Leak detection in Sydney: Sydney Water's hidden leak allowance

Sydney Water’s hidden leak allowance is defined as much by what it excludes as by what it pays. Half the usage charge for the worst quarter, once every five years — but not if the leak showed itself as wet grass, not if it was a tap or a cistern, and not if you knew about it. Read the exclusions before you call a plumber, because they decide whether the paperwork is worth keeping.

What qualifies, and what does not

The credit is 50% of the water usage charge for the most impacted quarter. For a residential property that is the whole of it: the plumber, any detection and the repair are separate. The wet-grass exclusion is the one that surprises people. A leak that has been making a patch of lawn green for months is, in Sydney Water’s terms, not hidden — which is a reason to look at the garden as well as the meter.

The one-hour meter test

Sydney Water’s test is longer than several others read for this site: note the numbers on the dial, use no water for at least an hour, then check the last numbers again. If they have changed, there is a leak. An hour catches slower leaks than a fifteen-minute test, and it is worth doing overnight if you can, with every tap, appliance and irrigation system off. Photograph the meter at the start and end; the after-repair photo is part of the application.

If the meter moves, check the excluded things first, because they are cheaper to fix and do not qualify anyway: a cistern running into the pan, a dripping tap, the hot water relief valve. Only then is it a hidden leak and a job for a leak detector.

Two practical points about the allowance itself. It is credited against the quarter most affected, so the bill that first shows the jump is the one to keep. And because it is one allowance every five years for the property, not the owner, a buyer inherits the clock: a house whose previous owner claimed three years ago has two years before it can claim again. Sydney Water also runs a paid concealed-leak detection program, WaterFix; whether you use it or a private detector, the written finding is what the application needs.

Whose pipe it is, and the damage

On the water supply, Sydney Water owns the main and the meter; the pipes from the meter to the house are maintained by the owner. So detection and repair on that side are the owner’s, and hipages publishes leak detection at $168 to $400 nationally, indicative. Ask the detector for a written report saying how the leak was found and where; it is the evidence the allowance needs.

In a strata building, a leak in pipes in the boundary walls or under the floor is usually common property, and the owners corporation’s to repair (Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) s 106(1)). In a rental, a burst water service is an urgent repair, and a tenant who cannot reach the landlord can arrange it up to $1,000.

If it has already damaged the house. A hidden leak that ran long enough to show on a quarterly bill has usually wet something: a wall base, a slab edge, a subfloor. The water damage can be a listed event as an escape of liquid (Insurance Contracts Regulations 2017 (Cth) reg 19(1)(a)(vi)); the allowance and the insurance claim are separate, and you can pursue both. The national leak guide compares every utility’s allowance, and the Sydney page covers the strata and rebuild rules.

Common questions