How to instruct a leak detection survey of a leasehold block

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, leading leak detection specialists across the UK, who's here to answer your questions and provide expert leak detection advice. Today's question comes from a property manager who's dealing with a suspected leak in a leasehold block and genuinely doesn't know where to start. Dave, what does someone in that position actually need to do first?

Dave

Right, so the very first thing is access, and I mean that broadly. Before ADI's engineers can put any equipment on a building, someone needs to have confirmed permission to enter communal areas, plant rooms, and ideally individual flats as well. Without that, we're working blind.

George

And who actually grants that permission in a leasehold block? Because that structure can get quite complicated, can't it?

Dave

It can, yes. Typically it's the freeholder or their managing agent who controls communal areas, but leaseholders have their own front doors and their own legal rights around entry. So you need two things: the managing agent on side for communal access, and ideally a notice served to leaseholders for flat access. The two don't automatically come together.

George

So when someone calls ADI to book a survey on a block, what information should they actually have ready?

Dave

A few things make a real difference. The number of storeys, the number of units, whether the block has a basement plant room, and the age of the building, because that tells us a lot about what pipework we're likely to find. Also whether there's a managing agent involved or whether it's a residents' management company, because the contact chain is different.

George

What if a leaseholder refuses access? That does happen, doesn't it?

Dave

It does, and it's one of the biggest practical problems in block surveys. ADI's engineers can still do a lot from communal areas and from co-operative neighbouring flats. Acoustic listening equipment picks up the sound signature of escaping water through floor and wall structures, so we're not always dependent on getting inside every single flat.

George

Let's talk methods for a moment. A block of flats isn't the same as a detached house. How does that change the approach?

Dave

Significantly. In a house you've generally got one supply pipe to trace. In a block you might have a rising main feeding multiple branch circuits across several storeys, with communal heating systems running alongside domestic supplies. Our engineers use acoustic listening to identify where water noise concentrates, then pressure testing to isolate which section of pipework is losing pressure. Tracer gas locates the actual breach point once we've narrowed the zone.

George

Tracer gas under a communal floor, say. Does that create any disruption for residents?

Dave

Minimal, honestly. Tracer gas testing involves introducing a safe, inert gas mix into the suspect pipe and then using a detector above the surface to find where it escapes. There's no drilling at that stage, no noise, and residents in nearby flats don't need to vacate. It's one of the reasons ADI's engineers favour it for concealed pipework in occupied buildings.

George

Once the survey's done, who does the report go to? Because in a leasehold block you've got the leaseholder, the freeholder, maybe a management company, potentially an insurer.

Dave

We document the findings clearly enough that they can be passed to all of those parties. The report identifies the location of the leak, the method used to find it, and what remedial access is needed to fix it. Insurers and managing agents both need that level of detail before they'll authorise any reinstatement work, so it matters that the survey findings are precise, not just approximate.

George

Any final practical advice for someone who's about to pick up the phone and book this kind of survey?

Dave

Don't wait until you've got every leaseholder confirmed before you call. Speak to ADI, describe the building, and we'll talk through what access we actually need versus what would be ideal. Getting that conversation going early means the survey can be planned properly rather than turning up on the day and losing half the job to a locked door.

George

That's really practical, Dave, thank you. If your building has a suspected water leak and you need a specialist who understands the complications of leasehold access and multi-occupancy surveys, ADI Leak Detection are one of the UK's most experienced teams in residential leak detection. We'll be back with more answers to the questions homeowners and property managers are actually asking.

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.