Leaks and burst pipes

Leak detection and burst pipe quotes

Most expensive leaks are invisible for months. The water meter is the cheapest diagnostic tool you own: close every tap and see whether it still moves. Whether the leak is under a slab, behind a wall or in a supply line to an outbuilding decides how it gets found — and finding it properly is what keeps the repair small.

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Symptoms

What you are probably seeing

A water bill that has jumped without any change in how you use water.
The meter still turning after you have closed every tap and valve in the house.
A damp patch, blistering paint, lifting skirting or mould on a wall or floor.
A warm or hot patch on a tiled floor, which points at a hot-water line under the screed.
The sound of running water in a wall or under the floor when nothing is on.
Pressure that has dropped everywhere, or a puddle that keeps returning in the garden or driveway.

Causes

What usually turns out to be wrong

Old galvanised steel pipework corroding from the inside out — common in homes built before the 1970s.
Perished washers, worn tap spindles and failed toilet inlet valves, which waste water quietly and constantly.
Pipework under a slab or screed that was never accessible, failing at a joint or fitting.
Ground movement, tree roots or building work damaging a buried supply line.
Frost damage on exposed outside pipes and taps after a hard winter night.
Pressure that is too high for the installation, which shortens the life of every fitting in the house.

Preparation

What to tell the plumber

These are the details that let a plumber arrive with the right equipment and quote without a second visit.

The result of your meter test: closed everything, and the meter still moves — yes or no.
Where you can see water, damp or a warm patch, and how long it has been there.
Whether you can isolate part of the property and make the meter stop.
Pipe material if you know it — copper, galvanised steel, PVC or flexible polymer.
Whether the floor is a slab, a screed over concrete or a suspended timber floor.
Whether the leak is on the pressure side (supply) or you are seeing waste water.
How many meters and stopcocks the property has, including any to a cottage, flatlet or pool.

Pricing

What changes the price

We do not publish rates. These are the variables that move the number the plumber gives you.

Detection method: a visual inspection, a pressure test, acoustic detection or thermal imaging are not the same job.
Accessibility — an exposed pipe in a roof space versus a line under tiles, paving or a slab.
How much pipe has to be replaced rather than repaired, and in what material.
Reinstating finishes: tiles, screed, paving and paint are often the larger part of an under-floor repair.
Whether the whole installation is at end of life, which makes a repipe more sensible than a fifth patch.
After-hours attendance if a burst pipe cannot wait until morning.

Standards and paperwork

Compliance you should know about

South African plumbing has real standards behind it. Knowing which ones apply is how you tell a proper quote from a cheap one.

Some municipalities require a water installation certificate of compliance when a property is transferred, confirming among other things that there are no leaks on the property. The City of Cape Town's water by-law is the best-known example. Ask a registered plumber whether your municipality requires one.
Several municipalities will consider an adjustment to a bill inflated by a hidden leak, but the process is theirs, it is not automatic, and it normally needs the plumber's invoice and a report. Check your municipality's current policy rather than assuming.
Use a plumber registered with the PIRB or a member of IOPSA for work you may later need certified, and keep the invoice — insurers, conveyancers and municipalities all ask for it.
Household insurance sometimes covers the damage caused by an escape of water and the cost of locating it, while excluding the worn pipe itself. Read the policy wording before authorising work.
Where water and electricity meet — a leak near a distribution board, a ceiling rose or an outside plug — treat it as an electrical hazard first.

If a pipe has burst right now

01Close the main stopcock. Find it before you need it: usually at the boundary near the meter, sometimes in a garden box or on an outside wall.
02Switch off the geyser at its isolator if the hot-water side is involved, so the element does not run dry.
03If water is anywhere near electrical fittings or the distribution board, switch off the main breaker and stay out of the water.
04Open the lowest taps in the house to drain the pipework and reduce what keeps escaping.
05Photograph the damage and the source before it is repaired or cleaned up.

Next step

Get this quoted in your suburb

One request, one local plumbing business, and a price from the person who looked at the job.

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Cities

Leaks and burst pipes pages by city

Each city page adds the local municipality, the conditions that change this job there, and the paperwork that applies.

Questions

Leaks and burst pipes: common questions

How do I check for a hidden leak myself?

Close every tap, appliance valve and the toilet inlets, then watch the water meter for a few minutes. If the dial still turns, water is escaping between the meter and your fittings. Note the reading, wait an hour without using water, and read it again — that gives the plumber a starting number.

Will the plumber have to break my tiles?

Proper detection exists specifically to avoid that. Acoustic and pressure testing narrows a leak down to a small area so that one section gets opened rather than a whole floor. Ask what detection method will be used and what will be opened before work starts.

Can I get my water bill reduced after fixing a leak?

Sometimes. Several municipalities have a process for considering an adjustment where a hidden leak has been repaired, but it is a formal application, not a refund on request, and the terms change. Keep the plumber's invoice and report, and check your municipality's current policy.

Who is responsible for a leak between the road and my house?

Generally the municipality is responsible up to and including the meter, and the owner is responsible for the installation after it. Water surfacing on the verge or in the road should be logged with the municipality with a reference number.

Is a repipe better than another repair?

If a plumber has patched galvanised pipework more than once and the leaks keep moving, the pipe is telling you something. Ask for both quoted: the repair now, and replacing the affected section or run. Then you are choosing rather than guessing.