Legislation & registration

Page contents: Changes to the laws will commence on 1 January 2010 | Cooling tower system changes | Warm water systems | Registration of cooling tower systems | Contact

Changes to the laws will commence on 1 January 2010

On 1 January 2010, a number of important changes will take effect that relate to the registration and management of cooling tower systems.

Firstly, a new Act of Parliament, the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (PHWA) commences operation on that day. This new Act replaces those parts of the Building Act 1993 that relate to cooling towers. The new Act will continue to require registration, risk management plans and their audit.

New regulations are also proposed to commence on 1 January 2009 which would regulate the maintenance and testing of cooling tower systems.

To download the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 or to look at and comment on the proposed Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations visit the Public Health and Wellbeing Act website.

Cooling tower system changes

The Department of Health will take over management of the register from the Building Commission on 1 January 2010.  Information about the changes will be available soon.

• Summary of what the changes will mean  
• Information for auditors will be available soon
• A revised edition of the “A Guide to Developing Risk Management Plans for Cooling Tower Systems” will be available to download soon 
• Draft RMP Template for Cooling Tower Systems (635kb, pdf)
• Summary of requirements for HCC sampling and response (38kb, pdf)
• Summary of the alternative requirements for HCC sampling and response (38kb, pdf)
• Legionella detected flow chart (36kb, pdf)

Warm water systems

The prescriptive maintenance requirements will be replaced by a requirement to manage the risks associated with Legionella in certain premises.

A revised version of “Controlling Legionella in warm water systems” will be available to download soon.

New guidance material for car wash premises is being developed and will be available soon.

Registration of cooling tower systems

Please continue to contact the Building Commission to discuss issues relating to current registration renewals.

Closer to the end of the year we will be in direct contact with those sites where system registration renewal’s falls due in December or January to provide information on registration renewal during the transitional period. We will also communicate to all registration holders the new arrangements for renewing registrations 2010.

Contact

For further information, contact the Legionella Team:

Phone: 1800 248 898
Email: Legionella@dhs.vic.gov.au

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