Is there a free legionella risk assessment template for landlords?

Plenty. Any of them must cover the checklist on this page: the system, a temperature at every outlet, the risk factors, findings with actions, a scheme of control and a review date. The form is the easy part; knowing what the readings mean is the assessment.

Does a legionella risk assessment have to be on a particular form?

No. Health and safety law prescribes no form. It asks that the risk is assessed by someone competent, that anything found is dealt with, and that a record is kept.

Can I fill in the template myself?

Yes, if you are competent to. HSE expects most landlords to be able to assess a simple domestic system themselves. If you can read a thermometer and know why 45 °C in a cylinder matters, a template will do. If not, DwellFlow asks the questions for you.

Is a tick-box checklist enough?

Only if it records readings and findings, not just ticks. A box marked "hot water satisfactory" is not an assessment. A reading of 41.2 °C at the bathroom tap after a minute, with a photograph and what will be done about it, is.

What must a legionella risk assessment for a rented property include?

How the water is stored and heated, a temperature at every outlet, anything that could let bacteria grow, photographs, what will be done about each finding and by when, the written scheme of control, and a review date.

Legionella risk assessment template for landlords

What HSE actually asks for

Not a form. An assessment, and a record of it.

Health and safety law requires a landlord to assess and control the risk of exposure of tenants to legionella. It prescribes no form, no contractor and no certificate. HSE’s page on legionella and landlords’ responsibilities says “a simple assessment may show there are no real risks and these are being properly managed so no further action is needed”, and that most landlords can do it themselves. The catch is the word HSE uses for who does it: competent. A template is only as good as the person holding it.

The checklist

What a domestic legionella risk assessment must contain.

Nine things. If a template you are looking at has no place for one of them, it is not a risk assessment template.

The property and the people. Address, date, and the name of the person who did the assessment. Who is responsible for the water system: the landlord, or the agent if the management contract says so. Whether anyone in the household is more susceptible: HSE lists people over 45, smokers, and anyone with a lung condition or a weakened immune system.
How the water comes in and where it is stored. Mains supply and where the stopcock is. Any cold water tank: where it is, whether it has a close-fitting lid, whether it is insulated, what the water looks like, roughly how big it is. Anything else that holds water: a softener, a filter, a header tank.
How the water is heated. Combi boiler, cylinder or immersion heater. If water is stored hot, the temperature it is stored at and the thermostat setting. Stored hot water should reach 60 °C.
A temperature at every outlet. Every tap and shower, hot and cold, with a probe thermometer in the water. Hot should reach 50 °C within a minute of running; cold should be below 20 °C within two. Write the reading down, not a tick.
The things bacteria like. Outlets that are rarely used, dead legs, a shower head that is never cleaned, a tank without a lid, long pipe runs, a property that stands empty. Between 20 °C and 45 °C legionella grows; the assessment is looking for water that sits in that range.
Photographs. One beside each finding, so the record shows what was there on the day. A tank with no lid is a sentence; a photograph of it is evidence.
Findings, and what will be done about each. For every problem: what it is, why it matters, the guidance it comes from, who will fix it and by when.
The written scheme of control. What will be done routinely to keep the risk down: flush outlets that are not in use weekly, clean and descale shower heads quarterly, keep stored hot water at 60 °C, look at the tank when the assessment is reviewed. And what the tenant is told: do not turn the cylinder down, clean the shower head, report hot water that is not heating properly.
When it will be reviewed. There is no fixed legal interval for a domestic property. Review when the water system, its use or the occupants change, and periodically otherwise. Write the date down.

Where a template stops

The form has a box. It does not know what goes in it.

The cylinder reads 45 °C. A template records 45. A competent assessment says stored hot water should reach 60 °C, that 45 °C is inside the range where legionella grows, and that the thermostat needs turning up and checking again.
The loft tank has no lid. A template has a box for “lid fitted”. A competent assessment says what gets into an open tank, that the water in it feeds the bathroom taps, and that a close-fitting lid is the fix and by when.
The en-suite has not been used since March. Most templates have no box at all. A competent assessment names it a little-used outlet, puts a weekly flush in the scheme of control, and tells the tenant.

That gap is the whole difference between a form and an assessment. It is also why a template is cheap.

If you would rather be asked the questions

DwellFlow is the checklist above, asking you one thing at a time.

Your phone asks the questions at the property, in the order that makes sense for the house you are standing in. You take the readings and the photographs. The AI checks the survey before you submit, then does the write-up: the assessment, a sheet for your tenant and the written scheme of control, with the guidance clause under every recommendation and the schematic drawn for you. Built with AI from HSE’s own guidance. Thirty minutes to an hour, £20 a property including VAT.

Questions landlords ask

Short answers.

Is there a free legionella risk assessment template for landlords? Plenty. Any of them must cover the checklist on this page: the system, a temperature at every outlet, the risk factors, findings with actions, a scheme of control and a review date. The form is the easy part; knowing what the readings mean is the assessment.
Does a legionella risk assessment have to be on a particular form? No. Health and safety law prescribes no form. It asks that the risk is assessed by someone competent, that anything found is dealt with, and that a record is kept.
Can I fill in the template myself? Yes, if you are competent to. HSE expects most landlords to be able to assess a simple domestic system themselves. If you can read a thermometer and know why 45 °C in a cylinder matters, a template will do. If not, DwellFlow asks the questions for you.
Is a tick-box checklist enough? Only if it records readings and findings, not just ticks. A box marked "hot water satisfactory" is not an assessment. A reading of 41.2 °C at the bathroom tap after a minute, with a photograph and what will be done about it, is.
What must a legionella risk assessment for a rented property include? How the water is stored and heated, a temperature at every outlet, anything that could let bacteria grow, photographs, what will be done about each finding and by when, the written scheme of control, and a review date.

Legionella risk assessment template for landlords.

Not a form. An assessment, and a record of it.

What a domestic legionella risk assessment must contain.

The form has a box. It does not know what goes in it.

DwellFlow is the checklist above, asking you one thing at a time.

See a finished one before you pick a template.

Short answers.

Skip the template.