Legionella Risk Assessment & Testing in Manchester

Legionella risk assessments for Manchester properties

Whether you manage a city-centre office, a block of flats or a portfolio of rented homes across Greater Manchester, legionella control starts in the same place: a risk assessment carried out by someone competent. Envirisk's assessors hold the City & Guilds WH004 qualification and work to HSE's Approved Code of Practice L8 and its guidance HSG274.

The assessor surveys the whole hot and cold water system on site: where the water comes in and is stored, how it is heated, how it travels around the building, and every point where people use it. Alongside the plant, they look at how the system is managed: who is responsible, which checks are being done and whether records are kept.

What you get afterwards

• A written report setting out the risks found and what to do about them, with the most important actions first
• A schematic drawing of your water system
• The monitoring and checks your building needs from then on
• Help after the report if anything in it needs explaining

Every report is written for the individual building, and our quality control team reviews it before it reaches you by email or by post.

Apartment blocks, student housing and offices

Manchester's universities, hospitals and city-centre apartment blocks mean a great many large, shared water systems. Tall buildings often have booster pumps, big storage tanks and long risers; student housing can sit half empty over the summer; offices may have showers that go unused for weeks. Each of these can leave water standing still or drifting into the temperature range where legionella grows. A good risk assessment finds them and sets out simple controls, such as flushing little-used outlets every week.

When does a Manchester property need legionella testing?

Legionella testing means sending water samples to a laboratory. HSE guidance expects routine sampling for cooling towers and evaporative condensers, and in hot and cold water systems where the risk assessment shows it is needed, for instance where temperatures cannot be kept under control or where particularly vulnerable people are present. We take the samples on site and help you understand the laboratory's results.

The law in brief

Employers and anyone in control of premises, including landlords of rented homes, must assess and control the risk of exposure to legionella. The duty comes from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations, and ACoP L8 explains how to meet it. Keep your risk assessment up to date and review it whenever something changes, such as work on the water system or a change in who uses the building.

Ask for a quote in Manchester

Use the form on this page or call us with a few details about your building, and we will come back with a quote and dates. Envirisk is based at Fusion at Magna in Rotherham, about 35 miles from Manchester city centre.