Strata Plumber in Scarborough
Strata plumbing splits responsibility in two: you look after the lines serving your own townhouse or unit, and the body corporate looks after the shared runs. Our strata plumber Scarborough owners ring direct works that border every week, and we say straight which side a repair falls on.
If we're late, $100 comes off your bill
- Licensed and InsuredEvery job done by a licensed plumber. QBCC No: 15024607
- Fixed Quote FirstFlat-rate pricing, agreed before any work starts
- Lifetime Labour WarrantyBacked by our Fix-It-or-It's-Free guarantee (T&Cs apply)
- $0 Call-Out FeesNo extra charge for nights, weekends or public holidays
Licensed for your side of it. Every job is done by a licensed plumber from our Scarborough team. Census counts list 1,168 flats and apartments beside 350 townhouses here, so plenty of households near Oxley Avenue meet the split each year.
Lot Pipes or Common Property Pipes
The body corporate fixes utility lines classed as common property. The lot owner fixes a pipe that serves one home, stays inside the lot's boundary, and clears every dividing structure.
Queensland runs a three-part test on each water, gas and drain line:
- it supplies the service to a single lot;
- it sits within that lot's boundaries;
- it avoids each dividing structure around the lot.
A lot is the home you own inside a community titles scheme, and common property covers everything else, which the scheme administers. A line that clears all three tests is the owner's to keep.
A dividing structure means a wall, floor or ceiling where two lots meet, or where a lot meets shared ground. A panel hung below a ceiling is not the border; the ceiling above it is.
Shut-Off Points in a Unit
Shut the isolation valve at the dripping fixture first: closing it stops that outlet alone and leaves every other tap running.
The order for a unit leak runs like this:
- find the small valve under the sink, beside the cistern or next to the heater;
- turn it clockwise until the fixture runs dry;
- leave shared taps and common-area valves alone, because the body corporate manages those.
Each lot's submeter lives outside your front door, in shared space the scheme controls. The pipework running out from the main meter, plus each submeter's own stop valves, stays with the body corporate or the building owner.
When a leak hides behind tiling or under a floor, our leak detection service traces it before anyone opens a wall.
Leaks That Reach the Unit Below
A shower tray, a heater feeding one lot, and a line inside a dividing structure cause most leaks into the home below, and ownership splits three ways:
The shower tray
The occupier's or owner's to repair, wherever the tray sits. Leaking shower repairs covers the diagnosis and the fix.
The heater
A heater supplying your home alone stays yours, wherever the unit sits.
The dividing structure
A line inside shared structure is common property, so the body corporate carries that repair.
Stop the water at the fixture's own valve before anything else. The question of who pays can wait until the drip cannot.
Beachside flats around the boat harbour stack bathrooms one over another, so a braided hose that lets go upstairs floods the home beneath within minutes. The flexi hose replacement service covers the lines that cause it.
Pipes in Walls, Floors and Ceilings
An apartment block puts a cold water line inside a shared wall, floor or ceiling with the body corporate, while a townhouse complex puts any line feeding several homes there too.
Your own line, hidden in an internal wall and serving your home alone, stays yours. The plan's type sets which test applies, so we ask to see the registered plan first.
- Apartment block: the shared structure decides.
- Townhouse complex: the number of homes on the line decides.
- Flat renovations can run into council-permitted territory, so we check that with you before quoting.
How a Unit Booking Runs
- 1
Call or message us
Ring (07) 3523 6484 or use the form and describe what's going on in Scarborough. A few details up front mean the right gear comes on the first trip.
- 2
Read the plan, then quote
We read the registered plan of subdivision and run the three-part test. That tells you whether the weeping line serves your home alone or runs through shared structure, so you know whose repair it is before we quote.
- 3
Fixed quote, then the work
We give you a fixed quote before any work starts. It's flat-rate pricing with no hidden fees, and we only start once you approve it.
- 4
Settle up your way
Card and EFTPOS payment on site when the job's finished, or Fix now, pay later if that suits you better.
Plumbing job in Scarborough?
$0 call-out fees, available 24/7, and same-day where we can.
Unit Plumbing Questions Owners Ask
Call (07) 3523 6484Where is the water shut-off in a Scarborough unit?
Each tap, cistern and heater carries a small stop valve beside it, so start there and shut the dripping one. The lot's submeter sits in shared space outside the unit, and the fittings and valves around it belong to the body corporate.
Does the body corporate look after my water heater?
No, not when it feeds your home alone. The owner or occupier of the lot carries that repair even where the heater sits on common property. Lines serving the scheme as a whole, or running through shared structure, are the body corporate's instead.
Who is responsible for pipes in a Scarborough townhouse complex?
The number of homes on the line decides. A water line that feeds more than one lot is common property and stays with the body corporate. A line inside your boundary that serves your home alone is yours, and we book it under your name.
Can I call my own plumber for a leak in my unit?
Yes, whenever the weeping pipe or fitting is the lot's to keep. Common property lines stay with the body corporate, and the registered plan plus the three-part test decide whose repair it is. A licensed plumber handles the work either way.
Is the water meter inside my Scarborough unit?
No, a lot's submeter never sits inside the unit; it lives in shared space, often a lockable common area. Every new subdivided strata building has needed one since 1 January 2008.
Call Us About the Leak in Your UnitWe'll call you back.
Ring (07) 3523 6484 and tell us what's wrong. You get $0 call-out fees, a fixed quote before any work starts and same-day where we can, 7 days a week.
To claim your $0 call-out fee, call (07) 3523 6484 today.