Leak coming from upstairs in a flat - help what should I do? long sorry!

What a nightmare

The management company are unlikely to do anything as they usually only deal with the common areas of the building.

You need to agree with him that either he will call a plumber out, or you will call them, and find out what it is. If you call one and it's in his flat then he needs to be in, and agree to pay the bill if it is coming from his.

If I was him I would be getting my own plumber in

This happened to us. firstly you need to turn off your power in the flat - water dripping through your light fittings is not good. Get back upstairs and tell him that unless he calls out an emergency plumber you will.. and should the leak prove to be coming from his flat (which it will!) you will be claiming any costs from him via your insurance company. We claimed for a new carpet and having our hall and bedroom redecorated ? but the bloke upstairs was very reasonable about it and we just settled between ourselves...

I agree with Ice Queen

I'd tell him that unless he arranges an emergency plumber to come out today, you'll be calling one yourself as it's coming through the light fitting and therefore very dangerous, and you'll let him know when the plumber arrives so he can be there for the "diagnosis"

It's at least given him the opportunity to arrange the plumber on his terms, but there's no way you should have to live with water coming through a light fitting

Hope you get it sorted!

Thanks everyone for getting to the end of my epic post!

I'm not sure how long to give him to arrange an emergency plumber on his terms before I go back up and say I'm not waiting anymore and will ring one of my own.

The safety aspect is really freaking me out - I don't want to even go in to that room today!

ebee - you mentioned insurance company - is a leak like that something that would go through the building insurance, or contents, the two are seperate as the building insurance covers the whole block, not just us and it's organised by the management company so if it's buildings insurance I'm probably going to have to go through them.

Does your management company have an emergency number? One point is that the longer this is left the more expensive it is likely to become for the upstairs person as the water spreads further through the electrics and more of your stuff gets damaged. Water could be leaking from a pipe behind the washing machine or a concealed pipe so lack of water upstairs is no sign that it isn't coming from there, which it will be. Is there a balcony positioned where blocked drainage would let water seep through to your bedroom ceiling?

I think it would be buildings if it is a pipe that is part of the building iykwim but contents if it is the washing machine. Either way I'd go now and tell him you are calling an emergency plumber which you will be billing him for should the cause of the problem be from him. Then keep all records of conversations with him (even in a notebook) and receipts etc from the plumber should you need to claim off someone/insurance.

Is there something from the management company to outline what should be done in an emergency fromt he pov of the building?

Tanta - Management company has no emergency number. I am worried that the longer it's left the more damage will be done - there is no water dripping at the minute, the fact that it's intermittent makes me think it's something to do with the drainage for his washing machine or dishwasher! There are no balconies in the building either that could be causing it.

Jaz - thanks for the info on the info on the insurance. I went up and he didn't answer his door when I knocked (I knocked solidly for about 5 minutes as I'm getting more and more annoyed!) The management company has no policies for what should be done in these circumstances which is why I'm in such a flap!

Jules thanks for the info on the powers of the management company - if he's not going to answer his door all day to me, I can see that being something that I might have to consider!

I just don't understand the guys logic - if it's damaging my ceiling the odds are it's doing damage to his floor - I'd be freaking out just as much in his shoes as I am in mine - not talking about getting some mate who fixes washing machines to look at it during the week!

You have my utmost sympathy as I have been in a similar situation with the flat above mine for over a year now without resolution. If the flat is privately owned then the management company wont have powers to enter the flat without permission as its private property. I ended up having to contact the council's environmental health team who were great but it was a lengthy process to get a warrant to enter the property and the day before they were due to do it, the person who owned the flat above moved out the tenants and just switched off the water supply which meant the warrant couldnt be enforced as he had stopped the water leaking even though he hadnt resolved the cause of the leak. Im now stuck in a situation where he moves people in for short term leases, after a while the leak starts again and when the council start the process to force entry he moves them out again!

If the water leaking becomes more serious and the ceiling is in danger of collapse I was advised to call the police but mine was just a slow drip and they advised they would only get involved once the ceiling had actually fallen down.

Sorry I couldnt be more helpful but hope you find a resolution soon.

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