Pipe leak under house - who is responsible ?

M

Merlin

Registered User
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Hi there,
Looking for your valued advice once more. Will try to make a long story short.
I own a house (built in 2005) in a housing estate which has not been taken over by Fingal CoCo due to a dispute about a ring road etc.
In May this year I came home one evening to find a big hole drilled outside my front door. No notice no correspondence as to what this was about.
After numerous phone calls I found out that Fingal had identified a leak and informed the builder as they were not responsible, who in turn had come in to fix it (without telling me). They filled the hole the next door (damaging the front door while they were at it).
I eventually got the builder's phone number (via an estate agent as they are not listed). The contract manager told me that really I had nothing to complain about rather the opposite I should be glad he didn't charge me for fixing the leak as it was past the threshold of my house so I was responsible....
Fast forward to now and there still seems to be something wrong as there is a lot of water in the stopcock outside my house. Especially after it rained. I am worried as I was told that the leak could undermine the foundation of my house. There is homebond cover on the house for 10 years I believe.
So I suppose my question is when I ring this builder again and he tells me it's up to me to get this sorted is he right ?
thank you for your help.
Irina
 
if the leak is from the stopcock outside then this belongs to Fingal council who should fix it. They will probably install a water meter whilst they are at it.
 
Haha you're probably right they would

I did speak to the Fingal though last week and they didn't want to know - said they had not taken the estate over (7 years later) so it was the builders responsibility
 
If the Council have not taken over the estate then the responsibility for the water network within the common areas is the builders.

If or when they take it over, they will assume responsibility for the water network. They will only take it over when the builder requests them to do so and only if all the services have been certified.

Any pipework within your site is your responsibility. You should be glad the builder fixed the leak outside your door. He should however fix any damage caused to your front door.

As for the water accumulating in your stop cock connection box, it's common for them to fill up with water especially after heavy rain. Unless water is pouring out of it, I wouldn't worry.
 
thanks for the info G & R,

It is only happening to the stopcock outside my house though - all the others have no water in it.

I will contact the builder again and ask him even if I have to listen to abuse again.
 
Hi I am currently renovating a 1950s house in D3 with I think a lead pipe feed from the mains outside the front wall of garden.
What should I do? Ask the builders to expose the pipe and check it for leaks?
ask them to install a new pipe ? how would this work in regard to connecting to mains?
any thoughts appreciated
thanks
 
Don't know how it works in Ireland but here in England the responsibility for the pipe from the mains to the main stop tap lies with the water company. (Over here the main stop tap is placed at the boundary.)
 
The mains water access is outside on the footpath , what should I do with the lead pipe feeding the house?
 
You are only responsible for the pipe if it is on your property. If it is in the public footpath its a council issue. You can replace your feeder pipe if you wish (your insurance will cover the cost of trace and access if the leak is on your property, up to a max as per your policy generally €650-750)
 
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