How to challenge a freeholder who says no leak was found

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 from a leaseholder who's at the end of their tether: their flat has damp patches, their water bills are climbing, and the freeholder is telling them no leak has been found. Dave, where does someone even start with that?

Dave

It's a really frustrating position to be in, and it's more common than you'd think. The first thing I'd say is: a freeholder saying no leak has been found is not the same as no leak existing. The question you need to ask is how they looked, or whether they looked at all.

George

So the method matters as much as the conclusion?

Dave

Exactly. If someone walked around, saw nothing obvious and wrote "no leak found", that's a visual inspection. Acoustic listening equipment, thermal imaging, tracer gas, those are completely different tools that find water escaping inside walls, under solid floors, inside the building fabric. A visual check won't find what those find.

George

Right. So what's the practical step for a leaseholder who wants to push back properly?

Dave

Commission an independent survey. ADI's engineers attend the property, use the appropriate detection methods for the construction type, and produce a written report. That report documents what equipment was used, what readings were taken, what was found and where. It's evidence, not just an opinion.

George

And a written report carries real weight in a dispute?

Dave

It does, because it's specific. Thermal imaging records temperature differentials that indicate moisture behind a surface. Acoustic listening identifies the sound signature of pressurised water escaping pipework. Tracer gas locates the exact breach point under a floor. Those aren't assertions, they're documented findings from calibrated equipment.

George

What if the leak is suspected in a shared area, a communal riser, shared pipework, and the freeholder won't give access?

Dave

Access refusal is a real problem, and it's worth knowing that leaseholders often have a legal right to access shared areas for investigation purposes, your lease and the relevant landlord and tenant legislation are the place to start, ideally with a solicitor. Practically speaking, ADI's engineers can work from your side of the boundary and still gather significant evidence, even if we can't reach the shared area directly.

George

How does that work? You're investigating a problem that's partly on the other side of a wall.

Dave

Tracer gas testing is useful here. ADI's engineers introduce a safe, inert tracer gas into the suspect pipework and then use a detector to trace where it surfaces. It rises through floor screed and masonry, so even with restricted access we can map where the breach is occurring. Thermal imaging adds another layer, it reads surface temperature from your side of the wall and identifies where moisture is affecting the structure.

George

So the report you produce could show not just that a leak exists, but where it is and whose pipework it's on?

Dave

That's the goal. Pinpointing the source is what makes the report actionable. If the survey evidence places the leak within pipework that falls under the freeholder's maintenance obligation, that shifts the conversation considerably. You're no longer arguing about whether there's a leak, you're presenting documented findings that define where it is and who's responsible for it.

George

That's a really clear way of putting it. One last thing, what if the freeholder commissions their own survey after that and gets a different result?

Dave

Then you have two surveys, and the methodology of each becomes the argument. ADI's survey reports detail the specific equipment used and the readings recorded, so they stand up to scrutiny. If another survey used a less thorough method, that difference is visible in the documentation. Don't accept a result you can't examine.

George

Dave, that's genuinely useful, thank you. If you're in a dispute with a freeholder over a suspected water leak, the message is clear: get an independent survey with documented findings, not just someone's say-so. ADI Leak Detection is trusted across the UK precisely because their reports carry that kind of evidential weight. 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.