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Office and commercial leak detection services
Six parts of an office building that leak in their own way, and how each one is investigated. Every survey starts non-invasive; pipework and drainage leaks can also be quoted for repair.
Commercial flat roof leak detection for office buildings
Most office buildings have a flat roof crowded with air-conditioning units, vents, rooflights and a lift overrun, and every one of them goes through the waterproofing. The water then travels across the deck before it drops, so the stained tile on the top floor is rarely under the defect.
What you tend to notice
- Brown or sagging ceiling tiles on the top floor after heavy rain
- Water round a rooflight, a roof hatch or the lift overrun
- Damp on the inside of a wall below a roof terrace, parapet or balcony
How it is found
Moisture mapping and thermal imaging inside show where the water is arriving. On the roof, tracer gas, smoke testing or an electronic roof leak detector pinpoints the defect in the membrane, and a thermal-imaging drone surveys a large roof without scaffolding.
Repairs
ADI locates roof and structural leaks and reports them with photographs. Repairs to roofs, terraces and cladding are for a roofing contractor.
Call 0333 567 2624
Underground water main leak detection for commercial buildings
The supply usually runs from a meter in the pavement or car park, under the tarmac and into the plant room. On a business park it may carry on to other buildings too. A leak under all that hard surface can run for months before anybody sees it, and the first sign is often the bill.
What you tend to notice
- A water bill that has climbed with no change in how many people use the building
- The meter turning at night or at the weekend when the office is empty
- Water surfacing through tarmac or paving, or a patch that never dries
How it is found
Acoustic ground microphones and leak-noise correlation locate leaks on pressurised pipe over long distances. Tracer gas is used where the pipe is deep or the road is noisy, and a trace wire maps the route of a plastic pipe so the excavation goes in the right place.
Repairs
Water main and supply pipe repairs can be quoted, including excavation, replacement and backfilling, with a pressure retest before we leave.
Call 0333 567 2624Office washroom, kitchen and tea point leak detection
Office washrooms and tea points sit in the same place on every floor, stacked above each other around the core. The pipework runs through ceiling voids and boxing, so a slow leak from a cistern upstairs shows up as a brown tile over somebody's desk.
What you tend to notice
- A stained or sagging ceiling tile under the toilets or the kitchen
- Soft or lifting flooring round a WC, urinal or shower tray
- Damp behind a dishwasher, water boiler or under-sink water heater
How it is found
Moisture mapping tells us how far the water has travelled. Thermal imaging and dye tests on WCs, urinals, showers and basins show which fitting is at fault, and a borescope camera confirms it through a small hole before any boxing or tiling comes off. Where the fault is on the pipework itself, each circuit is pressure tested in turn.
Repairs
Pipework repairs can be quoted and carried out. Shower trays, seals, sanitaryware and tiling are for your fitter, with our findings and photographs to work from.
Call 0333 567 2624Commercial heating and hot water leak detection
A plant room of boilers and pumps feeds radiators, fan coil units and hot water across every floor, and a leak can sit anywhere along those runs: in a riser, under a floor or above a suspended ceiling. More often than not, the only clue is a pressure gauge that keeps dropping.
What you tend to notice
- The boiler or pressurisation unit needs topping up more often than it used to
- A cold radiator or fan coil unit at the end of a run
- Damp on a floor or ceiling with no washroom or tap nearby
How it is found
Thermal imaging picks out the hot flow and return pipes through finished surfaces. Tracer gas in the heating circuit escapes at the leak and is detected at the surface, and pressure testing confirms which circuit is losing water. Acoustic listening and moisture readings settle the exact spot.
Repairs
Heating pipework leaks can be quoted and repaired. The domestic "no find, no fee" guarantee does not cover heating systems or commercial premises; office work is quoted.
Call 0333 567 2624
Finding leaks in risers, ceiling voids and raised floors
An office hides most of its pipework: up through service risers, across the void above the ceiling grid and, in some buildings, under a raised floor full of cables. Water finds the lowest point, which is how a leak two floors up ends up dripping out of a light fitting.
What you tend to notice
- Water dripping from a light fitting, a ceiling grille or the edge of a tile
- Wet carpet tiles or a damp floor box on a raised floor
- Staining on a riser door or on the wall next to a riser
How it is found
A borescope camera looks into the void or riser through a small opening. Thermal imaging follows the pipe route across the ceiling, acoustic listening narrows the leak down along the riser, and each branch is isolated and pressure tested until the one losing water is found.
Repairs
Pipework leaks in risers and voids can be quoted and repaired, then pressure tested. Ceiling tiles, plasterboard and floor finishes are for your fit-out contractor.
Call 0333 567 2624Commercial drainage surveys for basements and lower floors
Soil stacks carry every washroom's waste down through the building, rainwater pipes bring the roof water down beside them, and it all meets in the drains under the lower ground floor. A cracked joint lets water into the ground, or into the basement wall.
What you tend to notice
- A damp or tide-marked wall in the basement, bin store or car park
- A smell near a gully, a floor drain or the washrooms
- Water coming up through a lower-floor slab after heavy rain
How it is found
A drain camera survey shows cracks, displaced joints and blockages inside the pipe. Dye tests trace water from a suspect washroom, gully or downpipe so you know which run is at fault.
Repairs
Drainage repairs can be quoted. Where the fault is in the structure or the waterproofing, it is reported for the right contractor.
Call 0333 567 2624Not sure which of these you have?
Plenty of building managers are not. Describe what you are seeing and on which floor, and the office team will work out which kind of investigation fits and whether it can be done in one visit.
- Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 6:30pm
- Calls reach ADI Leak Detection's office in High Wycombe. Engineers cover England, Scotland and Wales.