If a sewer line has broken through in a high-rise building, speed in eliminating the consequences is important. The longer the leak lasts, the more serious the negative impact on the condition of the building. With an emergency in the apartment on the top floor there is a risk of flooding of the neighbors, which threatens with serious payments for repairs. If you know what to do in case of an accident and where to go, you can minimize the damage created by the breakthrough.
Reasons for the breakthrough
If you identify what caused the accident, you can fix the problem faster. Leaks in the pipeline occur:
- due to damage to the walls of the highway;
- due to loosening of pipes in the most rusty places;
- due to wear of the gaskets.
If the place of the leak is not visually noticeable, you need to look for it precisely at the areas of greatest corrosion or at the joints of pipe sections.
Accident Actions
If you are not a specialist in the field of plumbing, and you have a sewer gushing out, proceed as follows:
- Try to locate the leak and, if possible, reduce the drainage flow. A small hole can be filled with plasticine or cold welded. If such options are not available, you can wrap the pipe with a rag. It is also better to cover the floor with absorbent material.
- Go around the neighbors in the riser and ask not to use the sewer for some time. Sami also refuse to use plumbing.
- If the action occurs during the day, make a call to the management company or to the housing department. In the event that there is no response or an emergency happened at night, call the emergency service of the water utility. Their services are provided free of charge. Similar actions are carried out if the water supply system is leaking.
If the house has a clamp with a gasket, use this device. Put the clamp on the pipe in a damaged place. Then it must be pulled off with the help of bolts, thereby creating a barrier to the outflow of wastewater.
In an accident in the basement, the risers are blocked and neighbors are informed of the problem so that they do not use plumbing fixtures.
The housing department or the management company is responsible for the operability of all common equipment, you need to call when breaking through the basement sewer there. They must quickly send an emergency team and liquidate the breakthrough. If it is not possible to reach the responsible persons, call the emergency responders yourself.
Most basements in multi-apartment buildings are closed, so they can’t put up temporary barriers with their own hands. But even if the basement is open, it’s not worth doing so, so that communal services do not blame the breakthrough on you.
Guilty Search
Victims of a sewer breakthrough need to know exactly who is to blame for such a situation. The Criminal Code and the Housing Office are only responsible for those sections of the pipeline that are outside the apartments.
The owner of the housing is responsible for the entire in-house water supply and drainage system. He will pay for the problems that the neighbors have.
If the sewer line broke through in the basement or in a common riser, the responsibility for these networks lies with the Criminal Code and the Housing Office. A collective complaint is required. When flooded by neighbors, each victim writes his appeal or amicably agrees with the perpetrators of the accident to repair at their expense.
Where to complain and claim damages
After eliminating the breakthrough, you need to take a photo or shoot video to document the consequences.This information is useful when you claim damages. But its not enough. An act of flooding is needed. Call the Criminal Code or the Housing Office and ask them to send employees to draw it up.
If they do not respond, go to one of these offices in person with a statement addressed to the head in duplicate. In the document, indicate what the problem is, and require the drawing up of an act.
Leave one application to the organization, the second there must be certified and given to you.
A commission should come to your home from the housing office to inspect and draw up the act. It includes the chief engineer, the foreman of the site, a representative of the Criminal Code and a plumber. The following information should be indicated in the document:
- Description of the problem and the reasons for its occurrence.
- Date of registration of the act, address and apartment number.
- Signatures of all members of the commission indicating their positions.
- A defective statement listing all the spoiled things.
In addition, probable latent damage due to the negative effect of moisture absorbed into the overlap is indicated.
After the act has been drawn up, an assessment of the damage will be required. Organizations of the corresponding profile are engaged in this for a fee. Specialists will assess the cost of damage, fill out a document on the extent of damage.
Do not agree that the inspection of the premises was carried out only by an employee of the housing department. He will not be able to draw up a full-fledged act, which is needed to appeal to the court. If the service organizations refuse to meet you, you can complain to the prosecutor.
