Electrics and gas
The survey mentions legionella in the same sentence as the heat-pump cylinder. Has a water-hygiene sample been taken?
No. A water-hygiene sample has not been taken. The survey mentions legionella in the same sentence as the heat-pump cylinder, which is a risk note about stored water, not a laboratory result. No sample was drawn from the cylinder, the taps or the shower, and the visit did not decide that bacteria are present or absent. A heat-pump cylinder can store warm water that needs proper control, but this inspection did not test that control and did not record temperatures. The sentence flags a topic. It is not a hygiene certificate.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Stored water is a known place for this kind of concern when the store is not managed, but concern is not a count of anything in the tank. The surveyor did not open the cylinder, did not take a bottle away, and did not claim a scheme of control was in place or missing. Mentioning the risk beside the cylinder tells you to take the subject seriously. It does not tell you the water failed or passed. No temperature was invented here, because none was measured for this purpose.
If you need hygiene considered, ask a competent water specialist to sample and to advise, and keep that result out of this survey. Ask the seller, through the solicitor, for any log of checks they say they keep. Do not tell a lender the cylinder is unsafe, or safe, on the back of one sentence. Say legionella was mentioned and no sample was taken. The survey has not decided grant eligibility and must not quote a grant figure.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was a water sample taken from the heat-pump cylinder?
- Did the visit measure temperatures for hygiene control?
- Is the sentence being read as a pass or a fail?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the legionella mention as a note, not a sample.
- Ask a water specialist if you need an actual test.
- Do not tell a lender the cylinder is safe or unsafe.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does a new cylinder avoid the subject altogether?
Not on the evidence of this visit. Age was not established as a hygiene result, and no sample was taken whether the vessel is new or old. A label, if there is one, was not a laboratory test. The survey mentioned the risk and stopped. Do not swap the sentence for a clean bill because the cylinder looks recent.
Has the survey decided a heat-pump grant from this sentence?
No. The survey does not decide grant eligibility and must not quote a grant figure. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is a route in England and Wales, not in Scotland or Northern Ireland, and it is not what this sentence decided. The sentence is about legionella and an unsampled cylinder. Leave grants out of it.