Who pays for a blockage depending on where it is, how the exact point is located, and what to do when dirty water comes up through the ground-floor shower tray. A guide for residents and administrators.
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It is one of the most common arguments in apartment blocks in Mallorca: dirty water comes up through a ground-floor shower tray, and nobody knows whether the owner or the building pays. The answer almost always comes down to one thing: where the blockage is.
In most buildings the criterion is this: pipework serving a single flat is private and its owner pays. From the point where that branch joins the main soil stack, the installation is communal and the building pays.
So a blockage in your sink or your basin is yours, while a blockage inside the vertical stack or in the communal inspection chamber belongs to the building. It is worth checking the statutes, because some communities have their own arrangements, but this is the usual split.
A clue that rarely fails: if the problem affects more than one flat, or if the water comes up through the lowest fitting in the building, the blockage is in the communal section.
It is not that the downstairs neighbour has done anything wrong. When a stack blocks, the water from every floor above comes down and backs up on top of the blockage. It looks for the first way out it can find, and that is the lowest drain in the building: usually the shower tray, the bath or the gully of a ground-floor flat or shop.
Which is why the person suffering the damage is almost never the person who caused it.
Before breaking into anything, the job is to see where the blockage is. That is done with an inspection camera: it goes in through a chamber or the drain itself and travels along the pipe with the image shown live.
The camera tells you how many metres away the obstruction is, what is causing it (grease, wet wipes, roots, limescale, a badly made joint or a broken pipe) and whether the problem is going to come back. That is what lets you decide whether clearing it is enough or a section needs repairing.
The blockage is then cleared with a high-pressure jetting machine or an electric rodding machine as appropriate, and the camera goes through again to confirm the pipe is properly clean and not merely punctured.
For an administrator or a chair of the residents’ association, the camera footage is worth its weight in gold: it is objective proof of where the blockage was and who has to pay for it. We supply it with the report.
After enough call-outs, the list is always the same:
If dirty water is coming up right now:
A preventive clean of the stacks and collectors every one or two years costs considerably less than a single flooding incident on the ground floor, with its insurance claim, its building work and its arguments at the meeting.
In buildings with restaurants or bars on the ground floor, where a lot of grease goes down the drain, the interval should be shorter.
Have this problem at home? Call us on 631 290 026 and we will tell you on the phone whether it is an easy fix and what it costs, before we set off.
"My stopcock broke at three in the morning and the house was flooding. They arrived in exactly 25 minutes and sorted it. Faultless, very professional service."
"After calling four plumbers who never turned up, they quoted me on WhatsApp, arrived on time and replaced the water heater without making any mess. Ten out of ten."
"I had a terrible blockage in the kitchen sink that nothing would shift. They brought a special machine and it was clear in ten minutes. Fair price and excellent manner."
"Quick response, efficient and very good work. They came out on a public holiday and solved the problem."
"Very effective. He came quickly and, once he had given the quote, fixed the fault. I recommend him."
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It depends where the blockage is. If it is in pipework serving a single flat, that owner pays. If it is in the main stack, the collector or the communal chamber, the building pays. That is why it is worth locating the point with an inspection camera before repairing: the footage settles who is responsible.
No. When the main stack blocks, the water from the upper floors looks for the first way out, and that is the lowest drain in the building. The ground-floor neighbour suffers the problem, but the cause is above.
It is risky. If it is an emergency and damage is ongoing, act and document everything with photos and the camera report. But tell the administrator as soon as possible: without that notice and without proof that the blockage was communal, the building can refuse to cover it.
No, even if the packet says biodegradable. They do not break up the way toilet paper does and they are the leading cause of stack blockages. The same goes for cotton buds, sanitary towels, dental floss and cooking oil.
A normal blockage is dealt with in one or two hours. If several sections need camera inspection or the stack is in poor condition it can take longer. We give a fixed price before starting.
Yes. We look after buildings across the island, with a report and inspection footage for the meeting and an invoice in the name of the residents’ association. We also carry out scheduled preventive cleaning.
Fontaneros Mallorca is a plumbing business based on the island, specialising in emergencies, blocked drains, leak detection and water treatment. We work across the whole island every day: Palma, Manacor, Inca, Calvià, Campos and everywhere else.
15 years working on Mallorcan plumbing: hard water, salt air on the coast and the old installations of village houses.
Registered activity, VAT invoice on every job and public liability insurance.
We tell you the price by phone or WhatsApp before we set off. No call-out charge if we do the repair.
2-year guarantee on the installation, and first-quality materials with the manufacturer's own warranty.
Fontaneros Mallorca · Tel. 631 290 026 · We come to you anywhere in Mallorca (Balearic Islands) · Company details and legal notice
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