A question about the storm water pipes

Hi, there!

I just hired a licensed plumber to do a job for me: because my house is old, so there was a problem that all the downpipes have got connected to the main storm water system, so I hired this licensed plumb to do this for me. But after he dug into the soil, he found there was a Telstra cable inside. Then he contacted the Telstra and staff told him he could shift to side a little bit, I was quite busy that day,so when I heard this solution I have not discussed further with him and let him continue his job. After he fully finished the job, I found all the pipes have been clipped on the weather board, about 50cm high. It is just an eye sore, I have not seen any pipes of my neighbours above the soil and clipped on the walls around my house. Is that acceptable for the standards of a plumber job? Anybody could give me some help?

I don't believe there are any codes which state they should be under ground. If its an eysore you should tell him its not as you discussed. If there is risk of mechanical damage ie. close to a driveway or where you might hit it with a wheel barrow you could argue it needs to be moved to avoid damage. If left above ground it should be at least painted as PVC manufacturers usually recommend if the pipe is going to be exposed for more than 2 years it should be protected by a UV resistant coating.

It didn't paint, just like it was when purchased from hardware shop.

I can understand why it doesn't look very nice then. Maybe you need to discuss it further with your plumber. It probably took him less time to do it above ground so if you pay him a bit more to re do it under ground (not the full price of redoing it but enough to cover the additional work that he would have done had he done it properly the first time). Have you paid for the work already?

Hi,

There are no restrictions in either the australian standards or the BCA that restricts stormwater pipe work being clipped to exteroir of the building. This is generally the most cost effective and quickest method of attaching the pipe work and generally plumbers will opt for this method if not instructed. The best approach would be to talk to the plumber and discuss the posibility of relocating the pipe work, but it would be fair to say that it will generally cost you money.

cheers

If I can ask different storm water question. Our builder didn't calculate the fall to the kerb Chanel and wants $8k to build an underground water tank in the from of the house to raise befall.

Is this a safe and sensible solution as it sounds like there may be flaws?