Commercial drainage in the City and Shoreditch: working around trading hours

What makes EC postcodes different

Three things. Catering density, so fat volumes far beyond anything residential. Old infrastructure, with premises connected into brick and clay sewers laid in the nineteenth century. And buildings that have been altered repeatedly, so drainage rarely follows the route anyone expects.

Add permits, inductions and building management, and a job that would take an hour in a house becomes a planned visit.

Grease is the recurring cause

In the City and Shoreditch, fat, oil and grease accounts for most of what we clear. Where grease management is undersized or poorly serviced, blockages arrive on a predictable cycle rather than at random, which is actually good news: predictable problems can be scheduled out of existence.

We cover the compliance side in grease management for restaurants.

Converted buildings, retro-fitted pipework

Shoreditch in particular is full of warehouse and light-industrial buildings converted into flats, studios, bars and offices. Kitchens and bathrooms were added to structures never plumbed for them, which usually means long horizontal runs with limited fall.

Those runs collect residue quickly and block repeatedly. They also frequently pass through communal areas, so access has to be arranged with the building rather than the occupier.

Scheduling

Licensed premises get early morning. Offices get evenings or weekends. Food outlets get before service. None of this is complicated, but it has to be agreed in advance, because an engineer arriving at midday to a working kitchen achieves nothing.

Permits and inductions are handled at booking for the same reason. Waiting in reception is the most expensive part of a commercial visit.

What to have in place

• A named contact who can authorise access, including out of hours
• Knowledge of where the chambers are, or a drainage plan if one exists
• A grease servicing schedule with documentation, if you handle food
• A planned jetting cycle for kitchen runs rather than reactive call-outs

Also covered: Tower Hamlets and Canary Wharf, where towers rely on pumped systems and shared stacks. See coverage by postcode.

Landlord, tenant and the lease

In commercial property the split is set by the lease, not by statute, and it is rarely what either party assumes. A full repairing and insuring lease typically puts drainage inside the demise on the tenant, including runs that serve only that unit. Shared risers and the building’s main drainage usually stay with the landlord and come back through the service charge.

The practical consequence is worth knowing before an invoice arrives: get the defect located and recorded, then check the lease plan against it. We report the position and depth in writing as standard, which is what settles the question. The residential equivalent is covered in who is responsible for a blocked drain.