Who is responsible for arranging a landlord legionella risk assessment?

The duty is attached to control of the premises and its water systems, rather than simply to the person who owns the building. In most rented-property arrangements, that means the landlord must ensure that legionella risks are assessed, controlled and reviewed. Where day-to-day responsibility has been given to a managing agent, facilities provider or another organisation, the agreement should clearly state who arranges the assessment and who implements its findings.

Ownership and operational control are not always the same. A landlord may own a property but appoint an agent to manage lettings, maintenance and compliance. In that situation, the agent may commission the assessment and coordinate remedial work. However, the landlord should not assume that appointing an agent removes every responsibility. The parties need a clear allocation of duties, suitable oversight and evidence that the required actions have been completed.

A written management or lease agreement should identify responsibility for:

• commissioning the legionella risk assessment;
• providing the assessor with information about the building, occupancy and water systems;
• giving access to tanks, calorifiers, outlets and other relevant equipment;
• maintaining temperature control, flushing regimes and other precautions identified by the assessment;
• arranging water testing or remedial work where the risk assessment recommends it;
• keeping records of monitoring, maintenance, test results and completed actions; and
• reviewing the assessment when the building, its use or its water system changes.

For a property let to a single household, the landlord will usually control the main water installation and arrange the assessment. The tenant may be expected to follow practical instructions, such as allowing access for maintenance, reporting changes to water use or avoiding interference with equipment. Those expectations do not normally make the tenant responsible for assessing the building-wide risk unless the tenancy arrangement gives the tenant genuine control over the relevant premises and systems.

In houses in multiple occupation, blocks of flats and buildings with communal hot-water systems, responsibility can be more involved. The freeholder, managing agent, housing provider, maintenance contractor and individual landlord may each have different duties. The responsible party is determined by the parts of the premises and water system that each organisation controls. For example, one party may manage communal plant while a landlord controls the water outlets within an individual let unit. The risk assessment should reflect that division rather than treating the whole property as the responsibility of an unspecified person.

For commercial or mixed-use premises, the relevant dutyholder may be the employer, building operator, tenant, facilities manager or another organisation with control of the workplace and its water systems. A lease may allocate particular tasks, but it is important to distinguish between arranging an assessment and carrying out the measures that follow it. A business can commission a competent assessor while retaining responsibility for ensuring recommendations are acted upon.

The person arranging the assessment does not necessarily have to carry it out personally. The assessment should be completed by someone with suitable knowledge, training and experience of legionella risks, hot and cold water systems and the type of property being examined. A paper exercise or generic document is unlikely to provide adequate control if it does not accurately describe the installation, how it is used and the people who may be exposed.

The final assessment should identify the responsible person or persons, describe the system, evaluate the risks and set out proportionate control measures. It should also make clear who is expected to complete each action. If the document identifies a risk but no one is assigned to address it, commissioning the assessment alone has not completed the landlord’s or dutyholder’s compliance task.

Responsibility should be reconsidered when a property changes hands, a managing agent is appointed or replaced, occupancy changes, refurbishment alters the plumbing, water systems are extended or disused areas are brought back into use. The incoming party should obtain the available records and establish whether the existing assessment still reflects the property and its current management arrangements.

Blue Fish Water Management can support landlords, managing agents and other dutyholders by carrying out legionella risk assessments, reviewing existing arrangements and advising on monitoring or remedial requirements. Its role is to provide the technical assessment and practical recommendations; the dutyholder remains responsible for making sure the recommendations are understood, assigned and implemented.