When we have been dealing with Legionella Risk Assessments, some agents and landlords have been a bit worried about what to tell their tenants. They are concerned that the tenanats will be alarmed and panic unnecessarily, thinking that the reason for undertaking a risk assessment is because there is a problem. If a tenant is not familiar with rental property Health and Safety, and in many cases they are not, they may have a few questions.
We have discovered that if you fully explain to the tenant what is being done and why it is being done, they are actually relieved that they are dealing with a responsible and professional landlord or agency. If on the other hand, you are a bit reluctant to tell them what and why you are doing, then they will naturally feel that there is something to worry about.
The critical thing that many landlords and agents overlook is that the tenants themselves are absolutely critical in ensuring their own health and safety when they are renting a property. If you, as a landlord or agent have instructed the tenant to undertake certain activities, such as checking the smoke alarms periodically, or running little used water outlets once a week, then they do have a responsibility in doing this. It is part of the management plan for reducing risk.
Generally speaking, the advice you give to tenants should fall around the following:
We have discovered that if you fully explain to the tenant what is being done and why it is being done, they are actually relieved that they are dealing with a responsible and professional landlord or agency. If on the other hand, you are a bit reluctant to tell them what and why you are doing, then they will naturally feel that there is something to worry about.
The critical thing that many landlords and agents overlook is that the tenants themselves are absolutely critical in ensuring their own health and safety when they are renting a property. If you, as a landlord or agent have instructed the tenant to undertake certain activities, such as checking the smoke alarms periodically, or running little used water outlets once a week, then they do have a responsibility in doing this. It is part of the management plan for reducing risk.
Generally speaking, the advice you give to tenants should fall around the following:
- Advice on what actions they need to carry out to keep themselves safe
- Advice on the frequency at which outlets need to be flushed through
- Advice on what to do in the event that the hot water stops working
- Advice on what to do if the water seems lukewarm and is not reaching an appropriate temperature
- Cleaning advice
The Best Practice is to hand out a leaflet or tenant handbook as part of your pre-let procedure and draw their attention to its content. We can provide you with a tenant’s legionella factsheet which you are free to copy and distribute.
Just drop us a line on 0845 077 9335.
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