Gas company wants to carry out testing - what are my rights?

[KatDubs261]

Just had an easy breezy text from a gas company saying my letting agent has instructed them to arrange for them to come and carry out legionella testing in my home this week.

I feel very uncomfortable and dont want them to do this. Aside from the safety concern, I am working from home long hours every day and it would be very disruptive.

Does anyone know if I have any legal rights to refuse them entry just now?

Why would you want to do that? Don’t you want to know if you have something potentially fatal in your water system ?

Many residential landlords do a legionella risk assessment so you would be unreasonable to refuse access to their contractors.

They will probably Just assess the system and ask you some questions about who lives there, in order to evaluate the risk. It won’t take long.

I dont think this is something to skip because you are busy; I'm sure they will be in and out as fast as they can.

It is not about being busy. I don't want anyone in my house right now. I am feeling anxious about having anyone I dont know in my home during a pandemic.

How do I know they will be in and out? It says they will need access to the water system. So will that be my kitchen and my bathroom or what?

I think part of my anxiety stems from the fact they didbt provide any more details than 'can we come on Friday?'. Nothing about safety measures. I dont know anything about them. Is the guy coming to my home going into several other homes? Etc

You don’t want them to check your water isn’t toxic? Have you heard yourself?

We're living through a pandemic. The person that comes through the door could be toxic.

I'd rather wait 2 or 3 months.

I take it there is no legal right to refuse them then?

You could ask them what safety measures they will put in place during the visit? See if that helps reassure you. They may seem better than your initial impression.

They won’t be in long. They have to have health and safety measures in place to protect them in case there are any dangers to them in your house.

I reckon they will be masked up and if not you can ask them to.

Keep the windows open for ventilation. Wipe anything they touch with anti viral stuff. They should test your kitchen and bathroom water as that’s what they do in my work.

Nobody wants people near them but we are in this for the long haul and it’s an important test.

I imagine your gas safety test etc will need to be done by the landlord annually too so you will have that to go through as well. At some point.

They could be toxic, but they probably won’t be toxic. Much like the water you could be drinking. I know which one I’d prefer to take my chances on and i day that as someone who has tested positive for Coronavirus and recovered.

We had it done at work before our offices could reopen, they came and took water samples. Was very quick
If there’s a risk you have it it can be fatal
It’s good they care enough to test

When you say "just now" does that mean they want to come tonight???? That's mad

They didn't write to me, they sent me a text this evening asking to come in 2 days. The letting agent clearly just passed my number along to them.

@Butterer to be honest I had never even heard of legionella until a few weeks ago. I've been living in another country where we never had that check.

Somebody already came to do a gas check a month ago. Just turned up without a mask or gloves and got far too close.

@Butterer Oh of course, sorry! 🤦🏼‍♀️ Ignore me! I'm half asleep. I'll just slow off.... As you were!

If it is worth anything to you OP, I had to have a whole new heating system installed last week. Boiler clapped out. I was not looking forward to it.

They arrived and kept their distance. I decamped to a friend's house down the road where I worked in her detached garage for the TWO DAYS it took to install the system! New boiler, floorboards and carpets up etc.

They left the place cleaner than when they came in.

All I did was wipe down doorhandles, taps, and bathrooms, things like that.

This water check will not take long. Time it for your coffee break and go out for a walk. Lock the room you are working in. They will not rob you or do any damage.

You do sound VERY anxious. There is only so much we can do, but we can what we can.

It's standard and maybe even law in Scotland since the outbreak some years ago. I would allow it to go ahead. It's common practise nowadays.

Another quick thought - I thought if you kept your water cylinder thermostat up high enough that you won’t need a test for legionella?

I know that probably won’t help you this time but you could ask them about that with a view to them turning up the thermostat when they come (or you can do it) this year for the future.

Have a google and see what temperature the thermostat has to be at. I think mine is 75 or 80 degrees.

Legionella apparently likes warm water to breed in so if it’s too hot they can’t and die. Hence if you can find out for next year if you turn your hot water tank thermostat up if they won’t need to come again that’s one less visit next year?

COVID will be with us for some time so we all need to find coping strategies and ways to deal with our anxieties that will protect us and keep us safe but also give us a bit of a life.

It’s hard to get the balance right and it’s ok to feel a bit anxious but if you are freaking out that could be something that would be calmed down with medication from the gp as if you are stressed now you will be apoplectic over the winter when it’s colds and flu season and people are coughing all around us.

I would ask them what PPE they will use and if they clean the taps after testing. The staff who come into our school arrive wearing gloves, the only touch the taps and change gloves for every tap. They wear masks and goggles too.

My husband wears PPE as a heating engineer. He asks the tenant to keep the 2m distance or stay in another room from the boiler. He also sanitises everything around where he is working prior to starting then once he is finished.

All you have to do is ask.

It's called Legionella because it was discovered in the water system of a US hotel when it killed a group of visiting American Legionnaires.

Recently in the UK someone ended up in hospital because they didn't wash their mask,