Call 0333 567 2615

Leak detection for shopping centres

Multi-tenant leaks, shared risers, service corridors and units stacked on top of each other. We find the source and tell you whose it is.

Call 0333 567 2615

In a shopping centre the wet patch and the leak are often in different units, on different floors and under different leases. Water from a unit above travels along the slab and appears in a tenant’s ceiling, the landlord’s service corridor or the car park below. Until someone finds the source, everyone is arguing about who pays.

We locate the leak wherever it is: a tenant’s washroom, a shared riser, a plant room, a roof gutter or a mains pipe beneath the mall. The report names the source and the route the water took, which is what centre management, tenants and insurers need to settle responsibility and get the repair done.

Where leaks hide in a shopping centre.

The usual suspects for this format, in the order we tend to find them.

Shared risers and service ducts

Vertical services feeding several units. A weeping joint high in the riser can show up two floors down.

Units above units

Kitchens, toilets and plant in an upper unit sit directly over someone else’s ceiling. The stain is theirs; the leak is not.

Mall roof and rooflights

Long runs of gutter, rooflight glazing and plant penetrations. Water tracks along beams before it drips.

Car park decks and podium slabs

Leaks through deck waterproofing, expansion joints and the mains beneath the ground-floor slab.

Food court and washroom blocks

Concentrated plumbing with heavy use. Floor drains, grease traps and cistern feeds all fail quietly.

Landlord plant rooms

Boilers, calorifiers and pressurised heating circuits serving common areas. Pressure loss with no visible water means a buried pipe.

How we work on your premises.

The same non-invasive methods as every job, planned for the way this kind of premises actually runs.

  1. Access arranged through centre management

    We work with your security and management team for unit access and keys, and we keep tenants informed of what we need and when.

  2. Service corridors and risers

    Much of the pipework in a centre runs through back-of-house corridors, risers and plant rooms, so a lot of the survey happens out of sight of shoppers.

  3. The route as well as the source

    We record where the water entered, where it travelled and where it surfaced, so responsibility between landlord and tenant is clear.

  4. One survey, several leases

    Where a leak crosses demises we survey both sides in the same visit and issue one report that both parties can rely on.

What you get from a survey.

Every job ends with the same things: the location, the cause, the evidence and a report you can hand to someone else.

  • The source of the leak and which demise it sits in
  • The route the water took from source to damage
  • A report accepted by tenants, landlords and their insurers
  • Thermal images and photographs of the evidence
  • Advice on isolating and repairing without closing the mall

Shopping centres: your questions.

What managers in this sector ask before they book.

More questions
A tenant’s ceiling is wet but the unit above says they have no leak. Can you settle it?

Yes. We survey the unit above, the void between and the surrounding services, then report exactly where the water is coming from. That usually ends the disagreement.

Will shoppers notice the survey?

Very little. The equipment is hand-held and quiet, and detection is non-invasive, so there is no digging or floor-lifting to cordon off.

Who should book: the landlord or the tenant?

Either. We are regularly instructed by centre management, managing agents, tenants and insurers. Whoever books, the report describes the source and the route so it is useful to everyone involved.

Will you need to open the ceiling?

Usually not. Thermal imaging and moisture mapping read through plasterboard and tiles. If a small inspection opening is needed we agree it first and keep it to the confirmed spot.

Do you cover several centres for one management company?

Yes. With engineers across England, Scotland and Wales we can look after a portfolio of centres with the same report format for each.

Related services.

Roof & ceiling leaks

Flat roofs, rooflights, box gutters and drips from the unit above. We trace the water back to where it gets in, which is rarely where it shows up.

Find out more

Washrooms & staff areas

Customer toilets, staff kitchens and cleaners’ cupboards. Small rooms with a lot of pipework, and the source of most damp patches next door.

Find out more

Damp & structural ingress

Penetrating damp, basement stock rooms and party walls. Moisture mapping shows what is a leak and what is condensation.

Find out more

Water mains & underground

Supply pipes under car parks, service yards and slab floors. The usual suspect behind a water bill that has quietly doubled.

Find out more

Speak to the team about your leak.

One call gets a leak engineer moving. Our methods are non-invasive, so there is usually nothing to dig up, and you get a written report ready for your insurer.

Call 0333 567 2615

Engineers across England, Scotland and Wales. £5 million public liability insurance.