Gauteng · Vetted local plumbers
How much does leak detection cost?
It depends on how the leak is found and what has to be opened up afterwards. Before you pay anybody, do the free test: close every tap and watch the water meter for fifteen minutes. If it does not move, you may not have a leak at all.
Why there is no rand figure here
Each plumber we work with prices their own jobs, and the one who takes yours quotes before any work starts. We are not going to copy a figure off another website or an industry average instead. You would plan around it, and it would not be the price of your job.
What we can tell you is what moves the price and what to ask, so the quote you get makes sense and two quotes can be compared.
The longer answer
Finding a leak and fixing it are two jobs. Ask for them to be priced separately, so you are not agreeing to the repair before anyone knows where the leak is or what it involves.
Finding it: listening equipment, a pressure test on one section of pipe at a time, and sometimes a thermal camera for pipes in walls and floors. The point is to open one patch of wall or floor, not the whole room.
If the meter did not move but the bill jumped, it is probably the reading, not a leak. Take a dated photo of the meter and query the bill with your municipality. No plumber can fix that for you.
What decides the price
| Leak detection | Whether it is found acoustically or with a pressure test, or whether flooring has to come up. Ask for the finding and the fixing to be priced separately, so you are not agreeing to the second before anyone knows what it is. |
|---|---|
| Burst and leaking pipes | Where the pipe runs. An accessible joint is quick; a pipe in a wall or under a slab means opening something up and making it good again, and the making-good is often the larger half. |
Ask before they start
- How will you find it, and what does the finding cost on its own?
- What do I pay if you do not find it?
- Who makes good the wall or floor afterwards, and is that in the quote?
- Will I get a written note of what you found, for my insurer?
- Is the call-out charged separately, and does it come off the bill if I go ahead?
- Is that including VAT?
- Is this a fixed quote or an estimate that can move once you open it up? If it can move, by how much?
- Are you supplying the parts, and what is the guarantee on them?
- Will I get a Certificate of Compliance, and is it in the price?
Questions people ask
How much does leak detection cost in South Africa?
It depends on how the leak is found and what has to be opened up afterwards. Ask for the finding and the fixing to be priced separately. And do the free test first: close every tap and watch the meter for fifteen minutes. If it does not move, you may not need anyone to find a leak.
My water bill is high but the meter does not move. Do I need leak detection?
Probably not. If the meter stands still with every tap closed, the bill is more likely a reading problem than a leak. Take a dated photo of the meter and query the bill with your municipality.
The job, and other price questions
Tell us what is wrong
Takes under a minute. A plumber near your area phones you back and quotes before any work starts. There is nothing to pay to be put in touch.