Written Scheme of Control for Legionella: Plain-English Guide

A written scheme of control translates the risk assessment into practical routines for managing water hygiene day to day.

It should define responsibilities, assets, control measures, monitoring frequencies, acceptable limits, corrective actions, reporting routes, and record-keeping requirements.

The scheme must describe the real building. Generic templates are weak if they ignore actual tanks, calorifiers, TMVs, showers, low-use areas, or management arrangements.

Review the scheme after refurbishments, occupancy changes, incidents, repeated control failures, new vulnerable users, or significant remedial works.

Make sure contractors and in-house teams both understand the scheme because shared ownership reduces missed tasks and unclear escalation.