Claims – Water leaks in bathrooms
Leaks discovered under bathrooms can be timely claims as it is hard to establish the manifestation of the leak. What can you do in order to reduce your exposure to claims from leaks? Consider the RSA property handbook guidelines indicate in Clause 2.12.2:
Interior areas – ground floor(s). Where appropriate:
- Visually inspect flooring.
- Visually inspect slab floors and test for dampness.
- Visually inspect stairways, including treads/risers, landings and handrails, and where appropriate test for dampness.
- Visually inspect loadbearing walls and test for dampness. Note the presence of rising damp in masonry walls and water penetration around openings.
- Visually inspect ceilings and test below upper floor bathrooms or other areas susceptible to a damp problem. Note the presence and location of water stains on roof linings and fungal growth, e.g. mould. Leaking shower recesses are a common problem.
- Visually inspect any exposed horizontal structural members (e.g. beams), or vertical structural members (e.g. columns), and where appropriate test for dampness.
- Visually inspect any other primary elements, and where appropriate test for dampness.
- Visually inspect the quality of primary elements. Note details of poor workmanship and/or materials used in the construction, renovation or maintenance of the structure,
- Visually inspect secondary and finishing elements of construction, and where appropriate carry out physical tests including water testing of any shower recess.
In respect of water testing a shower recess, where practical the outlet of the shower should be plugged and the recess filled with water for a minimum period of 10 minutes. An inspector may also wish to include a limiting note in the report indicating that where a shower has been water tested for a minimum of ten (10) minutes, and no leakage was evident, this does not necessarily mean that the shower will not leak after prolonged use. To fully detect and assess a damp problem may require monitoring of the building over a period of time.
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