What happens when a leak survey can't access the source flat

Full transcript

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

George

Welcome back. 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 up a lot in leasehold properties: what actually happens when a leak detection survey can't get into the flat where the leak is coming from?

Dave

It's one of the most frustrating situations we deal with, honestly. You've got water coming through a ceiling, the flat above is the obvious source, and the leaseholder either isn't home, won't answer the door, or is actively refusing access. It doesn't mean the survey stops.

George

So you can still do useful work even without getting inside the source flat?

Dave

Absolutely. ADI's engineers start from the properties we can access, the affected flat below, the communal areas, sometimes the flat on the other side of a party wall. Acoustic listening equipment lets us trace the sound of escaping water through concrete floors and ceilings. We're listening for the pressure signature of a leak, and that signal travels a long way through a solid structure.

George

How precise can you get without being in the right room?

Dave

Quite precise, depending on conditions. Thermal imaging picks up temperature differences at the ceiling surface of the flat below, a slow leak from a bathroom waste pipe or a supply line will show as a cold or warm patch that doesn't match the surrounding material. That tells us roughly where above us the water is tracking from, even if we can't confirm the exact source point.

George

And if those methods narrow it down but don't give you a definitive answer?

Dave

That's where tracer gas becomes really valuable. If the water company has isolated the supply and we can introduce tracer gas into the pipework from outside the inaccessible flat, that gas escapes at the breach and rises through the floor or wall structure. Our engineers detect it at the surface using a handheld sensor. It's non-destructive, we're not lifting tiles or breaking anything.

George

Right, so you can get to the leak without the leaseholder even knowing you've worked on their property?

Dave

Not quite, tracer gas does require access to the pipework at some point, even if not inside the flat itself. But the detection happens from adjacent spaces. What we produce at the end is a report that maps what we found, the methods we used, and our assessment of where the source is. That report is what the managing agent, the freeholder, or a solicitor can use to pursue access legally if it comes to that.

George

That's an important point, isn't it, the documentation side of it. It's not just about finding the leak, it's about creating a record.

Dave

Exactly. Insurers and managing agents need evidence. If a leaseholder below is making a claim because water has damaged their flat, they need to show where the water came from and that reasonable steps were taken to investigate. A survey report from ADI Leak Detection serves that purpose even when the survey was conducted under access restrictions.

George

What about the leaseholder in the source flat, are there any circumstances where they have to grant access?

Dave

That's ultimately a legal question rather than a detection question, so I'd always point people toward their lease terms and a solicitor for that. Most residential leases do contain an access clause for repairs and investigations. What I can say is that the survey evidence we produce often accelerates that process, when a managing agent can show a report saying the leak originates within a specific flat, the legal position of the person refusing access becomes much harder to defend.

George

That makes a lot of sense. So the survey isn't blocked by a closed door, it's just working with what's available.

Dave

That's the right way to think about it. Water always leaves a trail, and our job is to follow that trail from whichever direction we're permitted to approach. We might not be able to say definitively which pipe fitting has failed without getting inside, but we can tell you which flat it's in, which part of that flat, and roughly what the source is. That's usually enough to get things moving.

George

Dave, really useful, thank you. If you're dealing with a leak in a leasehold block and access is proving difficult, ADI Leak Detection are among the most experienced teams in the UK for exactly this kind of situation. We'll be back with another question next time.

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.