The Health & Safety Executive are advising all building owners to check their water systems if the properties have been closed or utilised by fewer staff than normal during the past 12 months.

The easiest check is to perform a legionella test on your hot and cold water supplies. AquaCert have made this task so easy and inexpensive, it is the simplest way to get peace of mind.

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The law is clear that building owners and landlords have legal responsibilities to make sure that your property is safe and free from hazardous elements, including the Legionella bacteria, so that your health and safety is not compromised. The same is true for employers and other duty holders who are in control of certain premises and are responsible for the health and safety of others.

Having said that, Legionella testing or some other form of microbiological monitoring is not usually required for domestic hot and cold water systems, except for very specific circumstances. Care home and other facilities where residents are likely to be at high risk of infection need particular consideration. You can reference the HSG274 Part 2 regarding this.

Meanwhile, the case is different for employers and business owners. The same guidance indicates that risk assessment, prevention of exposure to hazardous substance, and control of said exposure, which all involve testing, are legal requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Other related legislation includes the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Yes every property requires a Legionella risk assessment. According to the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, general duties extend to risks from Legionella in the course of work activities. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 includes risk assessment in the framework of duties designed to assess, prevent, and control the risks from hazardous substances, including Legionella.

Duty holders need to appoint or hire somebody who is trained in the use of Legionella testing kits for the efficient identification and assessment of Legionella risk sources. It doesn’t stop there. The same person or team will also take care of managing those risks, preventing and controlling them, keeping records, and carrying out any other related legal duties.

In relation to the domestic setup, it’s still strongly recommended that landlords carry out risk assessment and record their findings. Even if the HSE and local authority inspectors do not proactively inspect domestic premises or demand that landlords provide evidence that they have undertaken risk assessment, a formal record will come in handy in case a tenant contracts Legionnaires’ disease. It’s a way to demonstrate in court that they had fulfilled their legal duty.

It usually takes 14-18 days. With AquaCert’s Legionella testing kit, it’s not difficult at all. There are only three steps to testing water for Legionella using the kit. The first step is to fill the sterile bottles included in the kit with water from your hot taps and showers. The second step is to inform us that the samples are ready so we can pick them up in the supplied bag in the kit and take them to our lab. And the last step is to wait for the results, which will be delivered to you as soon as they come out of the lab.

We will send the results certificate out to you via email and/or post. The samples need to be cultured in the laboratory for 10-12 days and the whole process can take about 14 to 18 days.

Yes. This is part of the service package that our Legionella testing company provides to the users of the kit. We will send the results certificate out to you via email.

In addition, we will also update our database with your test results.

Plus, as part of the service package, you will also receive reminders via email regarding the schedule for your next Legionella test. You may not have the bacteria in your water now, but this is no assurance that the bacteria will not occur in your water system in the future; after all, Legionella bacteria are naturally occurring organisms.