Blocked drains in last house in tce of six: Mgt co are pressuring me to rectify!

Hi,

I have an issue with blocked drains and the management company.

I own a house which is the end of a terrace of 6.

Since I bought the house the drain directly in front of my house has been troublesome.

My outlet pipe flows into it and sometimes would overflow with washing machine/dishwasher. I got the cowboys (not original builders) who were employed to complete post-purchase snag lists (long story but lot of problems with houses and builder left country before finished - back in the boom!). Anyway, they 'unblocked' the drain but indicated that it was possibly a bigger issue. Now the drain is blocked again and I have been receiving calls from management company that I need to get it sorted.

I have heard whispers that other houses in the line have problems too so should I pay out to get drains cleared if it turns out the problem isn't even from my house but because I'm the last in the line of terraced houses with linked drains?

I have booked a company to come out this evening to do the work but and have asked them if they can tell while they are working on it if it's a bigger issue and possibly not directly from my house. If this is the case, how do I proceed as obviously I will already have paid the drain company myself but don't fancy being the one always caught to pay if it's a communal problem and should be covered by management company.

Please advise

Hi Dillons,

Ive expanded the title of your interesting question somewhat and have broken up the post into little paragraphs.

Im interested in the answer to the question of who is responsible in the case of shared drains.

aj

There are several practical ways to solve blocked drains on your own. You can use a plunger if the sink is blocked and the water is not able to drain. You can use hot water to help it drain down the sink. However, if you do not know the proper timing then you can create the issue of having the water spurt up at you especially if you have a double sink.

A CCTV inspection should tell you where the problem is and whose responsibility it is to fix it. Get an inspection done and ask for a report in writing. If they say the problem is in the communal drain, send it to the management company.

I would agree with getting a CCTV inspection and a report from the drainage company. If the report indicates it is a communal problem then the costs should be paid by the Management Company. I presume you pay a management fee and that the company has a sinking fund.
It is often the case that other owners are inclined to allocate blame for issues to individual owners so be sure to stand firm if it is shown to be a common area issue.

If it is a shared drain, then it should come out of your sinking fund. You shouldn't have to pay for it unless it is shown that the problem is directly caused by you. No different to you having to pay for repairs to a communal area of the development by yourself.

A friend of mine had this problem recently. Turned out one of the houses were dumping sanitary towels among other stuff down the toilet and yet they tried to blame him for the problem. (Bloke living by himself!)

In council managed systems, where the drain blockage is actually in the property boundary, it is the responsibilty of the home owner to rectify this. Generally though, if friendly with neighbours accomodations can be reached to share the costs etc.