Choosing someone to carry out your dental Legionella risk assessment involves more than comparing prices. You need to understand what they will assess, how they will address dental equipment and whether their recommendations will help your team manage water safety in practice.
An assessment should reflect the premises, equipment and working arrangements at your practice. A report that describes the plumbing but leaves uncertainty about dental unit waterlines can leave your team with important questions unanswered.
If you are comparing Legionella risk assessments designed exclusively for dental practices, these seven questions will help you understand what is included.
1. Does the assessment cover both the building and dental equipment?
Start by asking for a written description of the assessment scope.
A dental practice uses water in several different ways. The building’s hot and cold-water services are part of the picture, alongside dental chairs, water storage arrangements and equipment supplied with treated water.
Ask the assessor how they will consider:
- Incoming supplies, storage and hot-water generation
- Taps, sinks and outlets that receive little use
- Dental unit waterlines, often abbreviated to DUWLs
- Independent dental chair water bottles
- Reverse osmosis systems and associated storage, where installed
- Connections between the building supply and dental equipment
The scope should explain any exclusions and identify who will address them. This is particularly useful where a landlord, chair engineer and water hygiene contractor each manage different parts of the system.
For an overview of DWS’s approach, see our Legionella risk assessments for dental practices.
2. How will the assessor establish competence for dental work?
Ask about relevant knowledge and experience, including the types of dental systems the assessor has worked with.
HSE guidance, healthcare water guidance and equipment instructions need to be interpreted in the context of the actual practice. An assessor should be able to explain how their experience supports that work.
Ask about the equipment you actually use
Tell the assessor about your chair models, bottle systems, water treatment equipment and any recurring problems before the visit.
Useful questions include:
- Have you assessed practices with similar equipment?
- How do you use manufacturers’ instructions when reviewing controls?
- How do you investigate gaps in maintenance or monitoring evidence?
- What happens if an issue needs advice from a chair engineer or another specialist?
An assessor who asks informed questions about your equipment and procedures gives you a clearer basis for judging the proposed service.
3. Will they look at how the practice operates?
Water safety depends on how systems are used as well as how they are installed.
A surgery used five days a week has a different usage pattern from a room opened occasionally. A spare chair, an unused tap or a prolonged closure may need specific attention.
Explain your normal working arrangements, including:
- Part-time surgery use
- Holiday closures and extended downtime
- Rooms or outlets that are rarely used
- Recent building work or equipment changes
- Staff cover for water hygiene tasks
The assessment should also consider who could be exposed and whether patient or staff susceptibility affects the precautions required.
A useful report makes these circumstances visible and connects them to practical controls.
4. How will DUWL Legionella risks and testing be addressed?
Ask the assessor to explain how they will review your dental waterline management arrangements, including flushing, cleaning, disinfection, maintenance and relevant equipment instructions.
Testing needs a clear purpose. A result is useful when the practice understands what was sampled, what the test measures and what action follows.
Distinguish Legionella testing from general bacterial monitoring
Total viable count testing and Legionella testing measure different things. A dipslide used for general bacterial monitoring should not be described as a Legionella test.
CQC’s guidance on Legionella and dental waterline management explains that routine total viable count monitoring is not generally necessary unless there are taste or odour concerns. It also states that Legionella testing frequency depends on the system, its components and the risk assessment.
Ask your assessor to explain the reason for any proposed sampling programme, including the locations, methods, interpretation and response to unsatisfactory results.
5. What will the report help your team do?
Before booking, ask what documents you will receive and how the findings will be explained.
Your team should be able to identify the risks, understand the recommendations and see which actions need attention first.
Ask whether the report will include:
- A description of the systems assessed
- Findings tied to identifiable rooms, outlets or equipment
- Clear priorities and recommended timescales
- Any limitations or areas requiring further investigation
- An explanation of responsibilities
- Arrangements for reviewing the assessment
Check whether the written control scheme is included
The risk assessment identifies and evaluates risks. The written control scheme sets out how those risks will be managed.
Ask whether preparing or updating that scheme is included in the quotation. Establish who will turn recommendations into allocated tasks, monitoring procedures and escalation arrangements.
For the records that support those arrangements, use our dental Legionella logbook checklist.
6. How will the recommendations support your regulatory responsibilities?
For practices in England, CQC expectations are an important part of the discussion. CQC does not regulate dental practices throughout the whole UK, so the assessor should understand the requirements relevant to your location.
Ask how the assessment relates to the applicable framework, including HSE’s Approved Code of Practice L8 and relevant technical guidance.
In England, HTM 01-05: Decontamination in primary care dental practices includes guidance on hot and cold-water systems and dental unit waterlines.
The practical question is whether the assessment helps your practice demonstrate that risks have been identified, controls implemented and problems followed through. Commissioning a report is one step in that ongoing process.
7. What is included in the price and follow-up support?
Ask for a quotation that makes the deliverables and exclusions clear.
Check whether the fee includes the site visit, report, written control scheme, explanation of findings and support with questions afterwards. Establish whether sampling, remedial work, training or further visits carry additional charges.
Also ask what circumstances should prompt a review. Equipment changes, altered water use or evidence that controls are ineffective may require attention before a planned review date.
Knowing this before booking helps you compare services fairly and plan the work that follows.
What to have ready before the assessment
You can help the assessor understand your practice by gathering:
- The previous assessment and outstanding action plan
- Available water system drawings
- Dental chair and water treatment equipment instructions
- Current flushing, disinfection and monitoring procedures
- Maintenance reports and relevant sample results
- Details of recent changes and known concerns
Explain any missing information. An incomplete record is something to investigate, rather than a reason to make assumptions about the system.
Talk to DWS about your dental practice
DWS provides dental-specific Legionella risk assessments covering the way water is supplied, stored and used across the practice.
We help practice owners and managers understand their findings and the practical steps needed to manage identified risks.
Contact DWS to discuss your practice and assessment requirements, or call 0115 697 0510.