I’ve got a guilty secret; I’m a country music fan. I even travelled to London earlier this year to spend a whole weekend at C2C 2015, a huge country music festival held each year at the O2 Arena. So I think it’s safe to say I know a thing or two about cowboys.
Sadly as with every industry, there’s cowboys amongst legionella companies, and often they’ve got big marketing budgets. Unfortunately for landlords and letting agents, these cowboys don’t wear big hats, so aren’t always easy to spot. And with a generally low level of knowledge and understanding about legionella in the private rented sector, a lot of these cowboys have been successfully scamming people.
The main way they’ve been doing this is by recommending expensive legionella testing for domestic properties. This involves taking water samples at a property and having them analysed at a lab to see if legionella bacteria is present. Funnily enough, a lot of these tests come back positive, and expensive cleaning works get recommended. Legionella testing is quite a common and legitimate practice in big commercial properties, but the only time you’d need to do this in a domestic property is if it wasn’t connected to the mains water system, and had it’s own water source. There’s not a lot of properties in Edinburgh that fit this description!
This month the Health and Safety Executive have sought to clear things up. Their Myth Busters team have presented a Panel Opinion that makes it clear that consultants and letting agents requiring landlords to pay for legionella testing are scaremongering for commercial gain, and exaggerating the legal requirements for landlords to manage and control legionella in domestic premises.
Now, this shouldn’t be misunderstood – it doesn’t mean that landlords have to do nothing about legionella. Legionella testing should not be confused with a risk assessment. It’s essential to carry out a risk assessment of every rented property, in order to identify any issues in the property which could enable legionella bacteria to multiply. But don’t be misled into believing you need unnecessary services like testing.
Here at Legionella Edinburgh we’re delighted to see the HSE come out and unmask the cowboys. We routinely carry out free legionella training sessions around Edinburgh and further afield with letting agents to help them understand legionella risk management. If you’re worried you’ve been caught out by cowboys, or would like to learn what you need to know about legionella, contact us now to arrange a free training session for your company.