Water safety compliance for residential aged care facilities

The obligation is real and enforceable even if not framed as a single direct statute. AS/NZS 3666 requires Legionella risk management for water systems in buildings where vulnerable people are present. The Aged Care Quality Standards Standard 5 requires facilities to demonstrate active infection prevention and control. The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission is actively auditing against this standard. Facilities without documented water safety monitoring are exposed during audits, accreditation reviews and any incident investigation involving a resident infection.

A Water Risk Management Plan (WRMP) is a documented assessment of your facility's water system identifying high-risk outlets — showers, taps, thermostatic mixing valves — and setting out your monitoring schedule and response procedures. AS/NZS 3666 recommends all high-risk facilities have a WRMP in place. If you don't currently have one, you should speak with a water safety consultant to have one prepared. Once your WRMP identifies your nominated monitoring points, our kits handle the ongoing monthly sampling and laboratory analysis.

Samples can typically be collected by your maintenance staff or facility manager following our included step-by-step instructions. No contractor visit is required. Samples are collected mid-morning or early afternoon, placed immediately into the foam cooler with the frozen ice packs provided, and our courier collects the same day. The whole process takes 20–30 minutes depending on the number of sample points.

Legionella culture samples must be kept chilled from collection to laboratory receipt. Every kit includes a foam cooler and gel ice packs — freeze the ice packs overnight before your sampling day. Collect samples and place immediately into the cooler. Call the courier number provided and we arrange same-day collection. Samples reach the laboratory within 24 hours of collection, well within the required holding time.

Legionella culture results take 10–14 days from laboratory receipt. This is the standard incubation time required for the culture method — it cannot be shortened without compromising the result. Your NATA Certificate of Analysis and audit-ready compliance report are emailed immediately on completion. For routine monthly monitoring this turnaround is well within the timeframe needed for your compliance records. If you need urgent testing following an incident, contact us directly and we'll advise on the fastest available option.

We'll notify you immediately by phone and email with a plain-English explanation of which outlet tested positive and the level detected. Remediation decisions should be made in consultation with your water safety consultant and your Water Risk Management Plan — if you don't have a plan in place, engage a water safety consultant immediately. Once remediation is complete you will need to retest the affected outlets to confirm clearance. Contact us to discuss verification testing and documentation suitable for your compliance records.

The right kit depends on the number of nominated monitoring points in your Water Risk Management Plan. As a rough guide — Essential (up to 5 points) suits smaller boutique homes or independent living wings. Standard (up to 10 points) covers most medium-sized residential facilities of 60–90 beds. Campus (up to 20 points) is designed for large facilities, multi-storey buildings or campuses with multiple warm water loops. If you're not sure which kit fits your facility, contact us and we can help you understand the options before you order.

If your facility reprocesses reusable instruments — wound care sets, surgical tools, podiatry instruments — then AS 5369:2023 applies and sterilisation room water testing is expected by your accreditation body in addition to your Legionella monitoring. If your facility uses single-use instruments only and does not operate an autoclave, this obligation does not apply. We offer both Legionella monitoring and AS 5369:2023 sterilisation room testing — many facilities order both, consolidating their water safety compliance with a single provider.

NATA accreditation under ISO/IEC 17025 is the recognised standard for laboratory testing in Australia and the expected form of documentary evidence in any Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission audit or accreditation review. Our laboratory partners hold NATA accreditation under this standard. Every Certificate of Analysis carries the NATA endorsement and is issued in a format ready to file in your compliance records. Our audit-ready compliance report is written specifically to support your Quality Improvement Plan documentation.