Water Pipework Advice
On the programme on 22 May 2024, we featured Jenny’s story. She discovered she was responsible for a leak in the water pipes under a path, outside the boundary of her property.
Lawyer Gary Rycroft confirmed that in these sorts of cases, the boundaries above the surface may not correspond to what’s going on below ground, so it’s worth checking to see what your responsibilities would be in the event of a pipework leak.
The image on this page shows where a homeowner’s responsibility lies.
Gary says:
• Any leak in the communication pipe between the mains pipe and external stop-tap and meter is the responsibility of the water company.
• But if the leak occurs in the pipework between the external stop-tap and meter and your property (shown in purple on the diagram), it’s your responsibility to get it fixed.
• Sometimes, this may be located outside the boundary of your property, such as underneath the pavement beyond your garden wall.
• To find out the precise location of the layout of the pipes at your property, ask your water company. Or, you may have this information to hand in searches or surveys when you bought the house.
• In our film, Jenny had an existing ‘home cover’ policy but this did not cover the leak because it was outside her property boundary. It’s worth checking the terms of this kind of policy, or your home insurance, to see if you are covered before a leak occurs.
