HSE guidance, rented homes
Legionella risk assessment template. A dated record of the checks, not a certificate.
A landlord must assess the risk from legionella in the home’s water and keep it under control. HSE says most landlords can do this themselves, and that the law requires no legionella test certificate. This record takes HSE’s checks for a rented home, a result for each, the actions, who made the assessment and the review date.
LetCompliance is online software that runs your whole let: finding and referencing the tenant, the agreement, the rent, repairs and the tax. The PDF costs nothing and needs no account.
Written for
- Houses
- Flats
- HMOs
- Between tenancies
- is required by health and safety law
- No certificate
- HSE, landlords’ responsibilities
- hot water stored, reaching 50°C at the taps within a minute
- 60°C
- HSE, hot and cold water systems
- cold water, where possible
- Below 20°C
- HSE, hot and cold water systems
Last updated . Law checked against legislation.gov.uk and HSE’s guidance on . Sources
The legionella record
Build a legionella risk assessment, or print it for the visit.
Fill in the home, the water system and a result for each check, or print the record to fill in at the property. The PDF comes back here with a copy sent to your inbox. Nothing is stamped across it: this is the record to keep.
Page one of the PDF, made-up details
The PDF costs nothing and needs no account. Nothing is stamped across it: this is the record to keep.
In an account the record sits on the property with a reminder before its review date, on every plan: from £7.99 a month for one property or £14.99 for up to three.
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The answer
Legionella risk assessments: what a landlord must do
A landlord must assess the risk from legionella in a rented home’s water and keep it under control. The duty comes from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the COSHH Regulations, which HSE’s Approved Code of Practice L8 explains, and HSE says it applies to anyone who rents out a home, or even a room in their own. HSE also says plainly that the law does not require a legionella test certificate, and that most landlords can assess the risk themselves without training or accreditation. The duty is the assessment; a record of it is how a landlord shows it was done.
For most homes the assessment is short. HSE’s own example of low risk is a small home where water is used every day, the cold comes straight from the mains with no tank, hot water comes from an instantaneous or low-volume heater, and the only outlets are toilets and basins. Most homes have more than that, a shower above all, which is why the checks exist: hot water stored at 60°C or above and reaching 50°C at the taps within a minute, cold water below 20°C where possible, a tight lid on any cold water tank, no redundant pipework, little-used outlets run every week, clean showerheads, and the system flushed through before a tenancy starts. Each is in HSE’s guidance for landlords, its page on hot and cold water systems or its technical guidance HSG274, which gives the weekly flush for outlets not in regular use.
Testing the water is not usually needed in a home. HSE says sampling for legionella is needed only in very specific circumstances, and that checking temperatures is a reliable way to confirm the system is under control. A certificate, or an annual test sold as if the law required one, is something HSE says the law does not ask for. The guide to legionella certificates explains the difference.
Writing the findings down is a legal duty only for an employer with five or more employees (COSHH reg 6(4)), so most landlords are not required to. HSE says a landlord may find it wise to keep a record anyway, and it is the evidence a landlord reaches for if a tenant falls ill: HSE says the landlord would then have to show a court that the duty was met. The law sets no fixed interval for a review. Review the assessment when anything changes: new plumbing, a long empty spell, new people living there, a problem with the hot water.
Tenants have a part to play, and HSE lists it: leave the hot water cylinder’s temperature setting alone, clean the showerheads regularly, and report hot water that is not heating properly. The record has a line to say they were told. When a home stands empty, every outlet should be run at least once a week, or the system flushed before the next tenant moves in.
In LetCompliance the Legionella Risk Assessment is one of the records on every property, beside the gas safety record, the EICR, the EPC and the fire risk assessment. Upload this record against it and enter the date it is due for review: reminders go 90, 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before it, by email on every plan and by text as well on paid plans; every review date across your properties sits in one renewals list; and legionella is one of nine equal shares in each property’s 0 to 100 score.
What the account adds
After the record: the review, on time.
Six things an account does with the same property.
- 01
On each property’s record
The Legionella Risk Assessment sits on the property beside the gas safety record, the EICR, the EPC and the fire risk assessment, with this record uploaded against it.
- 02
A reminder before the review date
Enter the review date and reminders go 90, 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before it, by email, and by text on paid plans.
- 03
Counted in the 0 to 100 score
Legionella is one of nine equal shares in each property’s score, beside gas, electrics, the EPC, the deposit, Right to Rent, fire risk, the licence and the alarms.
- 04
Every review date in one list
Every certificate and review date across your properties, soonest first, with a CSV to send to a contractor.
- 05
Hot water faults reported
A tenant reports a hot water problem through their portal with photos, and each repair carries a priority and a response clock.
- 06
Inspections in between
Visits during the tenancy recorded with dated photos and a checklist, and each household sent written notice beforehand.
One login, the whole let. You are on step 11 of 12.
Before they move in
Once they are in
A legionella record covers one assessment. The account covers the rest of the let: the advert and applications, referencing, the signed tenancy, the deposit, every safety record with its date, the rent every month, repairs and inspections, and the tax figures at the end of it.
Sources
- HSE: Legionella and landlords’ responsibilities (updated 30 September 2024)
- HSE: Hot and cold water systems (updated 28 October 2024)
- HSE: Approved Code of Practice L8, fourth edition (2013)
- HSE: HSG274 technical guidance, Part 2 (hot and cold water systems)
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 3
- Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, regulation 6
FAQ
Legionella record questions, answered.
Do landlords need a legionella certificate?
No. HSE says health and safety law does not require landlords to obtain or produce a legionella test certificate. The duty is to assess the risk and keep it under control, and most landlords can do that themselves. The full answer on legionella certificates covers what is being sold and why it is not needed.
Can a landlord do their own legionella risk assessment?
Yes. HSE says most landlords can assess the risk themselves and do not need to be professionally trained or accredited. A landlord who does not feel able to can ask someone to do it for them; the record has a line for who made the assessment, and for whom.
How often should a legionella risk assessment be reviewed?
The law sets no fixed interval: HSE says it does not prescribe an annual or two-yearly review. Review it whenever something changes, such as new plumbing, a long empty spell, a change in who lives there or a problem with the hot water. Many landlords also review it before each new tenancy. The record prints the date you choose.
Does a landlord have to write the assessment down?
Not by law, unless they employ five or more people (COSHH Regulations 2002 reg 6(4)). HSE says a landlord may find it wise to keep a record anyway, and it is the evidence of what was done if a tenant is ever taken ill and the landlord has to show the duty was met.
Does the water need testing for legionella?
Not usually. HSE says testing or sampling is not usually required for domestic hot and cold water systems and is needed only in very specific circumstances. Checking temperatures is different, and the record has a place for each reading.
What temperatures should hot and cold water be?
HSE says hot water should be stored at 60°C or above and reach 50°C at the outlets within a minute, and cold water should be kept below 20°C where possible. A combi boiler stores no hot water, so with one the 60°C check is marked not applicable.
What should tenants be told?
HSE lists three things: not to change the temperature setting of the hot water cylinder, to clean showerheads regularly, and to tell the landlord if the hot water is not heating properly or anything else is wrong with the system. The record has a line to say they were told.
