Legionella risk assessment and control scheme
A competent person surveys your water system — tanks, pipework, taps, any showers or cooling towers — for conditions that let legionella bacteria grow, and produces a written risk assessment with a control scheme.
A competent person surveys your water system — tanks, pipework, taps, any showers or cooling towers — for conditions that let legionella bacteria grow, and produces a written risk assessment with a control scheme.
Legionella causes a serious, sometimes fatal pneumonia. HSE's Approved Code of Practice L8 makes a documented risk assessment and ongoing monitoring a legal duty for anyone in control of premises with a water system — including small venues with just a few infrequently used taps.
Ask for a written risk assessment plus a written control scheme (temperatures, flushing regime, monitoring log) — not just the survey.
Who this is for
Every venue with a water system, including simple ones.
What you’ll hold
- Legionella risk assessment report
- Written control scheme
Watch out for
- Assuming a small venue with just a few taps does not need one. The duty applies regardless of size, and rarely-used taps and any staff showers are often the higher risk.
- Getting the assessment done but never implementing the control scheme it sets out — the flushing regime and temperature checks are the part that actually manages the risk.
- No named "responsible person" recorded for running the ongoing scheme, which HSE expects to be clear.
Sources
- HSE — Legionnaires' disease and legionella checked 2026-09-02
See also
- Legionella risk assessment review— this becomes an ongoing job once you’re open →
- Choose a business water retailer
This is item 44 of 66 in the free UK Launch Checklist. See the whole list →