Burleigh Heads facts that change the job
Apartment country
The 2021 Census found 46.7% of the suburb's occupied homes were flats or apartments, against 12.5% across Queensland. Separate houses were 39.0%, and 33.5% of homes were rented.
One home in five empty on Census night
19.5% of private dwellings in Burleigh Heads were unoccupied when the Census was taken, compared with 9.3% statewide. A slow leak in an empty unit can run with nobody there to hear it.
Where Tallebudgera Creek ends
The creek runs about 27 km from the Springbrook plateau and meets the ocean immediately south of Burleigh Headland. Its lower sections are tidal.
Shared pipes in a unit block
The City looks after the sewer from its main up to the property connection fitting. If nobody can find that fitting, its share stops one metre inside your boundary. Past that point, the drains and inspection openings belong to the property owner. In a strata block, ask the body corporate before anyone is booked to work on a shared stack.
When a blockage is traced into the City's sewer, the plumber reports it that same day and claims reasonable costs from the City rather than billing you. The City caps that at $300 including GST unless exceptional circumstances apply. Digging, repeat visits, work on private drains and blockages from wet wipes are not repaid.
Some apartment buildings run bulk hot water: one central system, often a gas boiler, metered for each unit. It may belong to the body corporate or an energy retailer, so take a fault there to the body corporate first.
A leak test for a unit you leave empty
Every litre that passes your meter is yours to pay for, hidden leaks included. The City's test takes an hour: turn off every tap and water-using appliance, write down the meter reading, use no water at all, then read it again. Any movement suggests water is escaping on your side.
Some toilets only leak when the button sticks. A few drops of food colouring in the cistern will show up in the bowl if water is getting through. A leak in the buried pipe from the meter to the building may qualify for the City's concealed leak remission, if a Queensland licensed plumber repairs it within a month and at least 50 kilolitres were lost.
What we would do
If your Burleigh Heads apartment sits empty for weeks, read the meter as you leave and again when you're back. It's the simplest leak detector you own, and it gives a leak detection specialist somewhere to start. For a blocked shared drain, tell the body corporate first. Then we can match you with a licence-checked drain specialist covering Burleigh Heads who finds out whose pipe is blocked before clearing it.