When is drinking water testing obligatory for owners?

Drinking Water Ordinance - Who needs to be tested?

Landlords and property managers must have the drinking water tested and observe the strict rules of the Drinking Water Ordinance as well as take care of the related obligations. The legal obligations, as well as penalties, result from § 40 of the Protection against Infection Act (InfSchG). § 25 of the Drinking Water Ordinance contains 29 offences for which fines are imposed.

The addressee of the ordinance is therefore not only the water supplier, but the "Entrepreneur or other owner" ("UsI") of a drinking water installation. What is meant by this is a "commercial activity" which has as its objective the direct or indirect, purposeful supply of drinking water in the context of a rental or other independent and regular activity carried out with the intention of making a profit.

This means that, according to the Drinking Water Ordinance, landlords and property managers have the duty as well as a responsibility for the Health of tenants who are supplied from their drinking water installation, hot water preparation or well system.

The resulting tasks for the "UsI" depend on whether it is a residential building or a "public commercial property", for which the requirements are significantly higher. The reason for the more stringent requirements is the public accessibility of the tapping points by undefined and changing groups of people, e.g. in customer toilets.

Even before specific testing obligations and action values were included in the Drinking Water Ordinance. Every owner/operator of a drinking water installation is obliged to supply hygienically safe drinking water to residents or users. Regulations in this regard arose from the general duty to ensure public safety and is the responsibility of the operator.

Drinking Water Ordinance - how often to check?

According to the Drinking Water Ordinance (TrinkwV), one of the most important tasks of a "UsI", i.e. the landlord, owner, or property manager, is to test the drinking water every three years.

However, the Drinking Water Ordinance covers much more than just a Legionella examination. It is essential that there is only a low measure value for legionella.

For many other parameters, such as lead, nickel, copper, cadmium, E coli, enterococci and coliform germs, the Drinking Water Ordinance sets limits that the landlord must comply with.

To be legally safe, regular tests of the hot and cold water in regard to chemical and microbial standard parameters are required. For example, in the course of an orientation test, it is recommended that at least the point in the building furthest away from the water inlet should be tested. This is not only required by the Drinking Water Ordinance but above all by the "Safety and Operator Obligations". The "Safety and Operator Obligations" has been a binding requirement for the "user" to supply "hygienically safe" water to the residents for longer than the Drinking Water Ordinance.

In addition to the obligation to check, the "UsI" is also required to inform its tenants of the results in writing every ten years. This can be done by means of a letter or a clearly visible notice in the building.

Checklist Drinking Water Ordinance for Property Owners

• Is there an obligation to test according to the Drinking Water Ordinance?

• Do the drinking water installations comply with the Rules of Technology?

• Are examinations carried out on time?

• Are the results communicated to all tenants and documented?

• Were the examination limits exceeded?

• Are investigation costs passed on to tenants?

Drinking Water Ordinance - what must be tested?

According to the Drinking Water Ordinance, the following are subject to mandatory testing: Schools or kindergartens as well as houses with rented flats or hotels, especiallyif a large-scale system is operated on these premises. Owners' associations in houses with owner-occupied flats only have to comply with the testing obligation if at least one flat in the building is rented out.

According to the definitions in § 3 Para. 12 of the Drinking Water Ordinance, a large-scale drinking water heating system is a system with a Storage water heater or a central flow-through drinking water heater each with a capacity of more than 400 litres or a capacity of more than three litres in at least one pipe between the outlet of the drinking water heater and the tapping point; the capacity of a circulation pipe is not taken into account.

If only one of the two points applies, it is regarded as a large drinking water system.

One- and two-family houses do not count as large systems by definition. A flat's own hot water supply with an electric or gas-powered instantaneous water heater/hot water heater in the kitchen or bathroom does not usually fall under the term large-scale drinking water system for two reasons.

Firstly, because the storage volume of 400 litres and normally also the pipe volume of three litres is not reached. Furthermore, the individual dwelling user draws water but does not supply it to himself as stated in section 14, paragraph 1, no. 1.

Drinking Water Ordinance - Who may take samples?

A competent person must carry out a Legionella test and a sampling plan must be drawn up that specifies where samples must be taken as part of an orienting examination for legionella.

Such competent persons must come from a specialised company, such as our cooperation partner DIWA.

A legionella test and sampling plan is not about determining the absence of legionella at all individual sampling points, but rather a random sample to determine possible contamination with legionella in parts of the drinking water installation, which may have an impact on a larger number of sampling points. It should be noted that each riser end and hot water supply as well as the circulation are tested at points to be set up for this purpose.

The owner or property manager must prove that his drinking water installation complies with the generally recognised rules of technology. In sum, these are the proven, scientific, technical and trade-specific experiences in the construction industry, which are consistently known and recognised as correct and necessary. As a precautionary measure, when carrying out technical work on the drinking water installation, one can obtain a guarantee from a licensed plumber.