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Risk Analysis /
Drinking Water Analysis
In 95% of cases, a Legionella problem can be solved without having to completely renovate the property.
It is always a multi-step process that effectively leads to a satisfactory result. It is therefore highly recommended to seek the assistance of the engineering firm that carried out the risk analysis until the problem is solved.
Time and again, I find that the customer has not really received a proper analysis. Unfortunately, you only realize this when you have the “report” in your hands...
I can think of two points that allow you to separate the wheat from the chaff right away.
Point 1: Ask for existing documents/plans
If the expert does not request the plans for the property in advance, then something is wrong.
After all, I need to know which documents are missing for the property in order to be able to prepare an expert opinion at all. I then know, for example, that I have to record the pipe network, but at least I have a floor plan to enter the data, but I have to allow more time for the inspection.
Otherwise, it is not possible to check the pump design, control valve types and settings, or hot water supply design.
Point 2: Accessibility when inspecting basement rooms with suspected pipe routing and residential units on the top floor.
Even if plans are available in full, it is necessary to check at least randomly whether they are correct. In most cases, the cable distribution is laid on the ceiling of the basement, so that you have to look into rented basements, or in buildings with ground floor retail space, first into the suspended ceiling of the ground floor. And, of course, you can only get an idea of the temperature situation once you have measured the pipes. To assess the entire pipe, you usually look at the uppermost extraction points.
So if the expert doesn't even ask about this, then something is wrong. If the expert is satisfied with the temperatures measured in the sampling protocol, and if only the temperature at the time of sampling and the maximum temperature were recorded here according to the standard, then they leave it at that and move on to the next one.
I can't help everyone in Germany as an on-site expert. My day only has 24 hours. But I can help you distinguish a good expert from a bad one. And I don't want to just criticize everything; I can also help the expert. So if your situation seems hopeless, if you as the affected party or property manager don't know what to do next, or if you as an expert are “just going round in circles,” then just give me a call. Most solutions are quite simple; you just have to think of them first. Most issues are easy to understand once they have been explained properly. Teamwork is the solution.
Personally, I already have something against it when an expert report contains pages and pages of basic information and starts with Adam and Eve, explaining “What exactly is Legionella?”. If I start with these basics in the report, then the report will be over 100 pages long, even if the property only has 8 residential units. I wouldn't read through a report like that. I think that if a report consists largely of “ready-made text” that is the same in every report, then something is already going wrong.