How much does a legionella risk assessment cost?
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Key points
- Short answer: £0 for a competent self-assessment of a simple property; £150 to £350 for a small let or office; £400 to £900 for a care home; £800 to £3,000 for a hospital.
- The price follows the water system, not the building: outlets, stored hot water and cooling towers drive the quote more than floor area.
- A proper quote includes a site survey, a written assessment, a written scheme of control and temperature readings at every outlet, with the report within about two weeks.
- Cooling towers change everything. A site with even one tower starts around £800 and often runs much higher because the tower is notifiable and needs quarterly sampling.
- Self-assessment is a legitimate £0 route for simple systems. Our free risk assessment builder structures it; it records, it never certifies.
A legionella risk assessment costs between nothing and about £3,000 in the UK, and the honest answer for most people is at the bottom of that range. A competent self-assessment of a simple domestic let costs nothing but your time. A professional assessment runs from roughly £150 for a small property up to £900 for a care home and £3,000 or more for a hospital, because the price tracks the complexity of the water system rather than the size of the building.
| Building type | Typical range | Why it sits there |
|---|---|---|
| Single domestic let (landlord) | £150 – £350 | Simple mains-fed system; often within DIY reach, so paying is optional |
| Holiday let | £150 – £400 | Small system, but standing time between guests and any hot tub push it up |
| Small office | £180 – £450 | Few outlets, little or no stored hot water |
| Dental practice | £250 – £500 | Building system plus dental unit waterlines as a separate sub-system |
| School | £300 – £700 | Long holiday shutdowns and older pipework with dead legs |
| Hotel | £350 – £800 | Many guest bathrooms, intermittent occupancy, stored hot water |
| Care home | £400 – £900 | Vulnerable residents, TMVs on bathing outlets, CQC scrutiny |
| Leisure centre, gym or spa | £500 – £1,500 | Pools and spa pools under HSG282 on top of the domestic system |
| Factory or industrial site | £400 – £2,500 | Process water and cooling towers; quarterly sampling regime |
| Hospital | £800 – £3,000+ | HTM 04-01, thousands of outlets, specialist water systems |
Ranges are indicative market anchors used by the LegionellaCheck cost calculator, not a quote. Your building's figure depends on its actual water system.
Why the water system sets the price, not the building
Four factors account for most of the variation between quotes, in order of impact. First, cooling towers and evaporative condensers: a single tower makes a site notifiable to the local authority and commits it to a treatment regime and quarterly sampling, so quotes roughly double the moment one is present. Second, the number of outlets: a proper survey checks every tap, shower and drinking point at least once, so outlet count is really a labour meter. Third, stored hot water: every calorifier or cylinder is a potential colonisation site that needs its own inspection and monitoring points. Fourth, the regulatory overlay: care homes and hospitals cost more than an office of the same size because the assessment has to satisfy CQC expectations and HTM 04-01, not just the baseline ACOP L8 framework.
The practical consequence is that two buildings of identical size can be three price bands apart. Use the cost calculator to get an indicative figure for your combination of building type, outlet count, storage and towers before you phone anyone.
What the money should buy
Whatever the price band, a competent assessment should deliver the same core product:
- A site visit that walks the whole water system and produces a schematic if none exists
- A written assessment following the ACOP L8 structure, with HSG274 as the technical reference
- A written scheme of control setting out the monitoring regime
- Initial temperature readings at all outlets during the survey
- A formal report, normally within two weeks of the visit
Sampling, monthly monitoring, cleaning and remedial work are separate. They are usually quoted as an annual service contract after the initial assessment, which is where the real ongoing spend sits. Our monitoring schedule guide sets out what that regime should contain.
Free legionella risk assessment template
A structured Word document following the five-step approach in ACOP L8. Covers risk identification, written scheme, monitoring, and records. If it isn't written down, you can't evidence it.
Follows ACoP L8 and HSG274 Part 2. Free. No spam.
When paying is optional: the £0 route
The law requires the assessment to be done by a competent person, not a paid one. For a simple domestic water system, most landlords can carry out and record the assessment themselves, and the HSE publishes landlord-specific guidance confirming that a simple written assessment is sufficient. See can I do my own legionella risk assessment for what competence means in practice, and is a legionella risk assessment free for when the £0 route is legitimate and when it is a false economy.
Where the system is simple, the honest professional alternative is not an expensive survey but a structured self-assessment: walk the system, check temperatures with the temperature checker, record the controls, and keep the record current. That record is the evidence the duty has been discharged; it records, it never certifies.
Pay for complexity, not for the document. A £150 quote on a simple let buys the same legal object as a competent self-assessment: a recorded assessment. A £900 quote on a care home buys expertise you genuinely cannot improvise.
Getting a fair quote
For anything above the smallest commercial premises, get at least two quotes from Legionella Control Association registered providers, and compare them on scope rather than headline price. A cheap quote that excludes the written scheme of control or the schematic is not the same product at a lower price; it is a smaller product. Ask each provider what the report contains, when it will be delivered, and what is excluded and priced separately. The sector-specific pages on care home costs, landlord costs and consultant day rates go into the detail for each situation.
Free legionella risk assessment template
A structured Word document following the five-step approach in ACOP L8. Covers risk identification, written scheme, monitoring, and records. If it isn't written down, you can't evidence it.
Follows ACoP L8 and HSG274 Part 2. Free. No spam.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a legionella risk assessment cost for a landlord?
For a single domestic let, nothing if you carry out a competent self-assessment: the HSE does not require landlords to pay a contractor, and most simple domestic systems are within a landlord's reach. If you prefer to pay, a professional assessment of a small rented property typically costs £150 to £350. Houses in multiple occupation with shared tanks, and properties let to vulnerable tenants, sit at the top of that range or above it.
Is paying for a legionella risk assessment a legal requirement?
No. The legal requirement is that a risk assessment is carried out by a competent person and recorded, under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the COSHH Regulations and ACOP L8. Who performs it is your choice. The duty is to assess and control the risk, not to buy a document from a contractor.
How long does a legionella risk assessment take?
For a small commercial site, expect the assessor on site for half a day to a full day, walking every branch of the water system and taking temperature readings at each outlet, with the written report following within about two weeks. A simple domestic property is much quicker. Large or complex sites such as hospitals take several days and are often assessed on a rolling basis.
What should a legionella risk assessment quote include?
A reasonable quote covers a site visit to survey the whole water system, a schematic drawing if one does not exist, a written assessment following the ACOP L8 structure, a written scheme of control, initial temperature readings at all outlets, and a formal report. Sampling, ongoing monitoring, cleaning and remedial work are normally quoted separately as an annual service contract.
Why do quotes for the same building vary so much?
Because the price follows the water system, not the building. Number of outlets, stored hot water, and especially any cooling tower or evaporative condenser move the quote more than floor area does. The regulatory overlay matters too: a care home or hospital costs more to assess than an office of the same size because of CQC expectations and HTM 04-01. Get at least two quotes for anything above the smallest premises.
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