Plumber
in Sunninghill
A plumber in Sunninghill works mostly in complexes, because sectional title schemes replaced the smallholdings that once made up the suburb. That changes who owns which pipe and how a leak is found. We work with your trustees or managing agent, and price everything in writing.
Request a visitThe Same Four Services, Inside A Complex
Each links to its full page. Here is what changes when the property is part of a scheme.
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Geyser repairs
Elements, thermostats, valves and leaks, tested before anything is replaced
Tell us whether the geyser serves one unit or several, because that decides who signs off the work and who is invoiced.
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Blocked drain clearing
Roots, fat and collapsed joints, cleared and then filmed
A blockage in one unit’s branch is found and cleared there; a main line through the complex is usually common pipework, so the trustees are told.
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Leak detection
Meter tests, pressure tests and a written result either way
In a complex it starts at the bulk meter and works inwards, as the section below explains.
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Emergency plumber
Burst pipes and floods: your side made safe, the cause recorded
Close your own unit’s isolating valve first. The complex main is for the trustees or the managing agent to shut.
In A Sunninghill Complex, A Leak Shows On Everyone's Bill First
Sunninghill changed quickly. Sectional title complexes replaced many of the smallholdings that used to make up the suburb, and by 2012 Private Property put sectional title and estates at some 88 percent of its housing stock.
Where a complex is supplied through one meter at the gate, everything behind that meter is the scheme's network: the pipes to each unit, the garden taps, the pool. The law makes the body corporate responsible for maintaining pipes that serve more than one section, and separate meters for each unit go in only if the members resolve to have them.
That is why a leak in a complex is noticed late. A pipe dripping under one unit's paving, or a cracked line to the pool, adds to a single shared reading. Every owner's levy carries a share of it, and nobody's own tap is running.
So a leak test in a complex runs from the gate inwards. First the bulk meter, read with the complex's water shut off at the main valve. Then, if there are sub-meters, the units added together and set against the bulk reading: a gap between the two points to the common pipework. From there each branch is isolated and pressure-tested like any other property, with the trustees' permission and access to units arranged through the managing agent. Where there are no sub-meters, the same work is done valve by valve: each unit's isolating valve is closed in turn while someone watches the bulk meter.
If the complex's water account climbs and nothing has changed in the units, ask for the bulk and sub-meter readings to be compared before anyone digs. The difference tells you whether to look at the common pipes or inside a unit.
How We Work In A Complex
The same four steps on every scheme, whoever manages it.
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Tell us about the scheme
The complex name, the managing agent, and whether the problem is in a unit or on common property.
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Permission and access
Before work on shared pipes starts, the trustees or the agent confirm who is paying.
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Find the cause
Bulk meter, sub-meters, then sections; or the drain camera for a blocked line.
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One invoice, to the right party
Addressed to the owner or the body corporate, with the cause stated so the cost can be allocated properly.
Questions From Complexes
Cost first, then shared pipes and meters.
What does a plumber cost in Sunninghill?
A stated call-out to find the cause, then a written price for the repair. In a complex, also confirm with your managing agent who pays before the work starts.
Who pays for a burst pipe in a complex?
Under sectional title law the body corporate looks after any pipe shared by two or more sections, while a pipe that feeds your unit alone normally falls to you. The scheme’s rules settle the details.
Can you test our complex’s bulk meter?
Yes, with the trustees’ permission and access to the main valve. The bulk meter is read with the complex’s water off, then compared with the sub-meters if the complex has them.
Do we need a separate meter for every unit?
Only if the members decide so: under the sectional title management rules, the body corporate must install them once the members pass a resolution asking for them. They make leaks far easier to trace.
Why did Sunninghill lose water when a pipe burst in Gallo Manor?
A 600 mm pipe on Bowling Road burst and cut supply to Sunninghill, Woodmead and parts of Paulshof. A main that size feeds whole districts, and its repair was Johannesburg Water’s; there was nothing on site for a plumber to fix.
Do you also work in Paulshof and Woodmead?
Yes. Both border Sunninghill and are in the suburb list at the foot of the page.
Can you deal with our managing agent directly?
Yes. Give us their details when you book; the quote and invoice go to them, copied to you.
A neighbour’s leak is coming through my wall. What do I do?
Tell the neighbour and the managing agent in writing and photograph the damage. Whether it is theirs or the body corporate’s depends on whether the pipe is shared; finding the source settles it.
Request A Visit In Sunninghill
Give the complex name and unit number, and the managing agent if the problem is in shared pipework. We phone back to arrange a time.