Legionella risk assessment for Marinas
Updated 12 September 2026
Key points
- A legionella risk assessment is required for marinas premises under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Approved Code of Practice L8
- Typical cost: £400 to £1200
- Review every 12 months, or sooner if the water system, its use, or the people using it change
- A named duty holder (usually the employer, landlord, or building operator) must arrange it and act on its findings
Marina water systems are unusual because the distribution network is outdoors, long, and split across pontoon pedestal supplies that serve dozens of berths from a single shore connection. Each pedestal tap typically feeds a boat through a flexible hose, and those hoses sit in the sun between uses, warming any water left standing in them. Boat owners fill onboard tanks intermittently: a liveaboard may fill weekly, a weekend sailor once a month, and a laid-up boat not at all between autumn and spring. Turnover through the pontoon system is therefore irregular and hard to predict, which is exactly the condition legionella exploits.
The marina operator is the duty holder for the shore-side system: the incoming main, the pontoon ring main, the pedestal taps, and the marina's own facilities such as the shower and toilet block, laundry, and fuel berth hose reels. Seasonal lay-up and recommissioning is the critical period. A system drained down or left idle over winter needs documented recommissioning in spring, with every pedestal outlet flushed through to temperature before berth holders return. Hoses should be disconnected and drained between uses rather than left attached and full, and backflow protection at each pedestal protects the shore supply from whatever is growing in a boat's own pipework.
Onboard water systems are the boat owner's responsibility rather than the marina's, but the marina's risk assessment should still acknowledge the interface. Little-used pedestal taps belong on a weekly flushing schedule, and the written scheme should name who flushes them and where each flush is recorded.
Is it legally required?
Marina operators are duty holders under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 for the shore-side water system, with ACOP L8 and HSG274 Part 2 setting out how the duty is discharged. Boats used as business premises, such as charter vessels or liveaboard hire boats, carry their own duty for the onboard system. The dividing line between the marina's system and each boat's system should be recorded in the assessment.
Who is the duty holder?
The duty holder is whoever has control of the premises or the water system. For marinas premises, this is usually the employer, owner, landlord, or managing agent. The duty cannot be contracted out: you can hire a water hygiene consultant, but the legal responsibility still sits with you.
If you are unsure who holds the duty for your premises, see: Who is responsible for a legionella risk assessment?
What the assessment should cover
ACOP L8 sets out five things a suitable and sufficient assessment must do:
- Identify and assess sources of risk across the whole water system, including stored hot and cold water, dead legs, rarely used outlets, and any equipment that generates aerosols
- Produce a written scheme for preventing or controlling the risk, with specific tasks, temperatures, and frequencies
- Implement, manage, and monitor the scheme in practice, not just on paper
- Keep records of the assessment, the scheme, monitoring results, and any remedial action taken
- Appoint a competent person (often called the "responsible person") to be accountable for the scheme
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.
Specific water system risks to check
For marinas premises, assessors typically pay close attention to:
- Hot water storage temperatures (calorifiers must reach 60°C throughout)
- Hot water distribution temperatures (50°C within one minute at outlets)
- Cold water storage tank condition, lid seal, and temperature (below 20°C)
- Dead legs, redundant pipework, and little-used outlets
- Shower heads, flexible hoses, and thermostatic mixing valves
- Any cooling tower, evaporative condenser, or spa pool (these are notifiable to the local authority under the Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992)
How often to review
There is no fixed legal interval, but ACOP L8 requires that the assessment is reviewed regularly and whenever there is reason to believe it may no longer be valid. For most marinas premises, that means at least every 12 months and sooner after any of the following:
- Changes to the water system (new pipework, fittings, equipment)
- Changes to the use of the building or the number of occupants
- A positive legionella test result or a case of Legionnaires' disease linked to the premises
- Prolonged periods of low occupancy or system shutdown (a risk during holidays, term breaks, or refurbishment)
- New guidance from HSE
Typical cost
A professional legionella risk assessment for marinas premises typically costs between £400 and £1200, depending on the size of the building, the number of water outlets, and whether there are any cooling towers or evaporative condensers (these add significantly to the cost because of the statutory inspection regime).
Use our cost calculator for an estimate based on your specific water system.
Need a legionella risk assessment for your premises? We will be partnering with Legionella Control Association registered providers shortly.
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.