Is there an official HSE legionella risk assessment template?

No. The HSE does not publish an official, fill-in-the-blanks legionella risk assessment template. What it publishes is the Approved Code of Practice L8 and the technical guidance HSG274, which set out what an assessment must cover, not a form to complete. So there is no "HSE template" to download. There is an HSE framework that any template should follow.

This matters because the phrase "HSE legionella risk assessment template" is searched by thousands of duty holders who reasonably assume the regulator hands out the paperwork the way it hands out the rules. It does not, and understanding why tells you a great deal about what a legionella assessment actually is.

What the HSE actually publishes

The Health and Safety Executive produces two things that govern legionella risk assessment, and neither is a form.

The first is the Approved Code of Practice and guidance L8, currently the fourth edition, titled Legionnaires' disease: The control of legionella bacteria in water systems. An Approved Code of Practice carries a special legal status. You do not have to follow it to the letter, but if you are prosecuted and you did not follow it, you have to show that you achieved the same standard by some other means. L8 tells you what you must do. It does not give you a proforma to record it on.

The second is HSG274, the technical guidance that sits underneath L8 in three parts: Part 1 for evaporative cooling systems, Part 2 for hot and cold water systems, and Part 3 for other risk systems. HSG274 is where the practical detail lives, the temperatures, sampling, and inspection frequencies. Again, it is guidance to work to, not a blank you fill in.

Put simply, the HSE writes the exam and the mark scheme. It does not write your answers for you.

Why there is no official template

A legionella risk assessment is a description of one specific water system and the people exposed to it. No two systems are identical: a small office with a couple of instantaneous water heaters is a different assessment from a care home with stored hot water, showers, and vulnerable residents. A single national form cannot capture that, which is why the guidance describes what a "suitable and sufficient" assessment must achieve and leaves the format to you.

This is the same logic that runs through health and safety law generally. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations under it require risk assessments across countless hazards, and the HSE almost never mandates a single form for any of them. It sets the outcome and lets the duty holder record it in a way that fits the premises. A template is a convenience, not a legal artefact.

The framework an HSE-aligned assessment must follow

Although there is no official form, there is a clear structure, and a good template is simply that structure turned into headed sections. A suitable and sufficient assessment, following L8 and HSG274, covers five things.

1. Identify and assess the sources of risk. Map the water system: incoming supply, storage, calorifiers, pipework, and every outlet. Note the features that raise risk, such as stored or recirculated water, temperatures in the growth range, dead legs, and outlets that produce a spray. Identify who could be exposed, and whether any of them are more vulnerable.
2. Prepare a written scheme of control. Set out the measures that will prevent or control the risk you found, for example holding hot water at 60°C, keeping cold water below 20°C, and flushing little-used outlets. This is the written scheme.
3. Implement, manage and monitor the precautions. Carry out the checks and record the readings, so the scheme is live rather than a document in a drawer.
4. Keep records. Retain the assessment, the scheme, and the monitoring results so you can evidence what you have done.
5. Appoint a responsible person. Name a competent person with managerial responsibility for the scheme, so accountability is clear.

Any template worth using maps onto those five elements. If it does, the missing HSE stamp is irrelevant, because the framework, not the branding, is what the law is interested in. Filling in a form does not by itself control legionella or make premises compliant. The assessment has to be accurate and the controls actually carried out.

Beware "the official HSE template"

Because so many people search for it, a number of sites offer to sell "the official HSE legionella risk assessment template", sometimes for a surprising sum. Treat that wording as a warning sign. The HSE does not license or endorse a template, so no product can honestly be described as the official one. What these sellers are offering is their own form, which may be perfectly serviceable, dressed up in a claim it cannot support.

The same caution applies to anyone implying that buying a template, or a certificate, discharges your duty. It does not. The duty is to assess the real system and control the real risk. A template helps you record that work in the right shape. It is not a substitute for doing it, and no paperwork can certify a system as safe.

How to use a template that follows the L8 structure

Once you accept that the value is in the framework, a free template does the same job as a paid one. Look for a template that prompts you to describe the system and identify who is at risk, has a section for the written scheme of control, provides a place to log monitoring, and records the responsible person and review dates. Our free legionella risk assessment template is built around exactly those L8 elements. It comes as a Word document you can edit to fit your premises.

Two honest caveats. First, a template guides the recording, not the judgement. Deciding whether a system is low or high risk, and whether you need outside help, still calls for competence. If you are unsure whether you can complete it yourself, our page on whether you need an assessment and the typical cost of a professional one will help you decide. Second, a completed template is a record of what you found and did on a given day. It does not freeze the system in a safe state, so the assessment must be reviewed and the controls kept up.

In short, stop looking for an HSE-branded form that does not exist, and start with a template built around the framework the HSE does publish. That is what L8 and HSG274 ask for, and it is the shape an inspector will expect when they ask to see your records.