Building Operators Duty Of Care - Rinnai Infinity Series Installation Manual

BUILDING OPERATORS DUTY OF CARE

Any owner of a domestic hot water system has a duty of care to protect employees and the public from
the possible dangers of hot water systems including scalding or Legionella. Although this document is
not intended to give expert advice on ways to avoid these issues it should give a guideline to what
should be done and where more information can be found. The full list of responsibilities can be found
in the following documents
TM13 CIBSE: Minimising the Risk of Legionnaires Disease ACOP L8: The Control of Legionella
Bacteria in Water Systems HSE publication: Legionnaires Disease: A guide for employers Various
other documents that are industry specific such as HSE publication: Controlling Legionella in Nursing
and Residential Homes NHS Estates HTM 2040 The Control of Legionella in Healthcare Premises: a
code of practice. and HTM 2027 Hot and Cold Water Supply, Storage and Mains Services. There are
many industry specific documents regarding the distribution of hot water. These can be found in IP
14/03 from the BRE: Preventing Hot Water Scalding In Bathrooms: Using TMVs
This list is not comprehensive.
The responsibilities, relative to the Rinnai Infinity type of hot water system, can be summarised in the
following way.
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Water temperatures in cylinders should always be over 60 C. A secondary return must return at over
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50 C. The water at the furthest outlets must reach 50 C within 60 seconds.
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Warning signs should be placed over taps where the temperature could exceed 55 C. Where people
are at high risk consider thermostatic mixing valves.
A risk assessment should be carried out, by a suitable person, to gauge the associated risk of the hot
water system. This assessment should be reviewed at regular intervals.
Based on this assessment a maintenance regime should be determined. The hot water system and
Infinity water heaters must be serviced annually. This alone is not sufficient. Some parts of the hot
water system, such as rarely used shower heads or terminal fittings, will require frequent maintenance.
Frequent checks should be carried out to ensure the hot water system is operating correctly.
The system must be commissioned by a qualified person.
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