Water Pump knackered, will the developer pay??

A

anastasia

Guest
Hi,
My apartment is 18 months old, unfortunately our water booster pump is in the words of that wonderfully enlightening plumber we called out yesterday "knackered luv", so what exactly is wrong "it's just knackered", well can you give me a quote for a new one "yeah, €900 and luckily I have one in the van, but i'm not writing anything down". We decided we'd do without the shower for a day (a risk given the current weather).
Now, the real issue is, what next?
The pump apparently was guaranteed for 1 year, that warranty is up. Most of our neighbours have been plagued by this problem, and many of them have been through 2/3 pumps at this stage, so presumably the builder is aware that they're pretty shoddy. I haven't contacted them yet (i'd rather know where i stand first), but am hopeful that they may pay for the replacement pump - is there any contractual obligation on them to do so? Presumably the homebond scheme won't help me in this instance?
Any suggestions gratefully accepted.
 
Hmm-could we be neighbours anastasia?

First off, Homebond will certainly not cover the broken pump.

You could certainly try approaching the builder, but I doubt they will have anything to do with you at this stage (I know of someone in a similar situation that was told to feck off after just a year of living in a new apartment).

Legally-I'm not sure if they have an obligation.

You could try the manufacturer of the pump-they may offer a longer warranty than the builder's own 1 year warranty.

Best of luck.
 
Check the manufacturers website and see if there has been a recall on the pump.
Some family were renting in a new development, and were having a lot of problems with the water supply, the landlord took care of the issue and replaced the pump, a few days later a sign went up in the block with a copy of a recall notice from the manufacturer.
Maybe its not due to the builder...
 
I'd a similar problem recently. Cost me 750 to replace. They all come with only 1 year manufacturer's warranty. Mine lasted 5 years approx though (not entirely sure as I bought 2nd hand).

It is not covered under management fees Block insurance policy.

It's just hard luck.

In the initial poster's case it sounds like there's a bigger issue there if they are all going and so soon.
 
Thanks for the info, the developers have confirmed it's not their problem - i was hoping to appeal to them on the moral issue i.e. obviously the crap you got on the cheap isn't up to the job, but no, they're not interested. Might send them an officious looking letter, telling them that if they re-imburse half the costs, we won't raise the issue at the management company meeting shortly.
But looks like we'll have to bite the bullet and pay up for now - got a new quote for €450, so at least it's a bit more reasonable. As round tuit says, it's just hard luck (pity it didn't give up 6 months ago).
Thanks again.
 
FYi

if you hear the water pump running every few minutes, there is a leak in the water system and this will cause premature aging of the pump. Ensure that no taps drip and that the toilet overflow is not trickling into the toilet bowl.

I have come accross both of the above and they are easily fixed.
 
We moved into a new development about a month ago- in the last week our water pump has started to come on every few minutes and runs for about 5 seconds. Do u think this would be a leak in our water system Steelblue? We haven't noticed anything leaking recently.

EDIT - I just did a search and it sounds like we do have a leak somewhere :(. Will check out the toilet cistern etc to try to locate the problem.
 
Hi Dimple,

You should get the builder to sort this out (just confirm that this is happening when no water is being used ie dishwasher/washing machine etc). It only takes a very small amount of water to leak out of the system for the pump to keep coming on and off.
 
Those pumps are approximately €400 + VAT + 1 hours labour to fit. An issue with many of them has been the capacitor which burns out and costs around €5.

Unfortunately this is a route not investigated enough in our consumer (and I need to shower Mr. Plumber!) society.

With water flowing, if the pump is not moving, but very hot, it may well be the capacitor. Either way, removal and bringing it to a motor rewind shop may be the solution.
 
Unfortunately this is a route not investigated enough in our consumer (and I need to shower Mr. Plumber!) society.
Click to expand...
Funnily enough, my husband was saying that there may not be much wrong with the pump, maybe a small electrical problem, but the guy we had in to look at it just wanted to replace the whole thing (obviously he didn't know too much about the internal workings. When I told my husband what diagnostics the 'engineer' had carried out, he laughed saying that was similar to what he'd carried out himself before going to work that morning. The 'engineer' had asked me for tin foil, which my husband reckons was used to try and test if the fuse had been the problem, for that our intrepid 'engineer' got €80.
 
Just for the record although Sinewave's question is not directed at me:

My knackered water pump is in my spare bedroom. I'm thinking of turning it into a garden feature . . .

My plumber came with one replacement pump which was going to cost around the E400 mark but on arrival discovered that what I had was a different system (dual something) and that's what upped the pump cost. I saw suppliers receipt for same and he charged me very little on top for his time and expertise.
 
May I ask, where your "knackered" one is now?
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Still stuck to my boiler - I'm getting a few strange looks from colleagues, i reckon it's the smell:)
 
According to my slicitor when we bought the house you have 18 months to claim from the developer of your new build.
 
Reason I asked is that, I would advise anyone with the "knackered" one to bring to a motor rewind service and ask them to check the capacitor, and if damaged replace. Nice to have a spare pump.
 
My water pump comes on every few minutes with that noise even though the taps are switched off, how do I go about investigating further, I called a plumber before and he said I had no leaks that he could see, but he mentioned that there is a sensitive machine that he can bring with him that detects water coming from somewhere behind the walls, what are the chances of there being no leak but its a fault of the pump in which case I should just get a new pump. I would be annoyed if I got a new pump and it was a leak all the time.
 
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