Leak detection and pipe tracing in Bolton

What it costs

Why me

I am a WaterSafe approved contractor, which means I am authorised to work on drinking water supplies and work to the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations. On the evidence of my own research, no other firm in Bolton publishes that approval.

How it works

The investigation fee covers the diagnostic work itself and is payable wherever the leak turns out to be. If I establish that it is outside your property boundary on the water company’s main rather than your private supply pipe, responsibility for the repair rests with them — and I confirm that finding in writing so you can report it.

Any repair identified as a result — pipe replacement, excavation, reinstatement — is not included in the investigation fee and is quoted separately once the location and method are confirmed.

How a trace actually goes

1. I isolate before I look. Meter test, stop tap, and a pressure check to establish that there is a leak at all and roughly how fast it is losing.
2. Acoustic first, thermal second. Listening equipment on accessible pipework and fittings, then thermal imaging where a run is under a floor. For a buried supply pipe outside, that is where a correlator comes in — it works out the distance along the pipe from the sound reaching each end, which is the one method that does not depend on getting near it. None of them lift anything.
3. I mark the location and tell you what it will take to reach it. Including whose pipe it turns out to be, in writing, so you can take it to the water company or your insurer.
4. Access and repair are quoted separately. The trace fee buys the finding. What it costs to get at the leak depends on where it is, and you get that figure before anybody cuts.

Who does the work, and what I am assessed to do

Every visit is made by me. Gas Safe registered under 917962, a member of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering under 129130, WaterSafe approved for work on drinking water supplies, and City & Guilds trained, with over fifteen years in the trade.

Tracing water and then working on a drinking supply are two different competences, and both are assessed:

Also held on the gas side: TPCP1A for testing and purging pipework, so if a loss of pressure turns out to be on a gas line rather than a water one, it is still the same visit and the same engineer.

Away from gas, assessed by NICEIC in December 2024: Unvented Hot Water Storage Systems, installation and servicing, in compliance with G3 of Approved Document G; the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999; energy efficiency for domestic heating and hot water systems; solar thermal hot water; and air source heat pumps. Behind all of that sit a BTEC National Diploma in electrical and electronic engineering and City & Guilds electrical installation training — useful for understanding controls and wiring centres, though I am not an electrical contractor and do not present myself as one.

None of it is a badge you buy. Gas Safe registration is renewed annually and the gas work I notify can be inspected. CIPHE members are vetted before joining, have to keep their skills current, and answer to an independent complaints panel. Every number here is checkable on somebody else’s website rather than mine — the credentials page tells you where.

Further information

Water coming through a ceiling right now is a different job — emergency plumbing tells you what to do before anyone arrives. If the pressure loss is on the heating rather than the mains, heating system maintenance covers the expansion vessel, the radiators and the rest of the circuit.

CMG’s terms set out the guarantee in full: 24 months on my workmanship, running from the day the work is done, alongside the manufacturer’s own guarantee on any part rather than after it.