Leak from upstairs flat brought down ceiling

[BankFodder]

But are they wet electrics in their flat or in yours?

And what you say about them saying that it is your responsibility to carry out the works? You told us originally that you gave them a deal because they undertook to carry out the repairs. You haven't responded to this question

[axil23]

Wet electronics are in my flat. 

If you can imagine a terraced house. So their bathroom is directly above mine. Basically between their bathtub and my ceiling is 18mm timber floor and then 12mm plasterboard. If their bath leaks upstairs all water falls directly below onto the ceiling. The plasterboard above the taps area of the bath has fallen. The rest of the water is running on the plasterboard and finding its way to the lowest place which is the hole is for the ceiling lights. 

My reply to them was - 

See pictures attached of where the leak is coming from and the ceiling which fell down earlier today. 

 

If you don’t resolve this within 24hrs from now I will have to get the work done myself and claim the expense through you. As you can see the water is coming from the bath upstairs so how can this be my responsibility?

[BankFodder]

I may have misunderstood. You are saying that their position is that they are not allowed to carry out work on your property – only on theirs.

Submit the H & S form straightaway.

Send them an email separately

 

Quote

I have completed the H & S form as requested by you.

However, I would point out to you that we are on the verge of a bank holiday weekend. I'm happy to comply with all formalities and I have done so.
However, I hope we can work together on this because the persistent and recurring leak which has caused problems on at least four or five occasions needs to be fully addressed as a matter of urgency.
At the very least, the downstairs flat which has been affected by the leak from the premises controlled by yourselves is now in a dangerous condition because the electrics are wet, there is a fuse which is constantly being tripped as a result of moisture and although I am attempting to put repairs to the downstairs electrical system in hand, I need to commission works to deal with the source of the moisture which is the leak in your property.

I'd be grateful if exceptionally as a matter of urgency, you could grant me immediate permission to have leak on your premises inspected and to receive quotations for a full repair.

As you can imagine, this matter needs to be dealt with quickly and I'd be very grateful for a rapid reply to this email.

Signed

check this email above. See if it misses anything, if anything is incorrect, whether you want to add anything – let us know. Once we have seen what you are going to send them, then you should click it off straight away

[BankFodder]

And we have crossposted.
I have just seen the message which which you say that you have sent to them. I have already made it clear that you should not be confrontation with them at this stage and yet you have done precisely that.

The idea is to get in and get the work done and sort out the claims later on. Now you have sent an aggressive and challenging message and of course the chances of getting any kind of goodwill out of them is substantially reduced.

You need to get into a new mindset about this. It's about being stealthy.

Don't send any more messages until we see them if you want us to help you

[axil23]

Ok. Understood 

I have sent off the H&S form. Also told the tenant upstairs not to use bath till its fixed but they aren't listening. Am I allowed to turn off the water if they use the bath again before its fixed?  I realise that water is a necessity but I am more worried about the wet electronics as that could cause more serious issues. 

[BankFodder]

No I wouldn't turn off the water. I wouldn't take any more action which ends up in a confrontation.

I would only think about turning off the water if I had a qualified electrician who came in and gave me a notice which certified that the elections were dangerous as a result of the leak.

If you want to put this in hand and this will give you some leverage. However I do think that the likelihood is that your conflict oriented message to them has set you back very badly.

  

15 hours ago, BankFodder said:

Don't get into an arguement about who is going to pay the money .

Your objective at the moment is to get the independent quotations and then to put the work in hand.

Don't rock the boat

 

 

I'm not sure which part of this advice you didn't manage to understand

[axil23]

This has been going one for months now. The message I sent was 2 days back before I came here seeking advice. 

[BankFodder]

Okay – sorry for being grumpy. I hadn't realised

[Nicky Boy]

BankFodder, grumpy?

Never!

It never ceases to amaze me that all this detailed stuff can be done on a forum without some serious fallouts...

[axil23]

I wasn't aware. Do you mean I am doing something wrong by asking for advice and giving out technical information? 

If so I can stop. 

[Nicky Boy]

No, by fallouts, I meant between forum users...

 

Keep going, BankFodder will steer you right...

Edited May 25, 2023 by Nicky Boy

[BankFodder]

The point that I'm making is that they must be lulled into a sense that you are going along with it and that you will put the repairs into effect and that you will pay for them and that you will pay for the damage downstairs.

The important thing is to get the damage properly quoted for by various sources and then to get the damage repaired.

Later on we can demonstrate that you have done everything you can to communicate with them, to make sure that you have selected the best repair solution in a fair and transparent manner – and that you have either chosen the cheapest or at least the most effective.

Once you have the quotations, we will show the quotations to them and ask them to comment. The important thing is that you must be able to show that they were informed at all times as to what was going on.
This kind of transparency will pay dividends later on.

As soon as you start getting into conflict, they will pull up drawbridges and you will find things very much more difficult and you may then have to enter by force in order to abate the nuisance. This is permissible in law and if they make it impossible to carry out the repairs then this is what I'm going to advise you – but for the moment, let's try and do things gently and with an air of friendliness. In other words, let's get things done by stealth.