Plumbing, Cold Water & Hygeine
Legionella Risk Assessment
Professional legionella risk assessments for commercial buildings across Yorkshire, carried out by experienced water safety specialists.
A legionella risk assessment identifies potential sources of Legionella bacteria within a building’s water systems and evaluates the risk of exposure to occupants.
Robinsons Facilities Services provides Legionella risk assessments for commercial properties across Yorkshire and the Humber, helping organisations manage water hygiene risks and meet their health and safety obligations.
Pricing from £450 + VAT
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Employers and building owners have a legal duty to assess and control the risk from legionella bacteria in water systems under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and COSHH Regulations. ACOP L8 sets out how that duty should be met and carries significant legal weight. Failure to follow it must be justified in court.
Is a Legionella risk assessment a legal requirement?
Businesses that operate water systems must assess the risk of Legionella bacteria under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The HSE Approved Code of Practice L8 (ACOP L8) sets out how this duty should be met in practice.
HSG274, the HSE’s technical guidance document that accompanies ACOP L8, provides detailed guidance on managing specific system types. This includes hot and cold water systems (Part 2), evaporative cooling systems such as cooling towers (Part 1), and other risk systems (Part 3).
Together, L8 and HSG274 form the primary framework for Legionella risk management in the UK.
Legionella bacteria also fall within the scope of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), which requires employers to assess and control exposure to biological agents in the workplace.
Failure to demonstrate adequate control of legionella risk can result in HSE enforcement action, including improvement notices and prohibition notices.
Where a case of Legionnaires’ disease is linked to a commercial premises, the consequences — including reputational damage and potential prosecution — can be significant.
Who is the duty holder?
The duty holder is the person or organisation with responsibility for the water systems in a building. This typically means the employer, landlord, managing agent, or facilities manager.
Where buildings are managed on behalf of others, such as in property portfolios or multi-tenanted sites, the duty holder may delegate day-to-day management, but legal responsibility cannot be transferred.
How often should a Legionella risk assessment be carried out?
Neither ACOP L8 nor HSG274 specifies a fixed interval. However, risk assessments should be reviewed regularly and updated whenever significant changes occur. A review every two years is widely accepted as appropriate for standard commercial premises.
Higher-risk environments, including care homes, hospitals, hotels, and sites with complex water systems, typically require more frequent review. In such settings, annual assessment is common practice.
A new or updated assessment is required when:
- a building is first occupied or brought back into use
- water systems are modified or extended
- occupancy patterns or building use changes significantly
- the existing risk assessment is no longer considered valid
What does a legionella risk assessment involve?
A legionella risk assessment is a structured inspection of the building’s water systems, carried out by a competent assessor. The aim is to identify conditions that could promote the growth of Legionella bacteria — particularly warm, stagnant water and temperatures in the bacteria’s known growth range of 20°C to 45°C.
Typical elements inspected during an assessment include:
- hot and cold water storage systems
- pipework condition and layout
- water temperatures throughout the system
- outlets such as taps and showers
- tanks, calorifiers, and associated equipment
- areas where water may stagnate
- potential aerosol-generating devices
Following the inspection, the assessor produces a written risk assessment report setting out the findings and recommending appropriate control measures. Where water sampling is needed to confirm whether Legionella bacteria are present, samples can be taken for laboratory analysis.
How a legionella risk assessment is carried out
Professional legionella risk assessments follow a structured inspection process.
Step 1 – Site inspection
The assessor inspects all water systems on site and identifies the equipment and components connected to the supply.
Step 2 – Identify risk conditions
Conditions that could support legionella growth are identified, including stagnant water, sediment, and temperatures in the 20°C–45°C growth range.
Step 3 – Risk evaluation
The likelihood of bacterial growth and the potential routes of exposure to building occupants are assessed.
Step 4 – Sampling and testing (if required)
Water samples may be collected and submitted for laboratory analysis to confirm whether Legionella bacteria are present in the system.
Step 5 – Report and control recommendations
A written risk assessment report is issued outlining the findings and recommending appropriate control measures.
If remedial work is required, it can be arranged through our Quoted Works service.
Documentation obligations following the assessment
ACOP L8 requires duty holders to maintain a written scheme of precautions and a log book recording all legionella-related activities. The risk assessment report forms the foundation of this documentation, but it does not fulfil the obligation in full.
Duty holders should ensure that monitoring records, inspection logs, and any remedial actions are also maintained and kept up to date.
Robinsons Facilities Services can advise on how ongoing water hygiene monitoring can be structured within a maintenance programme.
Common sources of legionella in commercial buildings
Legionella bacteria can develop in a variety of water systems, typically where water is warm, stagnant, or contains sediment and scale.
Common sources in commercial premises include:
- hot and cold water storage tanks
- cooling towers and evaporative condensers
- showers and taps
- decorative fountains or water features
- humidifiers and misting systems
- pipework with low usage or dead legs
Effective legionella control typically combines temperature management, regular flushing of little-used outlets, cleaning and disinfection, and ongoing monitoring. The risk assessment identifies which measures are appropriate for each site.
Related water hygiene services
Legionella risk assessments are often part of a wider water hygiene management programme.
Robinsons Facilities Services also provides:
For sites that require regular monitoring, these services can be built into a Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) and Compliance contract, removing the need to manage them separately and ensuring documentation is maintained as a matter of course.
Why Robinsons Facilities Services
Robinsons Facilities Services has provided facilities management services to commercial buildings across Yorkshire and the Humber for decades.
Our water hygiene specialists work with a wide range of commercial environments, including offices, schools, healthcare facilities, hotels, and multi-site property portfolios managed by agents and trusts.
We work regularly across all parts of the region — from Leeds, Bradford, and Sheffield in the west and south to Hull and the Humber ports in the east, and across North Yorkshire including Harrogate, York, Ripon, and Scarborough.
If you’re unsure whether we cover your site, get in touch — we’re happy to confirm.
We are accredited to recognised standards across health and safety, quality, and technical competence, including SafeContractor, Constructionline (Silver), CHAS, and ISO 9001 (UKAS accredited).
These accreditations are available to view on our website and are relevant to clients who need to demonstrate supply chain compliance.
Our customers love us! Read our testimonials.
Pricing
From £450 + VAT
The cost of a legionella risk assessment depends on the size and complexity of the building’s water systems.
We confirm the total price before the assessment is scheduled.
Legionella Risk Assessment FAQs
A legionella risk assessment evaluates a building’s water systems to identify conditions that could allow Legionella bacteria to grow and spread.
Duty holders responsible for commercial water systems are required to assess and manage the risk of Legionella under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. ACOP L8 sets out how that duty should be met in practice and carries significant legal weight.
The duty holder — typically the employer, landlord, managing agent, or facilities manager responsible for the building’s water systems. Where a building is managed on behalf of others, responsibility for ensuring the assessment is carried out remains with the duty holder.
ACOP L8 does not specify a fixed interval, but a review every two years is widely accepted for standard commercial premises. Higher-risk environments — care homes, hospitals, hotels, and buildings with complex water systems — typically require more frequent assessment. A new assessment is also needed following significant changes to the water system or building use.
A risk assessment is a structured inspection and evaluation of the water systems to identify conditions that could support legionella growth. Testing — water sampling and laboratory analysis — determines whether Legionella bacteria are present in the water. Testing may be recommended as part of the risk assessment, but they are separate activities.
The HSE requires that risk assessments are carried out by a competent person — someone with sufficient training, knowledge, and experience to identify and evaluate the risks. For most commercial buildings, this means using a qualified water hygiene specialist rather than carrying out the assessment internally.
ACOP L8 requires duty holders to maintain a written scheme of precautions and a log book covering all Legionella-related activities. The risk assessment report forms the foundation of this documentation, but ongoing records — monitoring logs, inspection records, and remedial actions — must also be maintained and kept current.
Small commercial premises with straightforward water systems can typically be assessed in a single day. Larger or more complex buildings, or those with multiple water systems, may require longer. We’ll confirm the expected duration before the assessment is scheduled.
Robinsons Facilities Services provides legionella risk assessments from £450 + VAT. The final cost depends on the size and complexity of the building’s water systems. We confirm the total price before the assessment goes ahead — there are no hidden charges.
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