Authorising Engineer for Water (update 10th October 2024)

I have had a number of enquiries from NHS trusts about the role of Authorising Engineer (Water). Who can do this and is it required?

The Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 04-01 Parts A, B and C were updated and released in June 2016. They now advise appointing an independent professional adviser/Authorising Engineer (AE) to support the Water Safety Group (WSG). See HTM 04-01 Part B (2016), paragraphs 6.6 and 6.8.

In the old 2006 HTM 04-01 there was no mention of an Authorising Engineer, however it was mentioned in the baseline HTM 00. In teh current HTM 04-01 (2016), healthcare providers are well advised to appoint an independent professional adviser/Authorising Engineer. Ultimately the requirement for an Authorising Engineer will be down to the individual trust and their Water Safety Group to decide.

So, who can be an Authorising Engineer (Water)? Well, technically anyone can sell this service, although anyone providing poor service or advice is likely to be found out very quickly. There is no Department of Health approved register. IHEEM (Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management) have created a register, however there are currently only 12 people on the list (as at 10th October 2024 - eight years after its creation), so that clearly isn't enough members to serve hundreds of NHS trusts and healthcare organisations.

Any healthcare provider looking to appoint an independent professional adviser/Authorising Engineer should ensure they are suitably competent for this role, as with any other service. The HTM 04-01 does comment that the Water Safety Group (WSG) should ensure anyone carrying out risk assessment work is able to demonstrate their competence and experience (see HTM 04-01 Part B, paragraph 2.9), so at the very least the WSG should be doing the same, if not more, for the appointment of the independent professional adviser/Authorising Engineer. To achieve this at Watermark Compliance we are happy to provide NHS client testimonials and an independent professional adviser/Authorising Engineer competency report detailing NHS experience & knowledge.

For further information, please refer to Legionella Consultancy.