Last week I reported on a water leak issue that had damaged the carpets in our brand new medical premises. Well, since then I have learned many things about water leaks! The cause and solution maybe very simple but they can also be diabolical and difficult to fix.

I learned about these things called “flashings” that prevent water leaking in from joins or between adjoining properties. These hadn’t been installed. As often occurs in a building dispute, noone was willing to take ownership of the problem. In the end I got an independent plumber to install them for me. Alas, the very next day there was still water leaking in. So I got the tradie to cut a hole in the plasterboard where most of the water was coming in. To our dismay and relief we found a very simple solution to the problem. The air-conditioning outflow pipe wasn’t hooked upto the “trap” which catches the water. As a result, the water was leaking into the cavity between two rooms and flooding the floor.

It would seem to be the kind of thing that a first year apprentice would learn in his first week of training! I don’t think it was negligence. I do think these kinds of things happen due to pure carelessness. The problem is that I don’t think there was anything that I could have done differently to prevent the problem. I’m a body plumber not a house plumber! Even we rely on professionals to get the job done correctly. In the medical field we conduct regular audits of our work. It’s not a blame game. It’s just a way to make sure that all possible actions were taken and to make sure that future errors or complications do not occur. I wonder if the same exists in the building industry?

Anyway, all life lessons and there’s plenty of worse things happening in the world! For those of you coming to see me as a patient, I hope you enjoy our new set up!

In Health and Wellness.