Two flats, one mains(?), builder question

Kai77

I live in a flat (converted Victorian house) and the downstair's neighbour has just started building work.

Their builder turned off the mains water this morning so my water also went off. They didn't tell me in advance (although I've asked them to, along with gas and electricity).

There are two two taps (stopcocks?) in the flat hallway and the builder mumbled something about 'not being able to turn off the downstairs flat one because it's too tight'. Have they just decided to turn off the mains because of that? Their English isn't great.

I do have a means of turning off the water under the sink in my flat as well so surely there is a way for them to to do it separately too?

They also turned off the electricity. The build is 6 months and I can't have this going on for that long!

ThisIsWeird

Hi Kai.

No, they cannot deprive you of water. If you want, you could report them to your LA, and I suspect Building Control may wish to have a gander at the rest of their work too... Any idea what work is being done? Is it shown on the LA's Planning Portal?

Any chance of a photo of the two stopcocks in the hallway? Any idea how they turned off the whole mains - is it from the street stopcock? Do you have water meters?

If the house has a single mains water supply from the street - and very good chance it has, from being a single house - it sounds as tho' it then splits into two in the hallway - that also makes sense, from when it was converted into flats. Then, for convenience, you have further s/cs in each flat, ideally located under the sink.

If they turned off the single mains in the street, then the very first thing they should do is to take the opportunity to fix or replace the hallway stopcock, or their flat's stopcock - whichever one is faulty. That would solve the problem.

So, I'd approach them on that basis; ask how they turned off the water. Ask when it's going back on. Ask if they have fixed the flat's s/c so they do not have to turn your water off again.

If their answers are 'positive', and the issue about to be resolved, then great - but ask 'when?!'

If they fudge or hedge or are evasive, then tell them you need water, so will have to phone the council to report this as an 'environmental health' issue. See if they panic.

Why the council? Because you know the cause - so it ain't a Water Board issue - but it is an 'environmental health' concern. I think...

Just tell them what's happened; "Builders working in the flat below have turned off my water without warning. They said it's because it was easier to cut the water to the whole building rather than fix the stopcock to the flat they are working on. They are not concerned about how long it'll be off for, and seem to have no intention of fixing the faulty stopcock in their flat. I haven't been able to wash or have a cuppa or flush my loo..."

TELLIT01

Presumably, if they couldn't turn off the stoptap to isolate the single flat they turned off the supply at the street.  At that point they should have sorted out that faulty stoptap in the hallway so it didn't have to happen again. 

Shouldn't there be a separate electric supply and meter for each flat unless the monthly rent included all utilities?

FreeBear

TELLIT01 said: Shouldn't there be a separate electric supply and meter for each flat unless the monthly rent included all utilities?

Possibly a single service head and they've gone and pulled the main fuse so that the consumer unit can be replaced. If that is the case, the electrician should be fitting an isolator switch between the meter and CU.

If they have pulled the main fuse, a quick call to the DNO will drop the builders in it.

Kai77

TELLIT01 said:

Presumably, if they couldn't turn off the stoptap to isolate the single flat they turned off the supply at the street.  At that point they should have sorted out that faulty stoptap in the hallway so it didn't have to happen again. 

Shouldn't there be a separate electric supply and meter for each flat unless the monthly rent included all utilities?

Thanks yes there are separate meters but they are in the hall so took it upon themselves to turn mine off without asking! 

I'm speaking to the neighbour about it as they need to ask first and get the tap fixed.

Kai77

FreeBear said:

TELLIT01 said: Shouldn't there be a separate electric supply and meter for each flat unless the monthly rent included all utilities?

Possibly a single service head and they've gone and pulled the main fuse so that the consumer unit can be replaced. If that is the case, the electrician should be fitting an isolator switch between the meter and CU.

If they have pulled the main fuse, a quick call to the DNO will drop the builders in it.

Thanks. I don't fully understand the terminology here but to clarify, there are two separate meters but they are in the shared hallway so took it upon themselves to turn it off. Will see if the neighbour can have a word with them but DNO might be the next stop...

ThisIsWeird

Kai77 said:

Thanks yes there are separate meters but they are in the hall so took it upon themselves to turn mine off without asking!
I'm speaking to the neighbour about it as they need to ask first and get the tap fixed.

There are two separate water meters? If so, they should - will - also have two separate stopcocks, surely? Which makes their move more of a mystery!

I'm sure they'll sort it with no further issue, and you won't need to 'shop' them, but if they don't, could you post a pic of these meters and surrounding pipes, please?

Kai77

ThisIsWeird said:

Kai77 said:

Thanks yes there are separate meters but they are in the hall so took it upon themselves to turn mine off without asking!
I'm speaking to the neighbour about it as they need to ask first and get the tap fixed.

There are two separate water meters? If so, they should - will - also have two separate stopcocks, surely? Which makes their move more of a mystery!

I'm sure they'll sort it with no further issue, and you won't need to 'shop' them, but if they don't, could you post a pic of these meters and surrounding pipes, please?

Well there are two separate taps/stopcocks in the hallway which are definitely for the two separate flats. But today they couldn't turn their one off so he went outside and turned off the mains one for the whole house. 

The neighbour said he's getting it fixed so let's see what happens!

ThisIsWeird

Kai77 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Kai77 said:

Thanks yes there are separate meters but they are in the hall so took it upon themselves to turn mine off without asking!
I'm speaking to the neighbour about it as they need to ask first and get the tap fixed.

There are two separate water meters? If so, they should - will - also have two separate stopcocks, surely? Which makes their move more of a mystery!

I'm sure they'll sort it with no further issue, and you won't need to 'shop' them, but if they don't, could you post a pic of these meters and surrounding pipes, please?

Well there are two separate taps/stopcocks in the hallway which are definitely for the two separate flats. But today they couldn't turn their one off so he went outside and turned off the mains one for the whole house. 

The neighbour said he's getting it fixed so let's see what happens!

Ok, that makes sense. But utterly inconsiderate to do this without warning - allow you to store some water for washing and cooking.
Also unreasonable unless their very first job was to replace or fix their own stopcock. To keep your water off whilst they did work in their flat speaks volumes.