Is there a separate legionella risk assessment template for Scotland?
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Key points
- There is no separate legionella risk assessment template for Scotland; the same ACOP L8 template used in England and Wales applies.
- The duty comes from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, COSHH and ACOP L8, all of which cover the whole of Great Britain.
- What differs in Scotland is practical, not legal: the mains supplier is usually Scottish Water, and private landlords also sit under the Repairing Standard.
- Enforcement is by the HSE or the local authority, exactly as in the rest of Great Britain.
- An assessment records the system layout, temperatures, outlets and checks; the same free template covers a Scottish property.
No. There is no separate legionella risk assessment template for Scotland. The legal duty to control legionella comes from law that covers the whole of Great Britain, so a Scottish assessment follows the same ACOP L8 and HSG274 framework as one in England or Wales.
Why one template covers the whole of Great Britain
The legal duty sits in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH). Legionella bacteria are a substance hazardous to health, so anyone who runs a business or has control of premises must assess and control the risk. Both pieces of law apply to England, Scotland and Wales together. The practical guidance duty holders follow, the Approved Code of Practice L8 and the technical detail in HSG274, is issued by the HSE for the whole of Great Britain. None of it stops at the border.
Because the framework is identical, the assessment records the same things wherever the building sits: the layout of the water system, where water stands still, the temperatures at the outlets and at the calorifier, the condition of tanks and showers, and the checks scheduled to keep the risk under control. A template built around ACOP L8 works in Glasgow exactly as it does in Manchester. The one genuine exception in the UK is Northern Ireland, which has its own separate health and safety system; Scotland does not.
What actually is different in Scotland
Two things are genuinely Scotland-specific, and neither of them needs a different template.
The water supplier. Mains water in Scotland is supplied by Scottish Water rather than one of the regional companies in England and Wales. That changes who you contact about the incoming supply, but it does not change what you assess inside the building. The cold water still needs to be kept below 20°C, and the risk is still about what happens to the water once it is inside your own pipes, tanks and outlets.
Private rented housing. Scotland has its own housing law. Landlords of private rented property must meet the Repairing Standard set out in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006, which requires the house and its water and heating installations to be in a reasonable state and in proper working order. Legionella is not named as a separate line item, but a legionella risk assessment is a sensible way to show you have considered the water system, which is why many Scottish letting agents ask for one. The Repairing Standard is enforced through the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber), not through a different legionella rule.
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.
Do Scottish landlords need a legionella risk assessment?
The duty on landlords is the same across Great Britain. Where a landlord runs a letting business, section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires them to assess and control the legionella risk in the property they let. For most ordinary domestic rentals this is a straightforward assessment rather than sampling or treatment. The HSE has been clear that a simple risk assessment is usually enough for a low-risk domestic system, and that a certificate is not a legal requirement. In Scotland the added reason to keep a record is the Repairing Standard, which gives a landlord a clear motive to evidence that the water system has been checked. See who the duty falls on for more.
Who enforces legionella rules in Scotland
Enforcement works the same way as the rest of Great Britain. The HSE or the local authority is the enforcing body for the health and safety duty, split by the type of premises under the enforcing authority regulations. Offices, shops and most leisure premises usually fall to the local authority; industrial sites usually fall to the HSE. There is no separate Scottish legionella regulator sitting on top of that. For private rented housing, the distinct route is the First-tier Tribunal, which handles Repairing Standard complaints raised by tenants.
The law is the same on both sides of the border, so the honest answer is that a Scottish property needs a proper assessment, not a special one.
What a Scottish assessment should record
Whatever the postcode, a good assessment captures the same evidence: a description of the system, hot water stored at 60°C and reaching 50°C at the outlet within a minute (55°C in healthcare), cold water below 20°C, any dead legs or little-used outlets, the state of the cold water tank and calorifier, and the checks scheduled to keep it in control. Record readings on a temperature chart and keep the results in a log book. Our legionella risk assessment template is built on ACOP L8 and HSG274, so it works for a property anywhere in Great Britain, Scotland included. For the underlying rules and what full compliance involves, see ACOP L8, HSG274 and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
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
Is there a separate legionella risk assessment template for Scotland?
No. The legionella duty comes from the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, COSHH and ACOP L8, all of which apply across the whole of Great Britain, so Scotland uses the same framework as England and Wales. A template built around ACOP L8 and HSG274 is valid for a Scottish property. The only differences are practical, such as Scottish Water being the mains supplier.
Do Scottish landlords need a legionella risk assessment?
Yes, in the same way landlords do elsewhere in Great Britain. Where letting is run as a business, the landlord must assess and control the legionella risk in the property under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. For most ordinary domestic rentals a simple risk assessment is enough and no certificate is legally required, but keeping the record also helps evidence the Repairing Standard in Scotland.
Who enforces legionella rules in Scotland?
The HSE or the local authority enforces the health and safety duty, split by premises type just as in the rest of Great Britain, with no separate Scottish legionella regulator. For private rented housing, tenants can raise Repairing Standard complaints with the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). The underlying legionella law itself is enforced by the HSE and local authorities.
Is legionella law different in Scotland?
No. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, COSHH, ACOP L8 and HSG274 all apply across Great Britain, which includes Scotland. Northern Ireland has its own separate health and safety system, but Scotland does not, so the legionella duty and the standards you work to are the same as in England and Wales.
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