Legionella risk assessment

Hiring a tradesman for a legionella risk assessment

A legionella risk assessment can be crucial for ensuring the safety of a property. Legionella bacteria can colonise man made water systems and cause potentially fatal illnesses including pneumonia. Duty holders, including landlords, are legally obliged to ensure that their properties are safe from this, and a legionella risk assessment is the first step to making this happen.

If a legionella risk assessment is incorrectly done and fails to find an infection, the results could be dangerous or even fatal. You will need to be sure that your candidate is experienced and properly qualified for the sake of your property. Luckily, you can find this Pro in a flash through Plentific. Once you post a job with Plentific.com, some of the best tradesmen in your local area will get in touch to offer custom quotes. There will be no pressure to choose a quote, so you can take as much time as you like to compare the qualifications and reviews of your candidates. Best of all, each and every job booked via Plentific will be covered by the Plentific Guarantee.

What do you need to know about legionella risk assessments?

According to HSE regulations, it is the responsibility of a duty holder to ensure that their properties are safe from legionella bacteria, which can cause a variety of potentially fatal illnesses. This includes ‘Legionnaires’ Disease’, a serious lung infection. Usually, the bacteria will enter a property through the water mains and will then colonise within the hot and cold water system. Once this happens, various water outlets can release aerosols containing the bacteria, which can then be breathed in. All duty holders, including domestic and commercial landlords, must ensure that their water systems have been properly assessed in order to prevent this.

It can often be necessary to book a legionella risk assessment if there is a change to a property’s water system, or if there is a change of use for the building. Assessments are also recommended if there is a case of Legionnaires’ Disease within the local area.

The assessment will cover several stages. It will mainly focus on the conditions of your water system and will include an analysis of the system’s schematics. It will also involve temperature readings and various other factors. However, the ‘risk assessment’ will not involve testing water samples. If your assessor believes that the bacteria may be present, they will provide a list of recommended actions to solve the problem.

The cost of your legionella risk assessment will depend on the details of the property involved. How large is your property and its water system? How many outlets are there which could transfer the bacteria? Typically, an assessment will only take one to two hours for an average sized property.