New Build Water Leak

ratters7470

Hi all,

I'm after some advice if i may.

We have a new build property, we have been in two and a half years.

I was doing some stuff with water the other day which involved me turning the stopcock off. I did this however i could still hear water moving through the pipes under the sink. with the stopcock still off i looked at the meter outside and it was still spinning. A plumber confirmed the leak somewhere between the meter and the stopcock.

My question is who should i approach to get this fixed?

In my eyes (and that of the plumber) this is not recent damage and could have been like this for the three years since the house was signed off however...

Avant are not interested as we are out of the two year period.

NHBC apparently have a pipework clause (which i haven't seen)

Homeserve plumbing insurance will undertake the work but require ME to remove and re-install the kitchen including tiled floor!

AXA buildings and contents insurance say there is no damage so we cant claim via trace and access.

Just a bit lost at the moment. Any advice appreciated.

Rgds

Marc

phill99

The biggest problem you have is proving that it has been like it since the house was built. You have absolutely no way of doing that. So realistically it will come down to you to sort out.


Get a decent plumber in and see if there is a way of rerouting the incoming water supply. This will certainly be the most cost effective.

AndyMc.....

ratters7470 wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm after some advice if i may.

We have a new build property, we have been in two and a half years.

I was doing some stuff with water the other day which involved me turning the stopcock off. I did this however i could still hear water moving through the pipes under the sink. with the stopcock still off i looked at the meter outside and it was still spinning. A plumber confirmed the leak somewhere between the meter and the stopcock.

My question is who should i approach to get this fixed?

In my eyes (and that of the plumber) this is not recent damage and could have been like this for the three years since the house was signed off however...

Avant are not interested as we are out of the two year period.

NHBC apparently have a pipework clause (which i haven't seen)

Homeserve plumbing insurance will undertake the work but require ME to remove and re-install the kitchen including tiled floor!

AXA buildings and contents insurance say there is no damage so we cant claim via trace and access.

Just a bit lost at the moment. Any advice appreciated.

Rgds

Marc

Nothing should be moving after the stop !!!! or did you turn of the supply in the street?

Furts

I wonder about your plumber. You have not been given a thorough analysis. If your stopcock was off it sounds like it is not holding - did you have a cistern being filled during the time or a tap running?

You may have a leak - most likely at the water meter connection which is not usually your responsibility. It does not sound like you have checked this, neither has your plumber told you this is the responsibility of your water board.

Ultimately if you have a leak, so what? It all comes down to magnitude, risk, cost and so on. The pragmatic answer could be live with it and worry about more important things in life - we cannot say without seeing it and weighing it all up. Again your plumber should have explained all this to you.

Ultimately you have to accept some blame and responsibility here. You purchased a new home and were given two years to check it out for all sorts, and all problems. Checking for water leaks is a fundamental here. It appears you decided not to do this.

You need to get your thinking cap on and properly investigate what is going on before deciding how to move forward.

Wookey

The vast majority of new builds will have the mains feed into the house ducted inside a 4" pipe usually, there could well be no reason to rip stuff out to replace the mains pipe as it would be a matter of just pulling thru a new pipe.

First thing to check is that your stopcock inside is fully shutting of, then listen to the stopcock out on the road and see if you can hear water running thru it, a piece of pipe against the stopcock and your ear to the other end of it is usually enough to hear it, most water companies have a similar setup but with headphones attached.

The most likely culprit of a leak will have been damage caused by groundwork outside the house or a nipped pipe that has since given way, tracing this will be a pita. Provided the leak is outside then nothing inside will need touched, just cut the pipe between the burst and the house and joint it.