What leaseholders need to know before an ADI leak survey

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 from a leaseholder in a block of flats who's just been told a specialist is coming to survey their property, and they've got no idea what that actually means in practice. Dave, where do we even start?

Dave

Right, so the first thing I'd say is, don't panic. A leak detection survey in a block of flats is genuinely different to a survey in a house, and that's mainly down to access. In a house, we're dealing with one property, one owner. In a block, the water you can see in your flat may have started two floors up, so we need to think across multiple properties from the outset.

George

So the leaseholder whose ceiling is wet might not even be the one with the actual problem?

Dave

Exactly. Water follows gravity and the path of least resistance through a building's structure. ADI's engineers trace the water's travel path rather than just treating the point where damage shows up. If we only looked at the flat with the wet ceiling, we'd miss the origin and the problem would come back.

George

So what does that mean practically for the leaseholder who's booked the survey? What do they actually need to sort out beforehand?

Dave

The biggest thing is access coordination. The leaseholder needs to speak to their managing agent before we arrive, because ADI engineers require entry to adjoining flats, typically the flat directly above, sometimes the one below as well. If those neighbours aren't home or haven't been warned, the survey gets delayed and that costs everyone time.

George

That makes sense. What about the actual survey, what are they going to see happening inside their flat?

Dave

ADI uses a combination of methods, and which ones we deploy depends on what we find. Acoustic leak detection equipment lets our engineers listen to pressurised pipework through walls and floors without opening anything up. Thermal imaging cameras reveal temperature differences in the structure that show where water is travelling, that's particularly useful in flats with underfloor heating or concealed pipe runs.

George

And is there any situation where you do need to open up floors or walls?

Dave

Sometimes, yes. If acoustic and thermal methods pinpoint a leak to a specific area but the pipe is buried under a solid screed floor, tracer gas gives us a precise location before anyone lifts a single tile. ADI introduces a safe tracer gas into the pipework and a sensitive detector picks up exactly where it escapes. That way any investigative exposure is targeted, a small area rather than a whole bathroom floor.

George

That must save a lot of unnecessary damage. What about the other leaseholders, though, the ones being asked to open up their flats for a problem that might not even be theirs? How do you handle that?

Dave

It's a fair point and it's something ADI's engineers explain clearly on site. The survey process is non-invasive in those adjoining properties, we're using listening equipment and thermal cameras, not making holes. We're in and out relatively quickly. The reason we need access is to rule out or confirm whether their supply pipes or waste connections are contributing to the leak.

George

What if a neighbour just refuses to let anyone in? Does the whole survey fall apart?

Dave

It makes it harder, not impossible. ADI can still gather meaningful data from the properties where we do have access, and our written report will flag clearly that access to a specific property was unavailable. That report then supports the managing agent or freeholder in taking the next steps, which in some leases includes the right to require access for investigation. The documentation matters, so we make it thorough.

George

And what does the leaseholder actually get at the end of it, what does the report tell them?

Dave

ADI's survey report identifies the source of the leak, the likely travel path through the structure, and the recommended repair. It names the pipe type and location where possible, and it sets out what investigative access was achieved. That gives the leaseholder, the managing agent, and any insurers a clear picture of who's responsible and what work is needed.

George

Really practical stuff, and I think the key takeaway is sort out that access before the engineer arrives, not on the morning. Dave, thanks for walking us through it. For anyone dealing with a leak in a block of flats, ADI Leak Detection are among the UK's most experienced specialists in exactly this kind of multi-occupancy survey work, worth knowing they've got the methods and the process to handle the complexity properly.

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. More about how the podcast is made.