BACKFLOW · NORTH SHORE
Backflow Prevention North Shore
Devices, testing and the paperwork.
Backflow prevention device installation and annual testing across the North Shore. Tyler’s background covers backflow and IQP work, which is the part most plumbing businesses hand to somebody else.
Backflow prevention
What backflow prevention is actually protecting
Water is supposed to travel one way, from the main into the building. Backflow is when it goes the other way, which happens when pressure in the main drops suddenly and the system briefly pulls water back out of the building instead of pushing it in.
On a house that is a minor concern. On a site with an irrigation system, a commercial kitchen, a chemical store, a boiler or a fire system, it means whatever is in those systems can be drawn back into the drinking water supply. That is why backflow prevention devices exist and why they are required where the risk is assessed as significant.
The devices are mechanical, they are the only thing standing between two water systems, and they fail silently. That is the reason for annual testing rather than installation and hope.
Who needs one
Most commercial premises, anywhere with irrigation connected to the mains supply, buildings with fire systems or boilers, and many multi-unit developments. If your building has a warrant of fitness, any backflow device on it is almost certainly a listed specified system requiring annual testing and a record.
What is involved
Installation, testing and records
Three separate things that often get spoken about as one.
Hazard assessment
What device you need depends on what is being protected against. A low hazard irrigation connection and a high hazard chemical or medical application call for different device types, and fitting the wrong one is both a compliance problem and a false sense of security.
Installation
Position matters as much as the device. It has to be accessible for annual testing, correctly oriented, and able to discharge safely if it relieves. Devices installed somewhere inaccessible become a problem every single year thereafter.
Annual testing
Devices are mechanical and they wear. Annual testing is what catches a device that has stopped doing its job, and for a listed specified system it is not optional. Testing produces a result, and a failed test means repair or replacement.
The paperwork
For building warrant of fitness purposes the record matters as much as the test. A test with no documentation does not help you at compliance time, which is where having somebody who handles that side properly earns its keep.
On IQP. Tyler’s experience includes IQP work, which is the independent qualified person role in building warrant of fitness inspections. Tell us what your compliance schedule lists and we will be straight with you about which parts of it we can cover and which need somebody else.
Why Asset
Why building owners use us for this
Not subcontracted out
Most plumbing businesses pass backflow to a specialist. Tyler does it, which means one contractor rather than a chain.
Records kept properly
Testing without documentation is no use at warrant of fitness time. The paperwork is part of the job, not an afterthought.
Devices put somewhere testable
A device installed where nobody can reach it becomes an annual problem. Position is considered at installation.
Annual reminders
These tests are easy to forget and awkward to explain when missed. We will tell you when yours is due.
Commercial background
Dominic’s eight years on Auckland commercial projects means compliance work is familiar rather than unusual.
Plumbing under the same roof
When a failed device needs pipework altered around it, that is the same people rather than a second contractor.
Coverage
Backflow prevention across the North Shore
Device work throughout the Shore, particularly Albany, Rosedale and Wairau Valley.
Questions
Backflow prevention questions
Do I need a backflow prevention device?
It depends on what your property connects to the mains supply. Most commercial premises do, as do properties with irrigation systems, fire systems, boilers and many multi-unit developments. Standard residential connections generally do not beyond the protection already built into fittings. If you are unsure, tell us what is on the site and we will tell you what the position likely is.
How often does a backflow device need testing?
Annually. The devices are mechanical, they have moving parts and seals, and they wear without giving any outward sign. Annual testing is what catches a device that has quietly stopped working. If the device is listed on a building’s compliance schedule then the testing is a requirement rather than good practice, and a missed year is a compliance gap.
What happens if a device fails its test?
It gets repaired or replaced, depending on the device and what failed. Many are rebuildable with a service kit, which is considerably cheaper than replacement. Either way you get told what failed and what the options are. The test result itself is recorded regardless of outcome, because the record is what your compliance schedule needs.
Can you handle the building warrant of fitness side?
Tyler’s experience includes IQP work, so backflow devices listed as specified systems are familiar territory. What we would rather do than promise blanket coverage is look at your compliance schedule and be specific about which listed systems we can cover and which need a different specialist. That is a more useful answer than a yes.
Where should a backflow device be installed?
Somewhere accessible, correctly oriented, and able to discharge safely if it relieves. Accessibility is the one people underestimate, because the device has to be reached and tested every year for the life of the building. A device buried behind later work or in a confined space becomes an annual cost and an annual argument.
Device due for testing?
Tell us what is on the site and what your compliance schedule lists. We will tell you what is due, what we can cover and what needs somebody else.
Or call the team09 213 9815