Advice building survey came back with drains blocked what to do?

topcat007

Hi All,

The building survey came back with the public drains slightly blocked and i am unsure what to do about it.

The vendor is implying i can sort it out when i move in but not to happy about this as i don't know if the problem is a collapsed drain on the private/public part or a simple roding by the water board will sort it out.

What would other people do in this situation? Could i even ring the water board to ask for the history to see if there is a ongoing issue? or would this info be confidential (can not see why it would be)

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Doozergirl

If the drains are shared, they are the responsibility of the water board.

There's nothing stoppin anyone from calling them out to check and fix it, provided they can gain access.

eddddy

As Doozergirl suggests, tell the vendor to call out the water board to get it cleared.

If water board agree the blockage is in their sewer, there will be no charge.

Realistically, the first time they may just unblock it and go away. But if it keeps blocking, they would probably start investigating.

If you think the vendor is hiding something, you could ask your solicitor to make a pre-contract enquiry along the lines of "Is the vendor aware of problems with the public sewer? Has it become blocked before?"

topcat007

eddddy wrote: »

As Doozergirl suggests, tell the vendor to call out the water board to get it cleared.

If water board agree the blockage is in their sewer, there will be no charge.

Realistically, the first time they may just unblock it and go away. But if it keeps blocking, they would probably start investigating.

If you think the vendor is hiding something, you could ask your solicitor to make a pre-contract enquiry along the lines of "Is the vendor aware of problems with the public sewer? Has it become blocked before?"

Great idea with the pee-contract question!!

I will ask the solicitor to get him to sort , do not see why i should have to sort everything

Thanks for your help!

topcat007

Doozergirl wrote: »

If the drains are shared, they are the responsibility of the water board.

There's nothing stoppin anyone from calling them out to check and fix it, provided they can gain access.

Thanks for your help :beer:

They would need access behind a locked gate so will have to get the vendor to sort it