September is when a lot of property teams look at the year ahead and ask the awkward questions. How many TMVs have we actually got? Where are they? When were they last done? If the honest answer involves a shrug, a spreadsheet from 2019 and someone who left last spring, this post is for you.
Why a register matters
You can't service a valve you don't know about. That sounds obvious, but in a London portfolio TMVs get added all the time: bathroom adaptations, refurbishments, new-build handovers, void works. They get removed too, and the paperwork rarely keeps up. A register gives you one honest list of every valve, where it is and when it's due.
It also links everything else together. Your Legionella risk assessment should identify where TMVs are and your written scheme should say how they're managed, in line with ACOP L8 and HSG274. Inspectors, insurers and your own auditors will want to see that. And if you manage social housing, the Regulator's consumer standards expect you to have accurate data about your homes. A TMV register is part of that picture.
Step 1: decide what's in scope
Start by listing the properties and the types of outlet you're including. For most portfolios that's every TMV and thermostatic shower mixer on outlets used by residents, staff or the public. Decide early whether you're including in-flat valves that belong to leaseholders, because that changes access, letters and who pays.
Step 2: gather what you already have
Before anyone opens a bath panel, pull together:
- Legionella risk assessments, which often list outlets and sometimes TMVs
- Previous service certificates and contractor reports
- Adaptation and refurbishment records, including O&M manuals from new-build handovers
- Repairs data mentioning TMVs, showers or "too hot / too cold" complaints
It won't be complete, but it tells you where to look first and which properties are likely to be the gaps.
Step 3: survey and label
Then someone has to walk the buildings. On a survey we open every likely panel and cupboard, find each valve, give it a unique ID and fix a label somewhere sensible, like the inside of the access panel. If you've got an old list, we check it against reality, and the differences are usually the most useful part.
It's often sensible to combine the survey with the first service. You're paying for someone to get into each home anyway, so they might as well clean, test and record the valve while they're there.
Step 4: record the right things
For each valve, you want:
- ID, property and exact location. "Flat 12, bathroom, behind bath panel, left-hand end."
- Outlets served. Bath, basin, shower or several, which helps spot long or little-used runs.
- Make, model and approval. TMV2, TMV3 or both, and whether parts are still available.
- Set temperature for the outlet and user.
- Access notes. "Key with caretaker", "resident works nights", "panel screwed, bring a driver".
- Condition and history. Scale level, test results, parts replaced.
- Last service and next due.
Our asset registers page has the full field list we use.
Keep it simple. A clean spreadsheet you own beats a clever system nobody updates. If you use a CAFM or compliance platform, we can supply the data in whatever layout it needs.
Step 5: set the intervals from evidence
Don't put every valve on the same interval just because it's tidy. The HTM 04-01 approach is to test new valves after commissioning, then set the interval by how much each valve drifts. In London's hard water, busy valves in care settings, shower blocks and shared bathrooms usually end up shorter. Quiet valves on stable supplies can go longer. The register records the evidence, so you can justify the interval to anyone who asks.
Step 6: schedule by geography
This is where London comes in. A portfolio spread across Barnet, Haringey, Hackney and Newham needs visits grouped by area, or engineers spend half the day on the North Circular. We plan rounds so each day covers a cluster of properties, with resident letters and parking sorted in advance. Our post on planning around CPZs, parking and access covers the practical side.
Step 7: build in the replacements
Surveys tend to turn up valves that need replacing: obsolete models with no parts, domestic valves doing a TMV3 job, valves rated for the wrong pressure, or valves tiled in with no access. Put them on a priced, prioritised list with reasons, and let our installation and replacement team work through it over the year.
Step 8: keep it honest
A register is only as good as its last update. It should change whenever:
- A valve is serviced, repaired or replaced
- A bathroom is adapted or refurbished
- A new building or block is handed over
- A property is sold or leaves management
Ask every contractor who touches a TMV to report back against the register ID. That's the bit that keeps it alive.
A typical scenario
Imagine a supported housing provider with a few hundred homes in schemes across Enfield, Waltham Forest, Hackney and Redbridge. They know some schemes have TMVs on every outlet but have no single list. A sensible plan would be to start with the schemes where residents are most vulnerable, survey and service each valve in one visit, label everything and build the register scheme by scheme. By the end of the first round, the provider has a full list, a service date for every valve and a short priced replacement plan, plus access notes that make the second round much quicker.
Where we work
We build registers for portfolios anywhere in London, including plenty of mixed housing and care stock in North London and East London. If you manage social housing, our post on Awaab's Law and hot water safety explains why good data matters. For blocks with shared hot water, see mansion blocks and high-rises.
The short version
Gather what you've got, survey the rest, record the right fields, set intervals from evidence, schedule by area and keep it updated. Do that once properly and every future service round gets easier, cheaper and far less of a guessing game.
Got TMVs in London that need a look?
Tell us roughly what you've got and where. We'll give you a fixed quote and a date that works around your building.