Housing associations, managing agents and inspection companies working in London run legionella programmes under England's regulatory framework. Here's what applies, how often it's due, and how local providers manage it with Kaarr.
Duties come from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and COSHH 2002, with the approved code of practice L8 and technical guidance HSG274 Part 2 setting out what landlords must do for hot and cold water systems.
London has 33 local authorities (32 boroughs plus the City of London), and each enforces housing standards, HMO licensing and any additional or selective licensing on its own terms. Schemes differ borough by borough, and a few cover the whole borough, so a London portfolio often answers to several regimes at once.
The London Fire Brigade is the fire and rescue authority and enforces the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 across the capital.
Stock ranges from Victorian and Edwardian conversions to 1960s-70s estates and a large number of high-rise blocks. Buildings of 18 metres or seven storeys and above fall within the Building Safety Act 2022 higher-risk regime, which adds duties on top of the routine inspection cycle.
London boroughs publish their own water safety policies for council housing, and Harrow's shows the approach one borough takes. Its water safety policy, implemented on 28 August 2025 with a review due on 28 October 2026, bases control regimes on the HSG274 Part 2 checklist for hot and cold water systems. Water risk assessments are reviewed at the frequency the competent contractor recommends, or sooner after a change to the system or its use. A building assessed as having no communal water system gets no further assessment unless something significant changes. Empty homes have every outlet flushed for two minutes on the first day of void works and then every seven days until reoccupied. This is Harrow's own policy, so other London landlords may apply different intervals. Check the current version.
The workflow, report template and scheduling for legionella are the same in every city. See how Kaarr runs legionella, then book a demo with your London stock in mind.
London is in England, so the governing framework is: HSWA 1974 · COSHH 2002 · ACOP L8 / HSG274. Duties come from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and COSHH 2002, with the approved code of practice L8 and technical guidance HSG274 Part 2 setting out what landlords must do for hot and cold water systems.
The legal duty is a suitable and sufficient risk assessment kept up to date — reviewed regularly and whenever the water system or its use changes. An annual review, with routine monitoring tasks in between (like monthly temperature checks), is the standard approach.
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