A hot tub water-testing log laid out to HSG282, free to print
If guests use a hot tub at your let, park or glamping site, the water has to be tested, the tub drained and refilled between groups, lab samples sent off, and all of it written down. This sheet records that routine in a form an environmental health officer can read at a glance. Download it, print it, keep it by the tub.
Free download, four pages, A4
Get the hot tub log sheet
A one-page guide, a monthly morning-and-evening test log per tub, a changeover and out-of-range record, and a sampling and tub register for the monthly and quarterly lab results. PDF, prints in black and white.
What the guidance says
The Health and Safety Executive's guidance is HSG282: The control of legionella and other infectious agents in spa-pool systems (2017). It is guidance, not a regulation in itself; the legal duty comes from the Health and Safety at Work Act, and HSG282 is how HSE and councils expect that duty to be met. It is clear that a hot tub in a let is in scope:
"Domestic-type spa pools or hot tubs used as part of a business activity (eg in a holiday park rental unit or hotel bedroom(s) with their own dedicated spa, or as part of a rental agreement for a single family or group use) are subject to the general duties under the HSW Act."
HSG282, paragraph 76
For domestic-type hot tubs, the kind in most lodges and holiday lets, HSG282 gives these typical frequencies and ranges. Your own risk assessment sets the final routine.
| Check | HSG282 says |
|---|---|
| pH and disinfectant | "At least twice daily depending on risk assessment and usage" (Table 1) |
| Free chlorine | 3–5 mg/l. Below 1 or above 10 mg/l: "Close the spa pool, apply corrective actions and retest" (Table 3) |
| Bromine | 4–6 mg/l. Below 2 or above 12 mg/l: close, correct and retest (Table 3) |
| pH | 7.0–7.6. Outside that: "Close spa pool and check the operation and calibration of acid/alkali dosing units" (Table 3) |
| Drain, clean and refill | "Between each group of users or at least weekly, whichever is shorter" (Table 1) |
| Lab samples | "at least monthly for ACC, coliforms, E coli and P aeruginosa and quarterly for legionella" (paragraph 153) |
| Keeping records | Monitoring, inspection, test and check records "should be kept for at least five years" (paragraph 53) |
Councils repeat the same routine to holiday-let owners:
- Devon and Somerset Trading Standards ask for water test records that include "testing as a minimum of twice daily for free chlorine and PH", free chlorine "between 3-5mg/l" or bromine "between 4-6mg/l", and say records should be kept for up to five years. Their toolkit has Word templates for an operating procedure, emergency plan, risk assessment and log sheet.
- Isle of Anglesey County Council says the rules apply "even to single holiday let unit" and "the duty to comply rests with the business owner": chemical checks daily, microbiological samples monthly, legionella samples every three months. Guests cannot do the checks for you.
- East Ayrshire Council publishes a spa pool monitoring record for holiday lets with room for three checks a day and the HSG282 ranges printed at the top.
- Isle of Wight Council announced in June 2026 that environmental health officers would contact and visit holiday lets, guesthouses and hotels with hot tubs, supporting businesses first rather than starting with enforcement.
- In Scotland, every short-term let licence carries the condition that the holder "must assess the risk from exposure to legionella within the premises" (Licensing of Short-term Lets Order 2022, schedule 3, paragraph 9).
On a holiday park, HSG282 (paragraph 64) also puts a duty on the site owner: to manage the risk from tubs it rents out, and to point private owners of tubs on site towards the guidance.
What "documented" looks like in practice
HSG282 asks for records that show "who did the work and when it was carried out" (paragraph 54), and that state the acceptable limits and what is done when a result falls outside them (paragraph 152). In practice that means four kinds of record:
- Daily tests: date, time, free chlorine or bromine, pH, water temperature, initials, and a tick that each reading sat inside your range. Morning and evening is the usual routine; busier tubs may need more.
- Changeovers: each drain, clean, refill, dose and retest between groups of guests, with the time and who did it.
- Out-of-range readings: what was found, what was done (closed, dosed, drained), when it came back in range, and who was told.
- Lab samples: the monthly microbiological and quarterly legionella sample dates, the lab, the result and the certificate reference, with the pH and disinfectant readings taken at the time of sampling.
The sheet gives you a page for each, plus a box to write down your own routine and the test kit you use. Keep the completed sheets with the risk assessment and the lab certificates for at least five years.
In development
SpaLog, the digital version
The sheet works for one tub and one person. The app is being built for parks, glamping sites and hot tub management firms where several people test several tubs, and the record has to show who did what, and when, without chasing paper:
- A QR code on each tub. The cleaner scans it, enters a PIN and types the readings. No app to install, no account for each worker.
- Out-of-range prompts against the ranges in your own risk assessment (HSG282's typical ranges by default): the reading asks what was done and who was told, so the action record writes itself.
- A changeover checklist per tub: drain, clean, refill, dose, retest, timed and initialled.
- Lab-sample reminders for the monthly and quarterly samples, with the certificate uploaded against the tub.
- A missed-test view: which tubs were not tested this morning, across the whole site.
- An inspection pack PDF for any tub and date range: tests, changeovers, actions and certificates, kept for five years.
- A Scottish short-term let bundle that files the legionella risk assessment alongside the tub records.
SpaLog records what was tested and done. It does not give chemical advice and does not certify a tub as safe; your risk assessment and competent person decide that.
£290 for the first year per site, founding price. £29 a month after that.
Reserve a founding place and we will email you a payment link when the first version is ready to use. Nothing is charged today. The first year is refundable in full at any point before you first use it, and in full within 60 days of first use if it is not what you need.
Who is behind this
Tom Murton, who runs We Evolve, a small UK studio that makes record-keeping apps for trades and small firms: PAT Book for electricians' test records, TachoClear for drivers' hours, CutRoof for roof cutting. SpaLog is the next one. Questions or corrections to the guidance reading: tom@weevolve.app.
Questions
Is this endorsed by HSE or a council?
No. It is an independent sheet that quotes the published guidance so you can check it against the source. If your council gives you its own form, it is fine to use theirs.
Will the sheet or the app tell me whether my tub is safe?
No. They record what was tested, when and by whom, against the ranges you set. What to dose, when to close a tub and what the lab results mean are for your risk assessment, your supplier and your competent person.
The hot tub is only for my own family. Does this apply?
HSG282 (paragraph 75) says a hot tub in a private home that is not rented out, used only by the owner, family and occasional guests, is outside the Health and Safety at Work Act. Once it is part of a let, it is in scope.
Can guests do the tests?
Anglesey's council says no: guests are not competent to make the checks, so the duty is not met that way. Testing should be done by you, your staff or a contractor.
Can we use the sheet without giving an email?
Yes. The direct link is spalog.weevolve.app/sheet. The email is so we can send you a corrected sheet if the guidance changes.
What happens to the details we give you?
They are stored to send you the sheet, and the app news if you ticked the box, and nothing else. See the privacy page.
Sources
- Health and Safety Executive, HSG282: The control of legionella and other infectious agents in spa-pool systems (2017), paragraphs 52–54, 64, 75–76, 153 and Tables 1 and 3.
- Devon and Somerset Trading Standards, Hot tub safety webinars and toolkit for accommodation providers.
- Isle of Anglesey County Council, Businesses reminded of hot tub and spa legionella risk, 16 June 2021.
- East Ayrshire Council, Spa pool monitoring record: holiday lets (PDF).
- Isle of Wight Council, Council urges hot tub safety checks in holiday accommodation, June 2026, as reported by OnTheWight, 11 June 2026.
- The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022, schedule 3.
- All retrieved 28 October 2026.