How do you investigate a leak in a partially occupied block of flats?

Full transcript

George and Dave in conversation. Every word of the episode, exactly as recorded.

George

Welcome to the ADI Leak Detection podcast. I'm here with Dave from ADI Leak Detection, the UK's leading leak detection company, who's here to answer your questions and provide expert leak detection advice. Today's question comes up a lot with property managers: how do you actually investigate a water leak in a block of flats when some of those flats are empty and some aren't?

Dave

It's a really common headache, and the short answer is that access management becomes just as important as the detection work itself. You can have all the right equipment in the world, but if you can't get into the unit above the leak, you're working with one hand tied behind your back.

George

So where do you even start when you arrive at a block like that?

Dave

First thing we do is talk to whoever's responsible for the building, the managing agent, the freeholder, whoever's coordinating on the ground. We need a clear picture of which units are occupied, which are empty, and who holds keys or access codes for the vacant ones. That conversation shapes the whole survey plan.

George

And the empty flats, are those actually harder to deal with than the occupied ones?

Dave

In some ways, yes. With an occupied flat, you knock on the door, explain what you're doing, and most residents are cooperative, they want the leak fixed too. With an empty unit, you're relying entirely on whoever holds the keys. If the managing agent doesn't have access, or the leaseholder is abroad, that can halt the investigation completely.

George

That sounds like it could hold things up badly. What do you do when a key flat is inaccessible?

Dave

We don't just stop. ADI's engineers use non-invasive methods to gather as much information as possible from adjacent units and common areas first. Acoustic leak detection lets us listen through floors and ceilings to pinpoint where water movement is happening, and thermal imaging cameras trace temperature differences in surfaces that escaping water causes. Between those two methods, we can often map the leak path quite accurately before we've even opened the problem unit.

George

That's reassuring. So you're building up a picture from the outside in, essentially.

Dave

Exactly. And that picture is really useful when we do eventually get access. Instead of a broad search, we go straight to the most likely area. It saves time and it reduces the risk of unnecessary investigative work, which matters a lot when you've got residents still living in the building.

George

What about leaseholders in the occupied flats, do they push back? I imagine some people don't want strangers in their home.

Dave

It does happen. The key is clear communication before we arrive. If the managing agent has already written to residents explaining what the survey involves, why access is needed, and roughly how long it'll take, cooperation is far higher. ADI works with managing agents on that communication process so residents aren't caught off guard on the day.

George

Is there a logical order to which flats you'd survey first?

Dave

We always start at the point of visible damage and work upward through the building. Water travels, it can escape on one floor and show up two or three floors below. So we trace the probable path upward from the damage, surveying each floor in sequence. Occupied flats we can often do straight away; vacant ones we schedule around key availability. We'll also survey common areas, plant rooms, risers, communal pipework, because in a block, the leak source isn't always inside a flat at all. Shared infrastructure is worth ruling out early.

George

Good point. So for a property manager listening to this, what's the single most useful thing they can do before the ADI team arrives?

Dave

Get your access arrangements sorted in advance. Compile a list of every unit, whether it's occupied or empty, and confirm who holds keys for the vacant ones. If any leaseholder is away for an extended period, flag that immediately, we can advise on how to work around it. The more of that groundwork done before survey day, the faster and smoother the investigation runs.

George

Dave, that's been genuinely useful, a clear picture of what goes into a leak investigation in a mixed-occupancy block. If you're dealing with a similar situation in your building, ADI Leak Detection has the experience and the specialist equipment to handle the access challenges that come with it. ADI is one of the UK's most experienced names in residential water leak detection, and more information is available at their website. Thanks for listening.

How this episode was made. This episode was produced using AI-generated voices and script, based on real leak detection questions and the working knowledge of ADI Leak Detection engineers.