When drainage issues crop up in a commercial or residential setting, more than one household is typically inconvenienced. Problems can affect operations, and repairs can be costly, while there could also be associated health and safety risks for staff, residents or customers.
So getting drainage right is about more than just good housekeeping – it’s key to protecting your business, whether you’re responsible for blocks of flats as a maintenance company or landlord, housing association or local authority.
Leaks can undermine foundations and cause structural damage if they persist. At the same time, you risk pest infestations or potential damp issues, which can be hugely expensive to repair.
What would count as ‘Effective Drainage’ at a residential premises?
It’s all about more than having plugholes with water flowing easily down them. Here’s how your drainage should be:
- Free-flowing: That means no sluggish drains, nasty smells or standing water.
- Compliant: That means meeting all local authority standards and building regulations. While the latter lay out minimum requirements for drainage installation and design, local authorities outline further regulations.
- Regular maintenance: Including proactive cleaning and inspections rather than a reactive, ‘sticking plaster’ approach.
What are the implications of non-compliance?
Potentially, unsanitary facilities can be closed down. Other possible problems you’ll want to avoid include liability claims should bad drainage lead to illness or injury, insurance complications if systems have been badly maintained and even possible regulatory action which could lead to reputational damage.
What should a sensible drainage regime include?
Documented maintenance, regular inspections and a generally proactive, structured approach to maintenance will all help show you take drainage seriously. These things will also mean drainage niggles don’t become costly disasters.
- Schedule regular cleaning rather than leaving this to chance.
- Have an emergency response plan so you know what to do in the event of an emergency. It could make all the difference between a small issue and a significant incident.
- Have a pre-planned maintenance contract with a professional specialist, and you remove the guesswork. Experts will notice potential future issues during their routine visits, before any disruption is caused.
- Resident awareness also has a part to play, including, for example, straightforward information about what shouldn’t go down drains (such as kitchen wipes and cooking oil).
How drainage specialists can help
A drainage contractor in Essex and elsewhere can help solve problems and ensure they don’t happen again.
When it comes to emergency response, for example, a professional team can frequently fix an issue cost-effectively in hours rather than days. What’s more, modern technology, including drain jetting to handle blockages and so on, can identify and deal with problems at an early stage.
Regular Drainage Maintenance
At the same time, regular preventative maintenance and CCTV surveys pinpoint weaknesses, facilitating small repairs and avoiding major works. You can also schedule routine cleaning and diagnostics so that these activities cause minimal disruption.
In some older or high-use sites, you may see broken or cracked pipework. Often, drainage repairs can be done these days without the need to excavate floors. Equally, where there are misaligned joints or collapsed drains, these can cause repeat blockages. But modern CCTV equipment can identify and sort these quickly. Because non-domestic drainage can incorporate multiple standards and systems, professionals are best equipped to handle these.
Specialist Drainage Removals
Finally, if concrete or other building debris gets into a drain, this may need specialist removal.
Put simply, DIY techniques which may be fine for domestic drains simply won’t work in commercial settings. And while commercial drainage may not be the most exciting aspect of running a commercial site, it’s nonetheless hugely important. So don’t wait until a crisis happens before taking action.
Commercial drainage services in Essex from Clear Drains 4 U
At Clear Drains 4 U, we’ve delivered a wide portfolio of commercial drainage services in Essex to landlords, public authorities, businesses and others for more than 22 years. We’ve worked with offices, schools, hotels, bars, restaurants, holiday parks and more. And we could help you, too.
Proud to call ourselves a family firm, we cover a wide area including Suffolk and Essex. Plus, we don’t charge for callouts – and the set fee we quote includes a year-long guarantee. Our services include drain unblocking and cleaning, and CCTV surveys.
Get in touch today to see how Clear Drains 4 could help you. Call the friendly, professional team today on 01206 763353, and we’ll take it from there.
