Pricing
The rate you are quoted is the rate you pay
Leak detection is a diagnosis, so we price it like one: by the hour, at a fixed rate quoted before we attend and never exceeded, no uplift because the leak was awkward, the property was large or the visit ran late. And it is covered by no find, no fee, so the hours only become a bill if we find your leak. Most domestic visits take two to four hours. The repair itself runs at the same hourly rate, with parts and materials costed on top and agreed before we start.
Standard Leak Detection
£160 / hour
- Thermal imaging survey
- Acoustic detection
- Moisture mapping
- Tracer gas, the non-invasive method, at the same £160 rate plus £80 for the bottle
- Fixed hourly rate, quoted first, never exceeded
- No find, no fee
Most domestic properties are found within 2–4 hours, so a typical visit lands between £320 and £640. Tracer gas is the method we recommend when a leak has to be found without opening anything up, and it does not move the hourly rate. Only the £80 bottle is added, and only when gas is actually needed.
Heating Leak Detection
£200 / hour
- Central heating & underfloor systems
- System-wide pressure testing
- Thermal imaging included
- Boiler pressure-loss diagnosed
- No find, no fee
For dropping boiler pressure and warm or cold floor patches. Usually 2–4 hours.
Trace & Access (Insurance)
£200 / hour
- Full investigation, all methods
- Written report laid out for insurance claims
- Cause, origin & moisture readings
- Photographs for your claim
- Adjuster queries answered
Commonly recoverable under trace & access cover. Report writing is included in the hours worked.
Mains Water Leak Detection
£180 / hour
- Acoustic & tracer gas methods
- Supply pipe & mains correlation
- Pipe route tracing
- Minimal excavation
- No find, no fee
Spinning meter with everything off, located before we dig. Usually 2–3 hours.
Moisture Mapping Survey
From £175 / hour
- Comprehensive moisture survey
- Detailed written report
- Damp-cause investigation
- Affected-area mapping
- Ideal for damp disputes
Best when the question is “is it a leak or is it damp?” Usually 2–3 hours including the report.
Emergency Leak Detection
From £220 / hour
- 24/7 emergency response
- Same equipment & expertise
- Available day or night
- Made safe on the visit
- Answered 24/7, every day of the year
- Nights, weekends and bank holidays
Live leak now, at any hour. We run 24 hours a day, every day of the year, so this is the rate that applies at 3am, at a weekend and on a bank holiday. The exact figure is stated when you book, before anyone travels.
Emergency plumbing call-outs are quoted the same way: call-out and first-hour rate stated when you book, out-of-hours uplift stated as an exact figure, work beyond the first hour agreed before it happens.
The arithmetic
What leak detection costs in London, in total
An hourly rate only tells you half the story, so here is the other half. These are the same rates as above, multiplied by how long each kind of survey actually takes. The hours are what vary, the rate does not move once you have been quoted it.
| Survey | Rate | Typical time | Typical total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard leak detection, one to two rooms | £160 / hour | 2 hours | £320 |
| Standard leak detection, whole house | £160 / hour | 3–4 hours | £480 – £640 |
| Standard detection where tracer gas is needed | £160 / hour + £80 gas | 2–4 hours | £400 – £720 |
| Central heating or underfloor trace | £200 / hour | 2–4 hours | £400 – £800 |
| Mains or supply pipe trace | £180 / hour | 2–3 hours | £360 – £540 |
| Trace and access survey with insurer report | £200 / hour | 2–4 hours | £400 – £800 |
| Moisture mapping and damp diagnosis | From £175 / hour | 2–3 hours | From £350 – £525 |
| Emergency, out of hours | From £220 / hour | Any hour, any day | Rate confirmed when you book |
The repair runs at the same hourly rate as the detection, so nothing above changes once the leak is found. Parts, materials and any building work to make good are costed separately and agreed with you first.
No surprises
Five things you are never charged for
Travel to you
The rate starts when the engineer starts work, not when the van leaves.
Equipment
Acoustic, thermal, tracer gas and moisture kit are on every van and the kit itself is never billed as an extra. The one consumable that is charged is the tracer gas bottle, at £80, and only on jobs that actually need gas.
The written report
Report writing happens inside the hours worked, not as an admin fee afterwards.
A leak we cannot find
No find, no fee. If we attend a confirmed live leak and cannot locate it, the detection time is not charged, however long we spent.
Weekend and night multipliers you were not told about
We are open 24 hours a day, so nights, weekends and bank holidays are ordinary working time here, not an excuse to invent a number on arrival. Any out-of-hours rate is stated when you book, as a figure, before anyone is dispatched.
Four pricing principles
The rate is fixed, not indicative
You are quoted an hourly rate when you book and that is the rate you pay, whatever the job turns into. It does not climb because the leak was awkward, because the visit ran into the evening, or because a second method was needed.
No find, no fee
If we attend a confirmed live leak and cannot locate it, you are not charged for the detection time, however many hours we spent looking. This is the part that matters: a cheap hourly rate is no protection at all if the engineer bills you for a long afternoon and leaves without finding the leak.
The same rate fixes it
The engineer who finds the leak can isolate and repair it at the same £160 an hour. You are not paying one firm to find it and another to fix it, and there is no second call-out to arrange. Parts and materials are costed on top and agreed before we start.
One consumable, stated up front
The only thing charged on top of the hours is the tracer gas bottle at £80, on the jobs that need gas, and you are told before we attend. Beyond that there are no report admin fees, no equipment charges and no weekend multipliers hidden in the small print.
Pricing questions
How much does leak detection cost in London?
Our standard detection is £160 an hour and most domestic surveys take two to four hours, so a typical visit comes to £320–£640 in total. Heating and trace and access work is £200 an hour over a similar span, and mains and supply pipe work is £180. The rate is agreed before we travel and never rises on the day, and no find, no fee means an unsuccessful visit costs you nothing. Across the London trade, fixed-fee surveys commonly sit at £250–£450 and hourly firms charge £95–£145 an hour, usually without a cap.
What does trace and access cost?
Trace and access surveys are £200 an hour with the insurer report written inside the hours worked, so a typical domestic survey is £400–£800 in total. Most buildings policies include trace and access cover, which reimburses the reasonable cost of finding the leak and opening up to reach it, check your own schedule for the limit, because it is set per policy rather than by any industry standard.
What does central heating leak detection cost?
Heating work is £200 an hour and a typical survey runs two to four hours, so £400–£800 in total. That covers pressure testing per circuit, thermal imaging and acoustic tracing together rather than one method at a time, which is what stops a boiler-pressure problem turning into three separate visits.
Is there a call-out fee on top of the rate?
No. The rate starts when the engineer starts work, not when the van leaves, and there is no separate call-out charge for a booked detection visit. Any out-of-hours rate is stated as a figure when you book, before anyone is dispatched.
Why an hourly rate, and what stops it running away?
Two things stop it. The rate itself is fixed, quoted before we travel and never exceeded, whatever we find when we get there, so there is no uplift for difficulty, for a second detection method or for running into the evening. And no find, no fee means the hours only become a bill if we actually locate your leak. You are never in the position of paying for a long search that found nothing. We also tell you how long we expect to need once you describe the property; most domestic visits run 2–4 hours, and if it is going to run past that you hear it before the extra time is worked.
Does the detection fee come off the repair cost?
Detection and repair are priced separately so each stands on its own merit, detection time is covered by no find no fee, and the repair quote carries no obligation. That separation is what keeps our diagnosis honest.
Will insurance pay these fees?
When a hidden leak is causing damage, most buildings policies include trace and access cover that reimburses reasonable detection costs and making good the access. Our reports are written to support exactly that claim.
What if the leak turns out to be something simple?
Then we tell you and fix it cheaply. A passing toilet valve found in the first twenty minutes does not get dressed up as a full detection survey, charging by the hour is precisely what lets a twenty-minute job cost like a twenty-minute job.
Get your exact quote
Describe the property and the symptoms, we reply with the rate, how long we expect to need, and the earliest slot.
Request a quote