Flat above leaking - builders no-show

Szechuanosaurus

Oh man, I'm grasping at straws here, but any ideas would be welcome. Water started leaking form my ceiling about an hour ago. At first I thought it was our water tank, but further inspection shows that it's coming from above. Everybody else in our tenement is out, but the lady from above my flat has just shown up and apparently it's coming from the flat above hers, which is unoccupied but has been having work done on it. The builders aren't around though and I've no idea who is doing the work.

So...what the hell do I do? Any ideas on figuring out who the builders might be so I can contact them? Or finding out who owns the flat?

Slungsolow

I assume that there is a building manager/landlord on the premise that you can contact. that would be the place to start.

If you don't know who manages the building, well you need to find out. Look through any paperwork you signed prior to moving in. There should be some sort of emergency contact (the folks you would call if, let's say, your heat didn't work or if a pool of water was forming in a room because it's leaking from a unit above yours).

Szechuanosaurus

Nothing like that unfortunately. Tenement buildings in Edinburgh don't tend to have building managers, which makes shit like this a total ballache. Each flat is independently owned and the most that ever happens is a 'stairways partnership' where the individual owners chip in to pay a cleaner to sweep the stairs or more often just take it in turns to do.

robaal

Maybe the fire dept. could help?

Just use the local number rather than the emergency one.

EclecticGroove

would it be possible that this could be seen as property damage (which obviously it is), and would you be able to contact the authorities to essentially break into the empty flat above and stop whatever is leaking?

Other than that, unless there is a name/number for the people doing the work somewhere you can see it, then you own't have much you cna do until they can come back. At which point I would proceed to be none too thrilled about what they allowed to happen. They should be liable for damages unless you guys have some wacky rules protecting them.

EggyToast

Yeah, if you can't call anyone who owns or is responsible, call the police/fire dept and say there's a water leak in a tenement building in an unoccupied room, and it's coming down into the lower rooms and you need to turn off the water.

Slungsolow

Szechuanosaurus wrote:

Nothing like that unfortunately. Tenement buildings in Edinburgh don't tend to have building managers, which makes shit like this a total ballache. Each flat is independently owned and the most that ever happens is a 'stairways partnership' where the individual owners chip in to pay a cleaner to sweep the stairs or more often just take it in turns to do.

Do you own the flat?

Ruckus

EggyToast wrote:

Yeah, if you can't call anyone who owns or is responsible, call the police/fire dept and say there's a water leak in a tenement building in an unoccupied room, and it's coming down into the lower rooms and you need to turn off the water.

Don't call the fire department right away, not even on the non emergency contact number.

I'd recommend contacting the police non-emergency number and request that they perform a welfare check on the apartment. Just tell the police receptionist that there is water leaking down and you are not sure if the apartment is occupied or not. Be polite in your request and at the very least they will probably send a car to check it out.

Szechuanosaurus

EclecticGroove wrote:

would it be possible that this could be seen as property damage (which obviously it is), and would you be able to contact the authorities to essentially break into the empty flat above and stop whatever is leaking?

Discussed that with a neighbor and she thought they wouldn't do anything, although I kind of agree with the property damage thing. Either way, she dug out a number for the Duty Health Officer or something and I gave them a call and their going to send one of their dudes out to sort it apparently. I'm not sure who they are, but apparently they have the authority to get in touch with landlords etc.

Other than that, unless there is a name/number for the people doing the work somewhere you can see it, then you own't have much you cna do until they can come back. At which point I would proceed to be none too thrilled about what they allowed to happen. They should be liable for damages unless you guys have some wacky rules protecting them.

Depressingly, we do. At least, normally if there's an accidental leak in a flat then it's generally very difficult to get the source of the leak to pay for damages unless they want to. I'm not entirely sure why, but nearly everybody in Edinburgh has a tale of woe where the person above them has fallen asleep when running a bath or their washing machine breaks down and floods the apartment and in nearly every case they've had to just claim off their own insurance. I guess it's because home insurance only covers you against damage to your own home, not against damage to someone else's home.