Wastewater investigation guide

If a property owner asks you to check a blocked wastewater pipe as a licensed plumber, you must follow these steps:

1. Find the overflow
   If there's a continuous overflow from a gully or fitting and no showers, toilets or washing machines are running, the blockage is likely in our system.
2. Check for overflows on neighbouring properties
   Ask neighbours if they also have issues. If they do, the blockage is likely in our system.
3. Locate and clear private blockages
   If the overflow isn't continuous, use drain-clearing tools to check and clear any blockages in the private plumbing service.
4. Call us if you can't clear the blockage
   Call 13 20 90 straight away. Provide your licence number, name and contact number. We'll give you a work order number and send our crew to check and clear our main line. Don't start digging before calling us. We must inspect our main line first.
5. See how much we can do
   Our crew will check our access chambers. They'll jet the wastewater pipe with high-pressure water. If our pipe is clear and the private service is still blocked, the blockage is in the customer's system. The customer must pay for those repairs.
6. Make sure the work is eligible
   – Claims can be made for up to 2 hours work.
   – We only assess claims for work carried out by licensed plumbers, and we check licence numbers.
   – We must confirm that the blockage is in our pipes before a claim can be made.

Claims can be made for:

• reasonable costs for a single visit
• excavation or CCTV work if we approved it before you started
• road-opening costs if we approved excavation.

Claims cannot be made for:

• work on the property owner's private plumbing
• loss, damage or retrieval of tools or equipment, including eels or CCTV cameras
• locating private surface fittings
• digging to find the inspection opening for the private service
• digging at the wastewater junction unless a takeover was approved and followed correctly.