How to Prevent Legionella Problems in New Buildings
In this article, our expert team look at the design and construction of new buildings and how many common Legionella and water safety problems can be completely eliminated by “designing-out” the risks that cause them before construction works ever begin.
This approach to water safety design can improve building safety, help reduce the need for costly remedial repairs later on, lower life-cycle maintenance costs, and virtually eliminate many of the regulatory compliance headaches that can plague building management teams for years to come.
A version of this story about how to prevent Legionella in new buildings first appeared in Legionella Control International’s newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up here.
Eliminating Legionella risks from new buildings
How can we prevent Legionella risks developing in newly constructed buildings and extensions? One of the most effective ways to reduce such risks as much as possible is for an experienced water safety expert to get involved at the early design stages to review the architectural and building services plans and specifications before building works actually begin. This review process helps to ensure that all potential Legionella risks are identified and eliminated, or at the very least mitigated as much as possible.
Any man-made water system is at risk from waterborne bacteria colonising it, this reduces water quality to create problems and potentially serious health hazards. These risks can occur in established hot and cold-water systems, but they can also occur in those installed as part of a newly constructed building.
While a new building is just that and provides a chance to create a water system from scratch, a lack of knowledge or inexperience in dealing with waterborne bacterial risks and the regulations that surround this process can become problematic. A lack of experience in this area can lead to costly remedial works, increased life-cycle maintenance, and regulatory compliance problems that can be expensive to manage and plague building management teams for years to come.
In this article, we’ll look at how water hygiene risks in a new building or extension can be avoided by “designing-out” Legionella and water safety problems before construction works ever begin.
Ensuring building designs and specifications do not encourage the growth of Legionella and other waterborne pathogens
It’s not just a case of designing a new building that fulfils all Planning, Building Regulations and other legal requirements. The new building must also cater for those people who will be using it. This might sound obvious, but in some cases, input from those who will use the completed building can be essential to its future success.
For instance, let’s assume the new building will provide services to elderly people. Because of their age, this group of people will be at a heightened risk of contracting Legionnaires’ disease if they are exposed to Legionella bacteria. This fact should be considered when designing the water systems to be installed in that building. Another concern would involve scalding risks. This would require the installation of special thermostatic mixing valves or TMVs that control water temperatures to safe levels. Additionally, consideration of where these valves are located is important to ensure easy access for future maintenance purposes. These issues may not be considered or recognised as potential problems by those designing the building and its water systems but need to be taken in to consideration.
How a water safety expert can support the design team
An experienced water safety expert who can advise the design team, taking on responsibility for ensuring the water systems are the safest they can be is the ideal scenario. By reviewing the plans and specifications for a new building and its water systems prior to construction works beginning, it will provide a chance to identify any Legionella and water safety issues at the outset. This could mean pointing out elements that have been neglected in the original design.
Conversely, it might mean identifying overly complex features that are not required or can be done differently. Those traditionally involved in the design and construction stages often won’t have the experience of some of the more specialised water systems and the requirements of those who will use them.
Good communication plays a big role in eliminating water safety risks
Many common errors that do occur with water systems installed in new buildings can easily be avoided with better communication between the client, designers, builders and end-users. A new building will have several stakeholders involved, and these should be aware of all pertinent information relating to the water systems. If you have a water safety expert available to offer support, they should have access to the design details and be able to review them and suggest any necessary alterations before building works begin.
It is all too easy to assume everything is going to plan – but that plan may not be the best one for the new building under construction. It’s another good reason why the responsibilities of everyone involved in the design and construction should be clearly laid out at the start of a project. That way, no one can say they thought someone else was responsible for something, when in fact it was their responsibility that they were unaware of.
The importance of conducting a Legionella risk assessment
You may be familiar with the legal requirement to perform a Legionella risk assessment to assess the safety of a building water system. This also comes into play with new buildings, as a risk assessment undertaken periodically throughout the construction process can help identify whether there are any risks that have arisen since the last assessment. As always, Legionella assessments should be performed by those with experience and suitable training.
This isn’t merely to ensure that risk factors are noted and accounted for. If an issue is identified during the construction of the new building, it could easily (and cost effectively) be resolved at that point. The same may not be the case if it is not discovered until the keys are handed over and all works completed.
Take a water storage tank, for example. These come in many sizes, and if a tank is installed that is too big for the occupancy requirements, it could well increase the risks from water stagnation, the build-up of sludge and debris, and in turn raise the chances of Legionella bacteria taking hold in the system.
This is another good example of how a pre-construction review by an experienced water safety specialist could identify the required tank size and specifications pre-construction. This would ensure the correct sized water tank is installed at the right point in the construction programme. If the design team failed to spot this oversizing, it would be difficult to resolve the issue later without a great deal more expense and potential remedial work. In getting it right to start with, the risks from Legionella bacteria taking hold would be reduced if not virtually eliminated from the water systems. That would not be the case with an oversized water tank that was not fit for purpose.
Expert Legionella and water safety reviews can enhance new building design, save costs and improve end-user safety
The design and development of any new building is a complex operation with lots to focus on, but water safety is an often neglected, but key area that must be considered by those responsible for the project, and the future operation of the building.
If an experienced water safety expert is appointed to review the architectural and building services plans and specifications before construction works begin, any required changes to the water installations can easily be made with no impact on construction progress, and at little to no cost. It is far simpler to do this on paper than in the real world.
No matter how experienced a builder, architect or services engineer might be, it is unlikely they will have the experience or in-depth knowledge needed to ensure long-term water safety considerations are optimised. It’s therefore clear that by getting a water safety expert on-board early to support the development team, the risks from Legionella and other waterborne pathogens can be can be avoided by “designing-out” water safety problems before construction works ever begin.
World leading water safety specialists
The water safety specialists at Legionella Control International help business owners, property developers, designers, engineers and building contractors improve water system design, reduce costs and mitigate risks associated with Legionella other waterborne pathogens to maintain regulatory compliance and keep people safe.
If you would like to speak with one of our water safety specialists about your latest construction project call us today on 0330 223 36 86 or contact us here …
