Manhole

Melitha

Hello,
Can anyone advise what to do about manholes/rain water collectors/inspection chambers placed by builder in the back garden.
We have purchased a newly built off the plan house in 2019. During snagging we noticed the 2 manholes and raised question on numerous occasion with builder. However we did not get any reply
and being under presure to sign off we went ahead with purchase.

Now a year later we are building a shed in this area (as it's the only suitable place) and we encounter difficulty as they are in the way and not only this but depending on whether sometimes there is a stale smell in the garden comming from them.
Also we discovered that one of them does not serve my dwelling but it's used by my neighbours and I feel it shouldn't be on my property.

Would like to know if possible to have this moved out of the garden and also who's responsible in doing this.

TheBoyConor

It is a very unusual set up nowadays for main sewers to run along in the back gardens, it was a common setup many years ago.

Are you sure it is not just your own access chamber? 

I'd say it is there to stay nomatter what it is. You can't just move a chamber or its own. Obviously, there is a pipe network connected to it that would have to move too. That is a major job. 

If there are smells coming through you could just fit a sealed cover and frame to it.

Also, if these are just small 4" or 6" PVC pipes then there are probably belonging to the owners of the houses, not Irish Water.

Melitha

TheBoyConor wrote: »

It is a very unusual set up nowadays for main sewers to run along in the back gardens, it was a common setup many years ago.

Are you sure it is not just your own access chamber? 

I'd say it is there to stay nomatter what it is. You can't just move a chamber or its own. Obviously, there is a pipe network connected to it that would have to move too. That is a major job. 

If there are smells coming through you could just fit a sealed cover and frame to it.

Also, if these are just small 4" or 6" PVC pipes then there are probably belonging to the owners of the houses, not Irish Water.

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes we are pretty sure that one of them belongs either one of our 2 neighbours, we can clearly see that the pipe comes from the house that is at the back of mine and runs into the garden that belings to the other neighbour, so while they have parts of pipe running from their house , we ended up with the manhole/inspection chamber. Our access chamber is completely separate. I have a small garden wich is not only weirdly shaped but also has 2 manholes, one serving my property and the other my neighbours. We raised questions through solicitor with builder but we're completely ignored at the time of purchase.

TheBoyConor

And when you say manhole, what is that actually? Is it a plastic lid about 40x40cm or is it a big steel cover with concrete underneath?

Have you looked under the cover? Is it a small 100/150mm pipe or a big 450mm or bigger pipe?

Irish Water: Niamh

Hi Melitha,

Melitha wrote: »

Hello,
Can anyone advise what to do about manholes/rain water collectors/inspection chambers  placed by builder in the back garden.  
We have purchased a newly built off the plan house in 2019. During snagging we noticed the 2 manholes and raised question on numerous occasion with builder. However we did not get any reply
and being under presure to sign off we went ahead with purchase.

Now a year later we are building a shed in this area (as it's the only suitable place) and we encounter difficulty as they are in the way and not only this but depending on whether sometimes there is a stale smell in the garden comming from them.
Also we discovered that one of them does not serve my dwelling but it's used by my neighbours and I feel it shouldn't be on my property.

Would like to know if possible to have this moved out of the garden and also who's responsible in doing this.

If these manholes are part of a shared private network, this would be a private matter between yourself and your neighbours.

If you have an Irish Water asset on your site, we would advise that you email the details of your query and the approximate location of our asset to diversions@water.ie.

For more information concerning the diversion or alteration of Irish Water assets, please see here.

I hope this information helps.

Kind regards,
Niamh

Melitha

Irish Water: Niamh wrote: »

Hi Melitha,

If these manholes are part of a shared private network, this would be a private matter between yourself and your neighbours.

If you have an Irish Water asset on your site, we would advise that you email the details of your query and the approximate location of our asset to diversions@water.ie.

For more information concerning the diversion or alteration of Irish Water assets, please see here.

I hope this information helps.

Kind regards,
Niamh

Hello Niamh, thak you for replying can you advise where should we apply to get drainage maps. Also would like to mention that the drainage network is shared between 2 of my neighbours but not myself. I have only the misfortune that builder placed manhole on my property but doesn't serve my dwelling. We asked builder for clarification before property was handed over to us but never got an answer from them.

Irish Water: Agata

Melitha wrote: »

Irish Water: Niamh wrote: »

Hi Melitha,

If these manholes are part of a shared private network, this would be a private matter between yourself and your neighbours.

If you have an Irish Water asset on your site, we would advise that you email the details of your query and the approximate location of our asset to diversions@water.ie.

For more information concerning the diversion or alteration of Irish Water assets, please see here.

I hope this information helps.

Kind regards,
Niamh

Hello Niamh, thak you for replying can you advise where should we apply to get drainage maps. Also would like to mention that the drainage network is shared between 2 of my neighbours but not myself. I have only the misfortune that builder placed manhole on my property but doesn't serve my dwelling. We asked builder for clarification before property was handed over to us but never got an answer from them.

Hi Melitha,

We recommend contacting the Planning Department within your Local Authority in order to get drainage maps.

I hope this information helps.

Kind regards,
Agata

TheBoyConor

I'd just like to add to that by advising that diverting a sewer or moving a manhole can be quite a significant, invasive and costly job. It is unlikely to be done unless there is a real necessity for it. Because you have decided that you don't like the look of  a manhole cover in your garden, which you knew was present when you bought the property, isn't really going to cut it. 
If there are obnoxious odours coming from it, it may be possible to fit a sealed manhole cover.

A lot depends on whether it is a small 110mm pipe just draining rainwater from the gardens, or whether it is a more substantial piece of drainage infrastructure. Personally, I would be surprised if it was the latter in a new housing development.