I recently had a licensed plumber turn the mains off briefly for some work on my bathroom, and now one of the unit tenants has said their water pressure has decreased significantly. I know another resident turned off the mains briefly around the same time. Who is responsible for investigating and fixing this? – Chris, NSW

Question: My building is close to 100 years-old, and the plumbing is original. Plumbing for each unit is not isolated, and water mains are located outside the building in a common area, where any resident can easily access it and turn it on or off. I recently had a licensed plumber turn the mains off briefly for some work on my bathroom, and now one of the unit tenants has said their water pressure has decreased significantly. I know another resident turned off the mains briefly around the same time. While the water pressure may have decreased as a result of an old water main being turned off and on, a properly functioning water main shouldn’t have this problem. Who is responsible for investigating and fixing this?

– Chris, NSW

Answer: Hi Chris, if you are turning off access to a utility that affects other lots, you should let them know ahead of time because you don’t know if they might have essential medical equipment that’s reliant on that utility. It’s important to ask the strata manager or the committee and to let the occupants know with enough notice because you could potentially cause a life threatening problem. With respect to the change in water pressure, you could have caused it. If you propose that the committee launch an investigation but you did not have their permission to turn it off, you might have to take part in the investigation to find out if you caused it.