IWS Water Hygiene was commissioned by a UK County Council to implement a Legionella Management Plan. The project involved carrying out ACoP L8 water quality sampling and testing, annual legionella risk assessments for water systems and ad-hoc plumbing and remedial works.
Throughout the life of the contract, IWS completed and dealt with various phased projects with strict delivery deadlines. An example of which was a project to undertake legionella risk assessments of council properties within a 12 month period. All 350 sites were visited, surveyed and reports issued all onto the IWS Web-based Online Report Tracker system (ORT) ensuring all information was available to the County Council within the required time frame and within the client’s budget.
This project comprised the implementation of a Legionella Management Plan for a County Council, carrying out ACoP L8 water quality sampling and testing, annual legionella risk assessments for water systems and ad-hoc plumbing and remedial works.
Services provided include the following:
- Annual and bi-annual Inspections of all cold water storage tanks, calorifiers, water heaters and distribution systems
- Monthly temperature monitoring of hot and cold water systems
- Quarterly descaling of showerheads and hoses,
- Undertake legionella risk assessments and risk assessment reviews
- Emergency call out service
- Technical support services
Challenges encountered
Access to buildings: During the mobilisation phase of the contract the biggest challenge faced was the lack of available information with regard to the County Council site contact details. The basic details of names and telephone numbers were incomplete or out of date. This meant that we had to invest at a lot of time and effort making telephone calls in order to confirm appointments to undertake the initial site visits.
How we overcame the situation: Working in partnership with County Council and all stakeholders concerned we identified that by speaking to the local area offices we were able to obtain detailed information. This information enabled IWS to make firm appointments to visit each site. The correct contact details, telephone numbers, e-mail address, location of keys etc., was obtained. This knowledge was recorded in the IWS Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
Voids: This applied to the routine monthly monitoring of sites, where we found that sites became vacant whilst a refurbishment or change of use was going on. Access to these voids became problematic, and we learnt quickly that master keys are an essential part of the equipment required to fully service the contract. Void properties, although empty, were still required to be checked and monitored if the water systems were not being drained and isolated.
How we overcame the situation: The County Council utilise a security company to oversee the voids. By effective communication, building local relationships with this company and meeting with the security operatives at voids we built a process where, in many cases, our operatives were provided with access keys and alarm codes prior to visiting. This process eliminated the need for our operatives to be escorted by the security company’s officers.
Benefits Delivered
Throughout the life of the contract, IWS have completed and dealt with various phased projects with strict delivery deadlines. An example of which was a project to undertake legionella risk assessments of council properties within a 12 month period. All 350 sites were visited, surveyed and reports issued all onto the IWS Web based Online Report Tracker system (ORT) so that all information was available to County Council within the required time frame and within the client’s budget.
Other key benefits include:
- The allocation of key personnel to the contract including a dedicated Account Manager, responsible for the on-going management of the contract, liaising with and advising the client ensuring client confidence
- Developing and maintaining a good working partnership with all stakeholders to deliver a high-quality service to a number of different businesses and agencies that work with County Council
- The availability of experienced and trained staff for accessing secure areas
- Local delivery office and mobile working with contract dedicated operatives deployed by the IWS operational managers and supervisors locally based
- Demonstrates that IWS have experience with working with variable building and client type.
