Developing A Plumbing Work Plan

On the other hand, the fill valve can get more technical. A fill valve is responsible for refilling the toilet tank with water after every flush. There’s a buoy at the top of the fill valve that’s responsible for shutting the water off when it floats. If the arm of the buoy has malfunctioned, the toilet tank could overflow with water. Another issue could come from the fill valve’s bottom gasket. If the water in the surrounding area contains a lot of harsh minerals, these minerals can wear down the fill valve’s parts and cause leaks to happen. This is easily fixed by replacing the fill valve, but you ideally want a fill valve that can withstand hard water.

Lastly, if you’re located in a cooler climate and the bathroom butts up against an exterior wall, there may be condensation on the tank. This is only avoidable by moving your toilet away from the wall and does not indicate a leak.

Showerheads: These leaks are a little more noticeable. Showerheads typically leak from the joint where the arm connects the showerhead to the pipes. Typically, this joint just needs to be tightened to fix the leak, but if that does not work then the showerhead will need to be replaced.

Irrigation Systems: Like toilets, an irrigation system can leak in many ways, and there are a few ways to tell if a system is leaking. If landscaping is dry, if there’s water pooling around a specific sprinkler head, or if sprinklers have low pressure while they’re running, then it’s likely there’s a leak. Unlike toilets, these leaks can be tougher to fix and it’s likely a service provider will be needed.

Maintenance Timing

Once FMs know their building’s fixtures and how to identify common leaks, they can set up a maintenance schedule. Maintenance schedules are annoying to manage, but can save tens of thousands of dollars in operating costs. Every fixture in a building has a different maintenance requirement, which can seem overwhelming, but with the right schedule, teams should complete their maintenance checks quickly and efficiently.

Here are some suggestions for a maintenance plan and schedule based on the fixture:

This recommended plan is conservative based on common product warranties within the plumbing industry, but can be flexible based on the type of fixtures and property. If a property is newer and has PVC pipes, an FM may only need to have their plumbing checked every two years. However, if a building is older or uses cast iron piping, FMs will want to have their plumbing checked annually if not bi-annually. Cast iron pipes are prone to cracks, especially if there are large trees nearby. The roots of the trees can infiltrate the pipes through these cracks and will clog your pipes, causing a very expensive bill. This can easily be avoided by having pipes routinely inspected and flushed.

If you still think this schedule is too much for your team, here’s an example of how this schedule could work. For example, say you own a multifamily building with 300 units that are a 50/50 mix of two bedrooms, two bathrooms and one bedroom, one bathroom. You would have roughly 450 toilets to maintain. By splitting the 300 units into three groups, you can give your maintenance staff the goal of checking 100 units a month and rotate the groups out so that you have maintenance evaluations at least once a quarter. This way any silent leaks can be identified and stopped quickly to avoid high water bills. Additionally, a schedule like this will help avoid any major overhauls if a leak were to get out of hand, such as replacing flooring, which could be much more expensive than replacing a flapper.

Maintenance Cost And Return On Investment

Having a quarterly goal to run maintenance on plumbing fixtures may seem like a large and expensive undertaking, but it’s worth it when comparing the costs of replacing fixtures or fixing issues caused by leaks.