Sydenham Leak Detection Pricing

No fixed package, no padded quote. Leak detection work is charged on an hourly basis, so a straightforward job costs less than a complex one and you are never paying for time we did not spend at your property. Call us, tell us the postcode and the symptom, and we will give you our rate and a realistic estimate before you book. Most homeowners reclaim the cost in full under their buildings insurance.

What's Included

Whatever the job takes, the hourly rate covers the engineer, the full kit and the paperwork — there is no separate charge for any of the following:

• Same-day engineer attendance in Sydenham (booked before noon, usually)
• Full non-invasive detection survey using thermal imaging, tracer gas, acoustic microphones, endoscopic camera and moisture meters as the property requires
• Pressure testing to confirm and isolate the leaking circuit
• Pinpointed location of the leak to within a few centimetres
• First-fix repair where the leak is accessible and we can complete the work that day
• Written trace and access report with photos, thermal images, findings, and an itemised invoice — formatted for your buildings insurer
• 12-month leak-free guarantee on any repair we carry out
• Direct liaison with your insurer or claims handler, if you'd like us to

Insurance Reimbursement

Nearly every UK home buildings insurance policy includes a "trace and access" clause that covers the cost of locating a leak — typically with its own claim limit of £5,000 to £10,000, separate from the damage repair itself. Our detection charges are exactly what that clause is designed to reimburse.

In practice, most of our customers settle our invoice up-front, submit our report and itemised invoice to their insurer, and are reimbursed in full within a few weeks. Because we bill by the hour, the invoice shows exactly what the time was spent on — which is precisely the detail insurers ask for. Some insurers will pay us direct; we're happy to arrange that where the policy allows.

If you're not sure whether your policy covers trace and access, give us a call before you book. We'll talk through the wording and tell you honestly whether it'll be reimbursed.

Out-Of-Scope Work

Our hourly rate covers detection and first-fix repair. The following are quoted separately as a job price, and only after we've finished the detection work:

• Larger repairs — replacing a section of pipework, repressurising and bleeding a heating system, fitting new valves, re-running buried mains
• Reinstatement — making good plasterwork, screed, tiling, flooring or decoration after a repair
• Emergency / out-of-hours callouts — surveys outside our standard hours, on bank holidays, or with under 4 hours' notice. Premium agreed before we attend.
• Complex commercial premises — multi-floor buildings, plant rooms, district heating, or restricted-access sites. Priced on inspection.

You'll never get a surprise on the invoice. We tell you where we've got to and what the running time is before we pass any estimate we've given you, and anything beyond detection and first-fix is quoted, written down, and confirmed by you before that work starts.

Why We Charge By The Hour

Every leak is different. A pinhole on an accessible hot feed can be found and fixed inside an hour; a buried mains leak under a driveway, or an intermittent loss on a large heating system, can take a full day and several methods. A single headline price for both means somebody is overpaying — usually the simple job, subsidising the hard one.

Charging for time on site keeps that honest. You pay for a trained engineer, several thousand pounds of specialist equipment per visit, the time the job genuinely takes, and a written report that holds up to insurer scrutiny — and nothing else.

Be wary of a very low headline price. It usually means one of three things: methods are being skipped (a moisture meter and nothing else, for example), the engineer will guess and recommend you "open up and have a look", or the extras appear once they're on your doorstep. We give you our rate and an honest estimate of the hours before you commit, and what's listed above is what we hand over.

The Two Commitments

You Only Pay For Time On Site

The clock starts when the engineer arrives and stops when they leave. There is no callout fee, no minimum package, no charge for travel, quoting or writing up the report afterwards. If we finish faster than estimated, the invoice is smaller — we don't round up to a package price.

12-Month Leak-Free

For repairs we carry out, the specific repair is guaranteed against recurrence for 12 months. If it fails, we come back and re-fix it at no charge. Excludes new leaks elsewhere in the system, third-party damage, and fair wear and tear.

How To Pay

• Card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex): taken on the day, in person
• Bank transfer: account details on the invoice, payment within 7 days
• Insurer direct payment: where your policy allows and the claim is pre-approved

We invoice the same day the work is completed. VAT is shown separately on every invoice.

Ready To Get A Price?

Call us on 020 8050 4690. We'll give you our hourly rate, an honest estimate of how long your job should take, book your slot, and stop the damage spreading.