Liverpool facts behind the job
Mostly units
At the 2021 Census, 65.0% of occupied homes in the suburb were flats or apartments and 24.3% were separate houses.
Six in ten rent
61.4% of Liverpool's homes were rented, against 32.6% across NSW.
Cabramatta Creek catchment
Liverpool City Council says the catchment takes in parts of Liverpool. Its last overland flow study there was about 18 years old, so Council has prepared an updated one.
Flood maps exist
Council has adopted flood studies and maps for mainstream flooding across most major rivers and creeks in its area.
Renting? Report it first
With most homes rented, the first call is usually to the landlord or agent. Put it in writing, add photos, and say when it started. If water is pouring out, turn it off at the meter or your unit's stop tap and call an emergency plumber.
Leaks in a unit block
NSW strata schemes usually split plumbing by location. Fixtures such as toilets, basins and showers, and pipes inside internal walls, are generally the lot owner's. Pipes in boundary walls and under the floor are generally the owners corporation's.
Further down the line, Sydney Water's rule applies: where several owners share one private sewer service, each of them is responsible for it. That's why a blocked main drain in a block of units is usually a strata job rather than one owner's bill. For hidden leaks, see leak detection in Sydney.
When rain overwhelms the pipes
Council's updated Cabramatta Creek study maps flood extent and risk for a range of storms, including the 1% AEP flood and the Probable Maximum Flood. It was recommended for public exhibition before adoption, so ask Council what the draft shows for your address.
Some rain problems start on your own block. Sydney Water says rainwater and stormwater must never enter a property's sewer. A downpipe wrongly connected to the sewer, or a cracked private pipe, can overload the system and push sewage out of the overflow relief gully or, worse, inside. A plumber can check your connections.
What we would do
If you live in a unit, find out now who your strata manager is and where your unit's water shut-off is. When a leak starts, turn the water off, take photos, and tell the strata manager and your landlord or agent the same day. Ask the plumber for a written note of the fault and the fix, because that's what decides who pays. Then we'll match you with a plumber who specialises in finding leaks in apartment buildings.