Clinical premises have two compliance layers: the clinical one that CQC inspects, and the premises one underneath it that this site covers. The overlap is large, so do each thing once and file it for both. Water and electricity are where the premises layer is genuinely specialist: the legionella regime is at the clinical tier and the treatment rooms are medical locations. Buy those two from people who know healthcare premises. The rest is the standard set.
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Compliance for Dental & GP surgeries
Compliance for Dental & GP Surgeries — What You Actually Need
You run clinical premises with patients who may be vulnerable, water lines that feed into the body, and equipment that has to be safe to the letter. CQC (or the devolved equivalent) sits over the clinical side; this page covers the premises compliance underneath it. Here is what applies, in order.
Your risk profile
Medium to high, concentrated in water and electricity. Dental unit water lines and clinical hand-wash outlets carry a genuine legionella and biofilm risk; treatment rooms are medical locations with their own electrical requirements. Fire risk is standard unless there is sleeping accommodation. The compliance overlaps heavily with CQC evidence, so do it once and file it for both.
What applies to you
In the order it matters. Each links to a plain-English guide.
Required by lawYou must do this. Not doing it is an offence.
Required if…Required in some situations, not others. Depends on your premises and how you use them.
Good practiceNot written into law, but it is the recognised way to show you have met a legal duty.
Insurers, landlords or clients ask for itNot a legal requirement. A contractual one. Check the wording of what is actually being asked.
Optional, often oversoldNobody is making you buy this. Suppliers will still try.
Legionella Risk AssessmentRequired by law
Clinical tier. Dental unit water lines, clinical wash-hand basins with TMVs, and patients who may be immunocompromised mean a professional assessment from an LCA member, a written scheme, monthly temperature monitoring, and for dental practices the HTM 01-05 regime for unit water lines (daily flushing, disinfection, and periodic testing). This is one of the few premises types where sampling is legitimately indicated.
Health & Safety Risk AssessmentRequired by law
Sharps, infection control, clinical waste, radiation (dental X-ray sets bring IRR17 duties and a Radiation Protection Adviser), manual handling of patients, lone working, and violence and aggression. Overlaps with CQC evidence; keep one set of documents.
Fire Risk AssessmentRequired by law
Required and recorded in full. Patients who may need help to evacuate, oxygen cylinders, and often a converted house with awkward escape routes. Use a registered assessor. Annual review if anyone sleeps on site or patients stay overnight.
Electrical (EICR)Good practice
Five-yearly, and treatment rooms are medical locations under BS 7671 section 710, which sets specific requirements for earthing, RCD protection and supplies. Use an electrician who knows section 710; a general commercial EICR may miss it.
PAT TestingGood practice
Clinical equipment (autoclaves, compressors, dental chairs, examination couches, ECG and physio kit) annually, with servicing to the manufacturer's schedule sitting alongside. Office equipment on the two-year cycle. Autoclaves and compressors also need pressure-system written schemes and examinations under PSSR.
Gas SafetyRequired if…
Boilers and water heaters: annual service by a commercially registered engineer. Medical gases and nitrous oxide are a separate regime under the pharmaceutical and pressure-systems rules, not gas safety law.
Fire Alarm SystemsRequired if…
Almost always an installed system at surgery scale, category from the FRA, with detection in plant rooms and stores. Weekly test by you, six-monthly service.
Emergency LightingRequired if…
Treatment rooms without daylight, corridors, stairs and the plant room. Monthly test by you, annual duration test.
Fire ExtinguishersRequired by law
Per the FRA, with CO2 near the X-ray and sterilisation rooms. Annual service.
Workplace Safety TrainingRequired by law
Fire marshals, first aid (clinical staff usually cover it), infection control, sharps, manual handling, and for dental practices the IRR17 radiation training. Much of it is CQC evidence too.
Asbestos ManagementRequired if…
Converted houses and older health-centre buildings: pre-2000 means management survey, register and plan, and the register shown before any surgery refit.
Common questions
What is HTM 01-05 and is it law?
Health Technical Memorandum 01-05 is the Department of Health guidance on decontamination in dental practices, including dental unit water lines. It is not law, but CQC inspects against it and it is the standard of care a court would apply. Its water-line requirements (daily flushing, periodic disinfection, testing) sit on top of your legionella scheme, not instead of it.
Do treatment rooms need a special EICR?
They need the EICR to cover BS 7671 section 710, which applies to medical locations where electrical equipment is used on patients. It sets requirements for supplies, earthing and RCD protection that a standard commercial inspection may not check. Ask your electrician whether they have inspected medical locations before; if the answer is no, find one who has.
Is legionella sampling required in a dental practice?
For the dental unit water lines, testing is part of the HTM 01-05 regime. For the general hot and cold water system, sampling is indicated where the assessment identifies vulnerable patients and clinical outlets, which describes most practices. This is one of the few sectors where a monitoring and sampling contract is a legitimate purchase rather than an oversell, though the monthly temperature checks can still be in-house.
What should this cost?
Higher than an office because of the water hygiene, the specialist electrical inspection, and the clinical equipment servicing. Most of the premises items are standard. Where surgeries get oversold is on "CQC compliance packages" that repackage the premises documents at a premium, and on separate contracts for every clinical equipment supplier when one biomedical servicing company can cover the lot.
Not sure how this applies to your premises?
Tell The Guide about your business and it will help you work out what you actually need — in plain English or full technical detail, your choice.
Review my risk →General information to help you understand your obligations and judge your own risk. Not legal advice.