Sydney facts that shape a relining job
Your line ends at Sydney Water's junction
You own the wastewater pipes up to and including the point of connection. Sydney Water owns the junction, and your private line may extend beyond your property boundary.
The trees Sydney Water warns about
Roots seek out small cracks in wastewater pipes. Sydney Water suggests keeping trees 6 metres from those pipes, and its list of trees to avoid includes figs, jacarandas, liquidambars, brush box, lilly pillies and camphor laurel.
Cracks let groundwater in
Sydney Water counts cracked, damaged or poorly sealed private wastewater pipes among the ways water gets into its system in wet weather. In some catchments it smoke tests private pipes to find them.
Collapsed under the footpath
Sydney Water may repair a residential customer's collapsed private wastewater pipe under a public footpath or road, once a licensed plumber confirms digging up the road or footpath is the only fix. It may also repair sections deeper than 2.5 metres.
Before anyone quotes: the diagram and the footage
A sewer service diagram, bought through Sydney Water Tap in, shows the private wastewater pipes on your property and where they connect to Sydney Water's system. A camera inspection then shows what condition they're in. Together they tell a relining specialist where your line runs and which sections need work.
If the damage sits at or near the point of connection, settle who owns that exact spot before you pay. Sydney Water says roots that grow into the junction at the point of connection are the owner's to clear.
Reline, dig, or ask Sydney Water?
| Usually suits | Check first | |
|---|---|---|
| Reline | Cracks, open joints or root entry in a pipe that still holds its shape | That the whole length being lined is yours, up to the point of connection |
| Dig and replace | A section that has collapsed or lost its fall | What sits above it: a slab, a driveway, a large tree |
| Ask Sydney Water | A collapsed private pipe under a public footpath or road | A licensed plumber has to confirm that excavation is the only way to repair it |
NSW paperwork for drainage work
Relining is drainage work, and NSW treats drainage as specialist work: contracting for it needs a contractor licence, whatever it costs. Unless it's emergency work, a Notice of Work goes in before the job starts, and drainage work needs a Sewer Service Diagram as well.
At the end, the plumber lodges a Certificate of Compliance and must give you a copy. In metropolitan areas these documents go to Building Commission NSW through MyInspections; elsewhere, to the local council regulator.
Questions for a Sydney relining specialist
- Can I see the camera footage, with the distance to each defect marked?
- Where does the liner stop, and is any of it past my point of connection?
- Will you lodge the Notice of Work and give me the Certificate of Compliance?
- What stops roots from nearby trees getting back in at the ends of the liner?
- Is this a collapse under the footpath that Sydney Water should look at instead?
What we would do
Buy the sewer service diagram first, then get camera footage and compare the two. Make sure every metre you're quoted to reline is on your side of the point of connection. If the worst damage is a collapse under the footpath or road, ask the plumber whether it qualifies for Sydney Water's program before you pay to dig. And deal with the tree that caused it, or the roots will find the next crack.