Blocked sewer: the Byron Shire way
Get a plumber to check the boundary shaft
Also called the sewer riser or inspection point, it's where your private drain joins Council's main. Keep it easy to reach.
Not holding water, but the house drains are blocked
The blockage is on your side, and clearing it is the homeowner's cost.
Holding water
The blockage is Council's to clear. A plumber, owner or tenant can phone it in, and Council sends a crew.
Get the plumber's invoice to Council
If the blockage was Council's, it pays only for the first hour, up to $120, to cover working out where the blockage is. It won't pay for finding the inspection point, after-hours or call-out fees, and your plumber must invoice Council directly.
Byron Bay, plumbing-wise
Almost half the homes aren't houses
At the 2021 Census, only 55.6% of occupied homes in the suburb of Byron Bay were separate houses; 24.7% were semis, terraces or townhouses and 12.6% flats or apartments.
Many renters, many empty homes
40.1% of occupied homes were rented, and 29.9% of private dwellings were unoccupied on Census night, against 9.4% across NSW.
Warm and wet
Cape Byron AWS recorded no days at or below 2°C between 2002 and 2026; its lowest reading is 6.5°C. It averages 1523.8 mm of rain a year.
Water from Rocky Creek Dam
All urban areas in Byron Shire get their water from Rocky Creek Dam, which Rous County Council manages. Under a Water Supply Agreement, Byron Shire Council maintains water quality in its reservoirs and pipe network.
Stormwater and street trees
Council makes the owner responsible for everything inside the property boundary, including all drainage up to the kerb and gutter, downpipes and stormwater pits. If your stormwater connects to Council's system and needs work, an application to carry out plumbing and drainage works is required. And don't run roof water pipes within 3m of a street tree without Council approval. See stormwater.
NSW licence and paperwork
In NSW, contracting for plumbing, drainage or gasfitting of any value needs a contractor licence; check it on the Public Register. Drainage work comes with a Sewer Service Diagram, and at the end the plumber lodges a Certificate of Compliance and gives you a copy. Our NSW page explains.
In a block of units or a townhouse, ask the strata manager about shared pipes before booking. For specific jobs: blocked drains, hot water, leak detection, emergency plumbing.
What we would do
When drains back up, have the plumber look in the boundary shaft before doing anything else. If it's holding water, stop and report it to Council: that's Council's job, and its contribution depends on the plumber invoicing it. Keep the inspection point uncovered so nobody bills you for hunting it down.