Unblock Drains

Communication for Landlords: Who Pays for Sewer Blockages and Drain Cleaning in Rental Properties?

Blocked drains and chock-full sewers in rental properties are some of the most common areas of dispute betwixt landlords and tenants considering it can be very difficult to apportion arraign or responsibleness in terms of how the blockage was originally acquired. So who pays for sewer blockages and bleed cleaning in rental properties?

Ultimately it all comes down to the burden of proof. More often than not the holding owner (landlord) will non have sufficient evidence to be able to prove that the breakdown in the pipes was caused by the tenant and volition terminate upwards ground the beak.

This commodity reproduces that case study, looking more deeply into the issue of determining responsibleness in that particular situation and in cases of blocked and damaged sewers and drainage pipes in rental properties more generally. It offers guidance on ways that astute landlords tin can minimise their outgoings in terms of pipage and plumbing repairs past utilising a sewer and drain pipage adventure direction matrix to identify threats and transfer responsibility.

Lastly, it gives some specific strategies landlords tin can use to ensure they have the necessary evidence to support claims against tenants' bonds when disputes do arise over which party is responsible for fixing blocked drains or cleaning out sewer pipes in a rental property.

Reducing Sewer Pipe and Drainage Repair Costs in Rental Backdrop

For most of u.s.a. a decision to hire out a property we ain and (sometimes) love to perfect strangers is not fabricated lightly. Information technology is also not usually made because we want to provide charity or a customs service. Ninety-ix times out of a hundred, someone who puts a property up for rent is doing so because they want (or need) to brand money out of it. And with that in mind, landlords who see their rental venture equally a business (consummate with management and marketing plans and strategies in identify to ensure maximum profitability from that business concern), requite themselves the greatest shot at success.

Risk Management: Essential for any Profit-Making Venture

For most businesses, managing risk is integral to ongoing survival, and having a audio risk management program in place (either formal or informal) can be the divergence between staying adrift during a recession or closing the doors.

The Risk Management Matrix and so commonly taught in well-nigh business concern courses basically urges ane to identify all possible risks, threats and negative impacts your business might face in the future, and so to charge per unit them based upon:

1. how likely it is that the adventure or threat volition eventuate, and
two. how devastating the consequences of that risk occurring would be to your business.

Each event is then given a 'score' which helps management place the most potentially dangerous threats then they can put plans in place to either remove, negate or best manage that risk.

Risk Direction Strategies for Landlords

As a landlord, this would be a useful exercise to consider if you oasis't already done so. There might exist a range of unique potential threats to the profitability of your 'business' (the closing down of a major employer in your surface area or a local building evolution providing a flood of new housing) simply the threats most ordinarily faced by all landlords are:

  • loss of rent (failure of tenants to pay) and
  • damage, repairs and maintenance costs for the holding

Past viewing damage, repair and maintenance costs of sewers and drainage pipes in your rental holding as a threat that needs to exist managed, you can and so assess the likelihood of it occurring (could my pipes flare-up or cake up?) and the potential impact it will have (will I be able to beget the repair price?). Some of the information y'all would need in order to answer those questions might include:

  • Could a drainage piping leak from my holding impact adjoining properties (apartment blocks)
  • What sort of costs would I exist up for if a broken or blocked sewer piping from my property impacted another property?
  • What insurance do I accept to cover blocked drains and how will a claim touch my premiums?
  • What is the current state of my drainage and sewer pipes and how well have they been maintained?
  • How much rent will I lose whilst repairs are being carried out?
  • Will my tenant lose business/exist aroused/want to accuse me for lost income if they are displaced if work is required to fix or reline blocked drains?
  • What is the probable cost of clearing or fixing blocked drains or relining broken pipes in my area – especially if digging, demolition and reconstruction is involved (fixing blocked drains in Brisbane can oft cost less than drain cleaning in Sydney, for instance)? What proof volition I demand/exercise I accept that the damage was the fault of the tenant?

The list could proceed forever and the more questions you enquire yourself, the more than accurate the picture of the existent consequences of a cleaved or clogged pipe you lot will have.

Once you've listed all your questions and answered them, you tin can begin to identify where y'all're most vulnerable. Every bit yous move downward the list you can make up one's mind how you want to manage those risks 1 by 1. For example, if nosotros take the first item, if you lot live in an apartment block yous might want to get to your body corporate and check out the terms of any insurance policies they hold for harm caused to a belongings as a result of a broken drain on bordering flat.

Yous might then ask the maintenance manager or a qualified plumber friend what the likely costs of different types of pipe repairs would be, and what the current condition of the pipes in your holding is. You might too consider having a CCTV pipage inspection of your pipe network carried out to assess how likely it is that you will take troubles in future.

If these investigations indicate a high probability of a broken sewer pipe or blocked drain occurring and that you could exist responsible for non merely the cost of fixing those pipes but also for rectifying the damage to adjoining homes, yous should then discover a way to manage (shift or negate) that take a chance. Apparently cracks or breaks volition need to be relined and guaranteed by a reputable company such every bit Nuflow, but if no breaks are axiomatic you need to retrieve about how you can protect yourself from the cost of clearing a blockage a tenant has acquired.

Transferring the Risk of Sewer and Drainage Repair Costs to Another Party

If a threat cannot be removed altogether, SHIFTING responsibility to another party for the consequences of that hazard occurring is a normally used strategy.

An example of this is when you and your mates make up one's mind jumping out of an aeroplane at 13,000 anxiety to celebrate your 50th birthdays is a corking thought and as they're strapping that parachute on your back they ask you to sign on the dotted line where information technology says you lot have full responsibility for any injuries (or worse) that may be acquired equally a result. Of course there is nonetheless an onus on them (a duty of intendance) to ensure they have ticked every box in terms of prophylactic and abiding by rules and guidelines but if something totally unforeseen or adventitious happens outside of their foreseeable control, and then your signature can exist called in equally evidence that you were aware of the risks and decided to jump anyhow.

It isn't really possible to completely remove the adventure of needing a drain repair carried out (if a pipe wants to break or clog up, y'all yourself can't prevent information technology), but just like the skydiving operators, you lot can reduce the likelihood of something unpleasant happening and do all you can to shift responsibility.

In terms of shifting responsibleness for the cost of fixing blocked drains or relining cleaved pipes in your rental property, this can sometimes be every bit simple equally having an insurance policy that volition embrace y'all. If you're non sure about where y'all stand with your insurance company band and inquire. If you lot don't similar the answers (for example if y'all find that y'all wouldn't be covered for damage to another person's property if your tenant leaves the water running in the bath), shop around to find insurance that you lot feel safer with.

Even then, there could however be a merits excess to pay or increases to premiums following claims – so the 2d way you can shift responsibleness is to move it to the tenant. This is not easy only read on to see how it can (at to the lowest degree partially) exist achieved.

What Should Landlords exercise if a Tenant Causes a Blocked or Broken Sewer Pipe?

It's common practice for landlords and property managers to photograph properties prior to and later each tenancy so that responsibleness for any damage that occurs (chipped tiles, broken locks etc.) can be proven and repair costs can be recouped from a bond (or the tenant exist made to pay for them direct). Simply as explained above, deciding responsibility for the price of fixing a blocked drain is non so simple.

The following case study has been reproduced from a companion article, and explains how just such a dispute arose between a landlord and tenant when a Brisbane homeowner (Rob) decided to movement overseas for work and hire out his home.

A Queensland Instance Report: 'The nappy, the wipes and the crumbling, old pipes' (reproduced).

In the starting time yr the property was occupied by a married couple with a new baby and a two-yr erstwhile. In that location were a number of issues the landlord was unhappy with during their tenancy (gardens and lawns not cared for and complaints from neighbours about arguments late at night), so their lease was not renewed. In the second twelvemonth the property was rented by a single developed male (Matt) and his elderly mother. In that location were no further complaints and the house and gardens were being well cared for.

The house itself was approximately 70 years quondam just Rob (possessor) had had no trouble with the sewer pipes since he'd bought it in 1996. In most the sixth month of Matt'due south tenancy period the toilets began backing up and no amount of do-it-yourself manpower on his (Matt's) part could shift the blockage for more than than a few days. In the end information technology became severely blocked to the betoken of almost inundation and one Sunday afternoon Matt contacted the belongings manager (a friend of Rob'due south) who arranged for a plumber to exercise an emergency repair. The consequence was a hefty repair neb.

Rob's friend emailed him explaining what had happened and attached the invoice to exist paid. He stated in the electronic mail he'd been told there was a massive build-up of toilet newspaper, 'flushable' make-up wipes, and other affair which had completely clogged the sewer pipe. He also said the pressure from the blockage had cracked the pipe, which meant after immigration it out, it had to be professionally relined with advanced composite resins.

Rob decided to speak to Matt (tenant) himself to explicate that he believed they had caused the blockage (as the near visible and prolific item in the massive clog was the make-up wipes the mother used regularly). He added that they were therefore liable for the damage costs. Matt responded, even so, that the wipes his mother used were labelled 'flushable' and that they could not have acquired the damage. He added that she had been using those aforementioned wipes for many years in many properties with no previous trouble, and that they had been given no instructions when they signed the charter that such wipes were not to be used in the home's plumbing and sewer system.

The Brisbane sewer cleaning and relining good who carried out the repair was once again contacted and asked for a written study detailing what he believed had caused the issues with the broken sewer piping. He confirmed the most probable cause of the blockage was actually a number of partly-decomposed nappies, and that other matter (including the wipes) had backed up backside the original blockage to form a massive fatberg (see our article 'Everything you never wanted to know most Fatbergs' here). The pressure level of the blockage had cracked the aging pipes leaving sewage to leak into the ground, and dirt to further clog the pipe.

Case Written report Analysis: Determining Responsibility for Blocked or Damaged Sewer Pipes

The nappy: In the above example, one might initially presume the previous tenants were the ones who caused the sewer pipe blockage by placing nappies down the toilet. Afterwards all, they did take two small children and the current tenant had none.

Even so, it is impossible to actually evidence that fact. For example, who knows whether Matt and his mum had friends or relatives with babies, and whether they'd visited at some point during their tenancy and put a nappy down the toilet?

And how can Rob really prove the nappy hadn't been sitting there in the pipe for the past five years or more than? Finally, with the previous tenants gone and bond pay-outs settled, there would be nigh no way of recouping costs from them fifty-fifty if you were able to prove anything.

The wipes: 1 might then consider whether mistake actually does lay with Matt's mum who was merrily dropping wipes downward the toilet each 24-hour interval, unaware that the 'flushable' claims on the bundle were grossly overstated.

Even if it was accounted that the wipes were the major contributor to the blockage, does error prevarication with the companies making these unrealistic claims well-nigh the biodegradability of their products or with the people who use such items and dispose of them in toilets without doing adequate research? Additionally, would the wipes lonely have caused such a blockage had the nappies not been flushed down the toilet in the first place?

The pipes: Finally we come up to the outcome of the dwelling house possessor himself. Firstly Rob had not brash the tenants in writing (or otherwise) that such items were non to be flushed down the toilet in his holding. Without such pedagogy, is it the possessor or the tenant who should take responsibility for the blockage?

Too, pipes which may have been laid lxx years ago (only were definitely at least 26 years old) may not have been in keen condition in the showtime place. They may take coped but fine when Rob, who worked full time and lived lonely, was the simply occupant only with larger family unit groups did pre-existing bug only come up to a caput? In that location could even have been breaks or cracks in the sewer pipe which had afterward trapped all the other materials over the past 2 years.

How long had it been since those pipes had been cleared or cleaned and what sort of on-going maintenance program had they enjoyed? By his ain admission, Rob had experienced no issues with his sewer pipes at all in the time he had lived at that place, and he had never even needed to worry about cleaning or clearing them.

So how is anyone able to discern whether they had simply anile, corroded or cleaved down to the point where he was well overdue to have hydro jet drain cleaning and rehabilitation repairs with CIPP avant-garde composite resin relining carried out just to go on them maintained and fully functioning?

In the case above, the dispute became unpleasant and in the end information technology was the landlord who paid the bill.

Rights and Responsibilities When Sewer Pipes or Drains in Rental Properties Fail

Landlords take to ensure their property is safe and suitable for tenants, but tenants too have a responsibility to care for a belongings and proceed information technology functioning the way it was when they moved in. Landlords also need to be very clear almost how they desire their holding to be maintained, and what the consequences of ignoring those requests might be.

As can be seen from the instance study above, when it comes to immigration blockages, attributing error (and deciding who should pay the pecker) can exist hard. If it'south a relatively simple thing, such every bit a major clump of hair that has blocked a drain, responsibility might lie with the tenant, but fifty-fifty then, if the landlord does not take solid evidence to the reverse, it could be argued the hair could accept been accumulating in the bleed for years prior to the start of their tenancy or that given that the landlord did not have a hair trap on the bleed, they had not taken due care of their property in the first place.

Substantially, things become more complicated when it's unclear whether a trouble at a property falls under the classification of 'maintenance' or 'repair.' In a very general sense, maintenance refers to fixing things on the property that are daily article of clothing and tear and aren't classed as urgent. These are usually paid for by the landlord. Emergency (or other) repairs typically refer to something that'due south broken or damaged and needs to be fixed promptly. It is here that a tenant may detect themselves footing the bill but only if it tin can be proven that their deportment brought that emergency situation most.

Proving Who Blocked or Damaged a Sewer Pipe

If a dispute arises, information technology all comes downwardly to who it is that tin can best encounter the burden of proof. A landlord needs to set a blocked drain urgently particularly a blocked sewer considering to do otherwise means they are non fulfilling their obligation to provide a prophylactic and liveable holding for their tenant. Once the drain is fixed, the neb needs to be paid and if the tenant disputes that responsibility is theirs, information technology is ordinarily the landlord who will pay the account. They must then consider whether they want to try to compensate the funds from the tenant. If they do (and the tenant continues to deny responsibility) the onus will exist on the landlord to evidence that the blockage was caused direct by the tenant's careless actions.

The bond is the tenant'south money therefore for the landlord to have a right to take some of that money they must prove their example. If the two parties have tried their best to resolve the dispute on their own to no avail they can either go along to formal mediation and if at that place is still no agreement the matter tin be put before a civil administrative tribunal (check your state or territory in Commonwealth of australia) or contact the Tenancy Tribunal (New Zealand). Here, whatever bear witness each political party can bring will be considered, remembering that it is the landlord who must prove they have a right the tenant's money.

This is why blocked drains (which are almost always tucked secretly away behind walls, under floors and buried deep in the footing) present such difficulties. Nigh landlords are seriously unprepared to be able to meet that burden of proof prior to a dispute arising.

Tips to Help Landlords Reduce the Take a chance of Sewer and Drainage Pipe Repair and Maintenance Costs

In this department we will offer suggestions to increase a landlord's adventure of recouping costs for drain cleaning and repairs that are directly acquired equally a issue of a tenant's misuse.

1. Fulfil your duty of care

As stated to a higher place, the onus is on landlords to provide a property that is safe and liveable – both when a tenant moves in and throughout their tenancy. If you desire to be able to demonstrate that you had fulfilled your duty of care (to provide pipes that worked well) and give yourself the all-time chance of NOT existence held responsible for repairs, you will need to show:

a. that the sewer and drainage pipes were in good working order when the tenant moved in, and
b. that you lot have put measures in place to preclude chock-full drains by ensuring regular maintenance of those pipes took place.

Evidence of good working society: Ane way of doing this is to have a CCTV camera pipe inspection carried out past a reputable company such as Nuflow prior to the tenant moving in. Make certain they offer hydro jet cleaning (in case there are existing blockages) and CIPP pipe relining (in case in that location are whatever breaks or cracks which need repair) and that they can provide you lot with clear video evidence of the state of the pipes and a written written report that there are no blockages.

Testify of regular maintenance: Household drains and pipes require regular maintenance (run across our article on maintaining drains hither), even if information technology is as simple as a monthly make clean-out with a few litres of hot water and a cup of dish detergent. This is because fats, oils and grease (FOG) tin accumulate in pipes as they cool, and and so form a bulwark which traps other items such every bit hair, soap scum, food particles etc. The sewer pipes can likewise benefit from such a make clean.
Whether you lot write a clause into the tenancy understanding that the tenant is responsible for carrying out this job (as part of their duty) or you pay someone to visit the property monthly is up to you, but evidence that you have done your best to ensure such pipe and drainage maintenance is carried out is what matters.

Yous should too consider having drains regularly checked with a CCTV inspection every couple of years where long-term tenants are in identify.

ii. Transfer or Eliminate the Risk of Costly Sewer Pipage Repairs to Another Party

Ensuring your property's pipes are well maintained is important, but information technology cannot totally eliminate the threat of a costly piping repair because things can always go wrong. Whether through earth movement, an aggressive tree root or misuse, piping problems tin all the same occur then having strategies in place to transfer the risk of having to pay for those repairs to another party is the next strategy. For landlords, this will most commonly mean:

  • transferring the risk to an insurer, or
  • transferring the take chances to a tenant.

Finding an insurance policy which covers the cost of bleed cleaning and fixing blocked drains is self-explanatory, only transferring risk to a tenant can be a little more hard because at the end of the twenty-four hours the onus will exist on you lot to evidence that it was their misuse that directly acquired the problem.

Ensuring Tenants Assume Responsibility for Sewer Piping and Drainage Repairs and Blockages

Below are some important strategies landlords can implement to encourage a greater sense of responsibleness for a property'southward pipe health in their tenants and formally transfer a degree of risk.

1. Communicate with tenants regarding the importance you identify on the intendance and maintenance of your property's pipes and drains. By ensuring tenants are enlightened that y'all have the pipes inspected, filmed, cleaned and maintained regularly and that you expect them to be very mindful about what they identify into those pipes, y'all are letting them know you are serious about keeping things working well and that you are informed and prepared to compensate costs from them if the pipes and plumbing systems are misused.

2. Include in the charter what Can'T be flushed downwards your toilet.
To reinforce the above point in writing, you lot should highlight in the tenancy agreement, specific items Not TO Exist want flushed down your toilet. For a range of reasons (culture, education etc.) many tenants are genuinely unaware that certain items can wreak havoc on sewer pipes and plumbing. To help you decide what to include, we've compiled a list of the 32 items most commonly institute clogging and blocking sewer pipes in Australia which you tin can find here.

iii. Include in the lease what Harm could be acquired to your belongings if these requests are not abided past and the associated costs that will event.
As well equally identifying the items you lot specifically want tenants to avoid flushing, specify what harm such actions might cause (blockages, overflows, leakage of sewer into soil, breaks in sewer pipes, breakdowns in local treatment facilities, ecology touch on etc.). Also country some of the consequences that could result (costs, ill health, inconvenience, endangering of marine animals, college rental fees, lack of service etc.). Having a good lease which specifically addresses these matters can be very useful when trying to testify you took every activity possible to endeavor to help the tenant avert a blockage AND that you lot informed them of the consequences.

iv. Include in the lease terms a requirement for tenants to notify y'all of certain signs of damage or impending plumbing bug.
There are many signs that sewer pipes and drains are nether stress and that the demand for a repair (or even an emergency repair) might be imminent (read our commodity hither). If a landlord or holding owner is not made aware that these signs are evident they are not being given the chance at fixing something like a partially blocked drain in the early (and cheaper) stages hence they will have to pay for a much more than expensive repair later on.

5. Near each toilet on the property, install signage which lists the items that Tin can'T be flushed and potential issues they tin can cause (see the list noted in point 2 above).
Recollect to use an informative, entertaining and positive tone. This is a dwelling, so no-i wants to feel like they are at school only at the aforementioned time, you need to get your point across. But similar there might be instructions for using the pool or operating the security system, you need to think nigh how to brainwash your tenants and their guests about what can crusade problem and how to avert it. Make information technology attractive, informative, friendly and unobtrusive, and exist clear that this is a gentle reminder to assist tenants and their guests make a positive contribution that volition assistance save them hassles and coin likewise.

One time tenants are fully aware that:

  • keeping the property's pipes working well is but as much their responsibility as it is yours
  • you've got evidence to show you've upheld your responsibilities every bit a landlord, and
  • they could exist up for a hefty pecker if they practice the wrong thing and ignore your efforts,
  • they are much more probable to comply.

If they don't, they are also much more likely to have a court judgment go confronting them.

Notation: The higher up advice is general in nature and professional person legal advice should be sought if further clarification is needed.