form below or call us on 0800 433 2320 for help and advice or to arrange your assessment.

Legionnaires Enquiry

* denotes required field

Enquiry Form
Finance Quote HERE
gas-safety-week
you-are-in-safe-hands

What our customers say

Ignite Gas provides a wide variety of gas related services to individual home-owners, companies, landlords, letting agents, Housing Associations and Local Authorities throughout the Yorkshire region.

  • Tony from Ignite was here (quite excellent again -they are brilliant, really) -he has sorted things out and will put it in his report to you.
    Warren January 2018
  • I want to thoroughly recommend Tony and Ignite. The company rang me immediately that morning and offered me a choice of times that day to help fit in with me. …
    Glenys Riddell January 2018
  • Just a bit of feedback, Charlie your engineer is so helpful and pleasant, he also explains things really well when he returns the keys. I know this sounds a …
    Christine October 2017
  • Thank you so much for that and please pass on to management how polite, helpful and totally competent Mark the engineer was, would totally recommend him and …
    Neil Slater October 2017
  • I want to write and express my great thanks to Tony Valentine for attending to the job at such short notice today. He was prompt, friendly and approachable and …
    Sun Park April 2017
  • I would just like to take this opportunity to say how great this experience has been considering we were without heating or hot water. Nick and the other …
    Mary Baulk April 2017
  • Many thanks for efficiently arranging this. Our boiler works perfectly now. Your guy was very prompt, courteous, effective and cleared up after himself very …
    B Posmyk March 2017
  • The tenants did note that your representative was really great, turned up on time, was really professional and even cleaned up everything afterwards - they …
    Tracey March 2017
  • Hi Jon, I just wanted to let you know how pleased Ross & I are with the service we receive from Ignite. We are using the portal whenever possible which is …
    Christine February 2017