Survey result - water pipes

Robin.84

Hi, I have just received the results of my homebuyers survey and am worried about one of the points that was raised. I have done a search on here but didnt find anything directly relevant.

The surveyor has given 3's for electrics, gas and water, with the recommendation I get these checked by the relevant contractors. For electricity and gas he has not written about any specific causes for concern, however for water he wrote the following:

"The homeowner is responsible for the incoming main pipe from where it passes under the front boundary. If it has not alreadybeen replaced with a modern alkathene (also known as MDPE) pipe the incomingmain supply pipe may be of iron or metal piping. Having regard to the age of thedwelling, if the pipe is original to the building it will be nearing the end ofits life. It should therefore be replaced at the earliest opportunity toprevent leaks occurring in the future. Leaks could undermine the footings andfoundations of the building. Replacement may be costly due to the disturbancecaused. Prior to legal commitment to purchase you are advised to obtainquotations for having the necessary work carried out."

I am going to discuss it with my solicitor but I wondered if anyone here could advise on the seriousness of this issue? Is there an easy way to find out what the pipes are made of? The house was built in the mid-1970's.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

given the date of the house i would hedge a bet its copper.

a leak on this pipe, from stop tap outlet outside the house to the internal is the responsability of the homeowner and thus if it bursts it can be costly to rerout and implement a new one.

i you have house insurance, with pipework and burst damage cover this is all sorted through them.

how is a leak detected? simple, the water authority can come out, and listen to the tap outside with a listening stick!, if there is a noise on the pipe it will sound like a hiss like water forcing itsway out of a hosepipe, the test here to find out if it is on the water company side of the property side is to shut off the internal stop tap, and listen again, if the noise is still there then the outside stop tap will be shut off, if the noise disappears when outside stop tap turned off, the leak is inbetween the outside stop tap and internal tap, here gas can be forced into the pipe through the external stop tap and a gas meter detector will be used to trace and pin point the leak.

if there is still a sound with stop tap turned off then its the water authorities side of the pipe thats leaking. many authorities will not charge for a stop tap replacement outside the dwelling in the public foot path, so if it is leaking immeadiatly after the tap outside on the outlet reatiner then most will just put the job in have it done with no cost to you. if there is a good distance between boundry wall or step and the outside tap and the leake is between them that is usually done free aswell many authorities wont burden the cost of the pipe that is youe responsability after the stop tap outside many will just move the tap closer to the boundry to replace the leaking pipe.

it is an offence to not repair and continue to allow the leak on a private or buisiness dwelling, the water authority can issue you a 14 day notice to repair.

some authorities usually carry out a first time private dwelling leak free of charge, but you will have to sort the damage the leak has caused and backfill or make good what is taken up out the ground.

Robin.84

Thanks for your reply atrixblue. Sorry I should have said in my original post, I am not yet the homeowner, I am in the process of buying the house and havent exchanged contracts yet. This is probably a silly question but is it better to do the replacement just in case, or should I just check for leaks regularly and get the work done if necessary?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

my advice would to keep a close eye on it if you decided to go ahead with the purchase, have insurance, many pipes burst during the colds snaps youll know when its burst as a notiable dip in water pressure.

phill99

It's just a surveyor being over cautious.

G_M

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

My house was built in 1880 (no, not a misprint!) and I strongly suspect my mains supply pipe is an old lead one dating from god knows when.

Been here 15 years and no sign of leaks..... or lead poisoning (neither me nor neighbour).

Just because nowadays they are made of MDPE does not mean they have to be changed.

If you get a leak:

1) most water authorities have a "First repair free" policy on supply pipes, even though strictly speaking the owner is responsible
2) many house insurance policies cover damage to the pipe
3) you can take out dedicated mains pipe insurance - though given 1 & 2 above I consider them a waste of money.

Unless the surveyor has actually inspected the pipe, and seen evidence of damage, leaks etc, I would ignore.

ariba10

If it is 1970s it will be copper.

Robin.84

ok that's reassuring, thank you! I'm a FTB so this is all new to me, I'm easily scared!

G_M

Robin.84 wrote: »

ok that's reassuring, thank you! I'm a FTB so this is all new to me, I'm easily scared!

See my post (number 5) in this thread here.

olias

Seriously, I know surveyors have to cover themselves, but they may just as well write 'Everything in the house will fail eventually, so better get the relevant contractors out for every single thing to check and replace'

My last house was built about 1600 - so G_M I beat you there! - God knows what the supply pipe was made of, or when it was put in, but I never had any problems!

Olias

dimbo61

No mains Gas supply to my property when I bought the place so my builders had to dig a trench from front door to boundary wall ( gas people dug the rest!) and while the trench was open I also had a new MDPE plastic pipe put in.
Changed all the old lead pipework inside the house as well but this was part of a complete refurbishment with walls stripped back to brick for rewire/replaster/new central heating+ plumbing.
Much better checking what you can see ? IE sockets in living/bedrooms.
Kitchen condition and state of bathrooms.
Size of rooms , number of bathrooms , windows UPVC , garden size ?