Is a legionella risk assessment legally required?

In the UK, ACoP L8 paragraph 32 requires the duty holder to ensure a competent person prepares and maintains a written legionella risk assessment for any water system on the premises. In Australia, AS/NZS 3666.2 section 2 and the enHealth Guidelines for Legionella Control (and state public health legislation in Victoria, NSW and Queensland) place an equivalent duty on building owners, including a documented risk management plan. The risk assessment is the upstream legal foundation that every inspection, monitoring and remedial action sits on, so without it the duty holder cannot demonstrate reasonable control to a regulator.

How is a legionella risk assessment different from a cooling tower inspection?

A cooling tower inspection is a monthly task on one piece of equipment, checking water quality, drift eliminators and chemical treatment against AS/NZS 3666.2 part 4. A legionella risk assessment is the whole-of-site strategic document that decides which systems exist on the property, scores their risk, names the responsible person and sets the written scheme of control that every inspection (including cooling tower checks) sits under. The assessment is the upstream document; the inspections are the downstream activity it justifies and audits against.

Who is competent to write a legionella risk assessment?

ACoP L8 paragraph 51 requires the assessor to be a competent person with adequate training, knowledge, expertise and experience of legionella control, water systems and risk management. In Australia, AS/NZS 3666.3 expects equivalent competence demonstrated through formal training, water hygiene qualifications and documented industry experience. In practice the assessment is completed by a chartered water hygiene specialist, an HVAC contractor with legionella accreditation, or an in-house facilities manager who has completed an accredited course and works under an approved scheme.

What aerosol-generating systems must the assessment cover?

The assessment must list every artificial water system on the property capable of generating an aerosol, including hot and cold water services, calorifiers and secondary returns, cooling towers and evaporative condensers, humidifiers and air washers, decorative fountains and water features, spa pools and whirlpool baths, emergency showers and eyewashes, fire sprinkler test rigs and stored water tanks, vehicle washes and process water systems. Any system holding water between 20 and 45 degrees Celsius that can be aerosolised must be considered, even if it is little-used or seasonal.

How does a legionella risk assessment link to ASHRAE 188?

ASHRAE Standard 188 requires a building-specific Water Management Program built on a documented risk assessment and analysis of the building water systems. The legionella risk assessment satisfies the survey, analysis and control measure clauses of ASHRAE 188 when it covers the same system inventory, control points and verification activities. US-based facilities using the ACoP L8 or AS/NZS approach typically map their assessment against ASHRAE 188 sections 5 and 6 to satisfy both frameworks from a single document, particularly for hospitals where CMS regulations cross-reference ASHRAE 188.

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Free legionella risk assessment template (PDF-ready). Whole-of-site water system review covering ACoP L8, AS/NZS 3666.2 and ASHRAE 188. Download free.

Jarrod Milford

Commercial Director

Updated 18 May 2026

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Updated 18 May 2026

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What is a legionella risk assessment template?

A legionella risk assessment is a written, whole-of-site evaluation of every artificial water system on a property that could foreseeably create, release or aerosolise water droplets carrying Legionella pneumophila bacteria. The assessment is the strategic document required by UK ACoP L8 (Approved Code of Practice for the control of legionella bacteria in water systems), Australian enHealth Guidelines for Legionella Control, AS/NZS 3666.2 (Air-handling and water systems of buildings) and ASHRAE Standard 188 for water management programs. It identifies the systems in scope, assesses the susceptibility of users, scores the risk of bacterial growth and aerosolisation, and sets the written scheme of control that all subsequent inspections, sampling and remedial work are measured against.\n\nUnlike a cooling tower inspection (which checks a single piece of equipment against monthly compliance tasks), the risk assessment is the upstream document that decides which systems exist, who is responsible, what controls apply and how often each control runs. Facilities managers, HVAC contractors, property owners and water hygiene specialists complete a risk assessment for every site they hold a duty of care over, then refresh it at least every two years or whenever the system, occupancy or use changes materially. The output is a controlled record naming every hot and cold water system, calorifier, cooling tower, evaporative condenser, humidifier, spa, fountain, eyewash, fire sprinkler tank and any other source of aerosolised water, with each system rated for risk, a responsible person nominated and a control regime documented. Without a current risk assessment in place, every inspection, treatment and test downstream is effectively unjustified, and the duty holder cannot demonstrate to a regulator that legionella risk has been reasonably managed.

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Benefits of using this legionella risk assessment template

Strategic compliance: a documented assessment satisfies the upstream legal requirement under ACoP L8 paragraph 32, enHealth Guidelines section 4 and AS/NZS 3666.2 section 2 before any inspections begin.
Scope coverage: a whole-of-site review captures hidden risk systems such as little-used outlets, dead legs, emergency showers and fire tanks that single-equipment checks routinely miss across a facility.
Population risk targeting: the susceptibility section forces a written judgement on who uses the site (hospitals, aged care, hotels, gyms) so controls match the actual exposure of vulnerable users.
Defensible audit trail: a signed and reviewed assessment is the document regulators, insurers and tenants request first when a Legionnaires case or notifiable disease cluster is investigated.
Resource prioritisation: scoring each system by likelihood and consequence concentrates the limited budget on cooling towers, calorifiers and spa pools where bacterial amplification risk is genuinely highest.
Continuous improvement: capturing a written scheme of control, responsible person and review date converts the assessment from a one-off document into a living management system across the property.

Benefits of digitising forms in MapTrack

When you digitise water system assessments in MapTrack, you get:

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Automatically get alerts when faults are identified.
Link every form digitally as a PDF to the relevant asset, location or person.
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Edit forms later without reprinting.
Restrict permissions (who can view, complete or approve).
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Set recurring audit schedules with automatic reminders and escalation.
Produce regulator-ready PDF compliance packs in one click.
Track corrective actions from finding to close-out with full audit trail.

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What to include in a legionella risk assessment template

This legionella risk assessment template covers 10 key areas:

Site identification: site name, address, building age, total population, vulnerable user groups, responsible person and competent person contact details.
System inventory: a complete list of every artificial water system on site including hot and cold water, calorifiers, cooling towers, evaporative condensers, humidifiers, spas, fountains, eyewashes, fire sprinkler tanks and rainwater systems.
Schematic and asset drawings: water system schematics with tanks, calorifiers, dead legs, sentinel points, sample taps and temperature monitoring locations clearly marked.
Susceptibility assessment: documented population analysis (immunocompromised, elderly, paediatric, residential, transient) and which buildings or floors expose those groups to potential aerosols.
Risk scoring matrix: a likelihood and consequence matrix scoring each system on water temperature, stagnation, biofilm potential, aerosol generation, exposed population and historic incidents.
Existing controls and gaps: temperature regimes, chemical dosing, flushing routines, cleaning frequencies and the gaps identified against ACoP L8 or AS/NZS 3666.2 clauses.
Written scheme of control: the documented control programme for each system including sentinel temperature checks, monthly little-used outlet flushing, calorifier inspections and biocide management.
Sampling regime: the legionella sampling strategy with sample point list, frequency, action levels and the laboratory the samples are sent to under AS 5132 or ISO 11731.
Roles and responsibilities: the duty holder, responsible person, deputy, competent person and contractor responsibilities written against each task.
Review trigger criteria: planned review date (maximum two years) and the change triggers (refurbishment, occupancy change, outbreak, new system, control failure) that require an interim review.

How to use this legionella risk assessment template

Walk the site and build the complete water system inventory: list every cold water tank, calorifier, secondary loop, dead leg, point of use, cooling tower, humidifier and ancillary system. Mark them on the schematic and assign each a unique system ID.
Capture water temperatures and use data: record measured flow temperatures at sentinel taps (hot greater than 50C at outlet within one minute, cold less than 20C within two minutes per ACoP L8) and identify dead legs and little-used outlets where stagnation drives bacterial growth.
Score susceptibility and consequence: document the population using each system, including any vulnerable user groups (healthcare, aged care, gyms with spa pools), and rate the realistic consequence of an aerosol release using a documented matrix.
Score likelihood for each system: assess each system for the four amplification factors (warm water, stagnation, nutrients, biofilm) plus aerosol potential and overdue control tasks, then combine likelihood and consequence into an A, B or C risk band.
Document the written scheme of control and review trigger criteria: write the control regime for each system (temperature monitoring, flushing, chemical dosing, cleaning, sampling), name the responsible person and reviewer, set the next review date and have the assessment signed by a senior approver.

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How often should you complete this assessment?

A legionella risk assessment must be reviewed at least every two years under UK ACoP L8 paragraph 33, and within the same horizon under Australian enHealth Guidelines and AS/NZS 3666.2 section 2. The review must verify the assessment still reflects current systems, occupancy, controls and incidents, with the responsible person signing and dating each review. The assessment must also be re-issued promptly when material change occurs (refurbishment that alters pipework, addition or removal of a system, occupancy change affecting susceptibility, a regulatory update, an action-level exceedance, a control failure or a confirmed case of Legionnaires disease linked to the site). In practice, facilities teams attach the risk assessment to each affected asset record in MapTrack so the next inspection, sample and refresh are scheduled automatically rather than depending on manual tracking.

Frequently asked questions

Applicable regulatory standards

This template aligns with the following regulations and standards:

UK ACoP L8 (paragraphs 32-33)
AS/NZS 3666.2:2011 (section 2)
enHealth Guidelines for Legionella Control 2015
ASHRAE Standard 188-2018 (section 5 and 6)
AS 5132:2017 (legionella sampling)

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