Do landlords in Wales need a legionella risk assessment?

Yes. Health and safety law requires every landlord in Wales, as in England and Scotland, to assess and control the risk from legionella. Rent Smart Wales says licensed landlords must make sure that, at a minimum, a legionella risk assessment is completed for each property.

Is legionella part of the Rent Smart Wales licence?

Yes. Rent Smart Wales says its licence conditions require you to follow its Code of Practice, and that this means you must assess and mitigate the risk from exposure to legionella, review the assessment regularly and keep records of the control measures.

Is there a legionella certificate in Wales?

No. HSE says health and safety law does not require landlords to obtain or produce a legionella test certificate. What you keep is the risk assessment and the record of the control measures.

Can I do the legionella risk assessment myself in Wales?

Yes. HSE says most landlords can assess the risk themselves and do not need to be professionally trained or accredited. If you would rather not, you can arrange for someone to do it on your behalf.

For landlords and agents in Wales

Legionella risk assessment in Wales

Every landlord in Wales has the same health and safety duty as in England: assess the risk from legionella and keep it under control. Wales adds two layers. Rent Smart Wales says licensed landlords must assess and reduce the risk, and the Renting Homes fitness rules cover the water supply.

Written by Ken Millea, who ran a UK legionella consultancy for ten years.

The duty

The same law as in England and Scotland.

Health and safety law requires a landlord to assess and control the risk of exposure of tenants to legionella, and HSE’s guidance for landlords applies in Wales as it does across Great Britain. HSE says most landlords “can assess the risk themselves and do not need to be professionally trained or accredited”, and that for most homes “a simple assessment may show there are no real risks and these are being properly managed so no further action is needed”. It is on HSE’s page on legionella and landlords’ responsibilities.

Rent Smart Wales

Part of the licence, in its own words.

Rent Smart Wales’s legionella guide for landlords and agents says its licence conditions require you to follow its Code of Practice, and that this means: “You must ensure that you assess and mitigate the risk from exposure to Legionella to ensure the safety of your tenants.”

An assessment for every property. “At a minimum, a legionella risk assessment is completed for each property.”
Reviewed, and recorded. “Risk assessments must be regularly reviewed. Records must be kept of the control measures you have implemented.”
Simple control measures, the same as HSE lists: flushing the system before letting, keeping debris out, storing hot water at 60 °C, removing redundant pipework, and advising contract-holders to clean and disinfect shower heads.
Empty properties. The guide notes the risk may rise when a property stands unoccupied, student lets for example, and that more control measures may be needed.

The guide is on the Rent Smart Wales website.

Renting Homes (Wales)

Fitness covers the water. It does not name legionella.

Since 1 December 2022, most homes let under an occupation contract in Wales must be fit for human habitation. The fitness regulations list 29 matters and circumstances, and number 18 is “an inadequate supply of water free from contamination, for drinking and other domestic purposes”.

The word legionella appears neither in the regulations nor in the Welsh Government’s guidance to landlords on them. The duty to assess it comes from health and safety law and, for licensed landlords and agents, the Rent Smart Wales Code. A competent assessment covers the water system either way.

What to do

One assessment answers all three.

Assess the water system, write down what you found and what you will do about it, tell the contract-holder the control measures to keep up, and review it when anything changes. Rent Smart Wales lists what to tell them: not adjusting the temperature settings on the hot water cylinder, cleaning shower heads regularly, and letting you know about any problem with the hot water.

DwellFlow works the same in Wales: your phone asks the questions at the property, you take the readings and the photographs, and the AI writes the risk assessment, a sheet for the contract-holder and the written scheme of control, with a review date. Thirty minutes to an hour, depending on the size and type of the water system, and £9.99 ex VAT a property.

Questions landlords in Wales ask

Short answers.

Do landlords in Wales need a legionella risk assessment? Yes. Health and safety law requires every landlord in Wales, as in England and Scotland, to assess and control the risk from legionella. Rent Smart Wales says licensed landlords must make sure that, at a minimum, a legionella risk assessment is completed for each property.
Is legionella part of the Rent Smart Wales licence? Yes. Rent Smart Wales says its licence conditions require you to follow its Code of Practice, and that this means you must assess and mitigate the risk from exposure to legionella, review the assessment regularly and keep records of the control measures.
Does the Renting Homes (Wales) Act mention legionella? Not by name. The fitness regulations list 29 matters, and number 18 is an inadequate supply of water free from contamination, for drinking and other domestic purposes. The legionella duty itself comes from health and safety law.
Is there a legionella certificate in Wales? No. HSE says health and safety law does not require landlords to obtain or produce a legionella test certificate. What you keep is the risk assessment and the record of the control measures.
Can I do the legionella risk assessment myself in Wales? Yes. HSE says most landlords can assess the risk themselves and do not need to be professionally trained or accredited. If you would rather not, you can arrange for someone to do it on your behalf.