“The Casting of Shadows” – Russell Kirkwood, forensic plumbing expert / shadow expert The role of the Shadow Expert is one that I have been cast in for many years – initially without even realising it. It wasn’t until one day when an insurance lawyer that...
Metropolis Solutions has recently been involved in exposing a significant gas installation defect which is extremely common in new residential buildings – see: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-03/incorrectly-installed-home-gas-pipes-safety-risk/8085022 Licenced gasfitting plumbers, who absolutely should know better, have been opting for the “she’ll be right mate” attitude when it comes to the...
Australians are known for their obsession with the beach. Whilst Melbournians are not quite as devout in this regard as their more northerly counterparts, there still is a certain kudos attached to the tag of “absolute beach front.” There are a relatively contained number of properties...
“A matter of degrees” or “Close enough is not good enough” Australians love their metal roofing products and with the massive contemporary housing market boom, metal roofing like Colorbond and Zincalume has become the product of choice for the majority of building construction projects. Metal roofing comes...
“Shit runs downhill and pay day is Thursday” or “What lies beneath” Surely this is a simple as it gets for a plumber? The trouble is that it would seem some plumbers just don’t compute the first part of this saying (although they rarely miss the...
Is the Victorian Building Authority actually keeping a close eye on the audit of plumbing work to protect consumers from shoddy and potentially dangerous plumbing work? According to the VBA’s latest annual report, more than 368,000 regulated plumbing jobs were certified by licenced plumbers in Victoria...
The concept of harnessing the mighty power of the sun to provide energy for heating water is fantastic. Australians have embraced this green technology and no doubt this has been further encouraged by the government installation rebates that have assisted families in taking up the...
We recently spoke to a highly reputable and significant player in the insurance building industry, whose own company had recently inspected close to 1500 properties in Sydney after the heavy rain events experienced up north of late. We were interested to find out how many...
Summer time in Australia speaks of test cricket, flies, BBQ’s, holidays - and the sudden need to invest in or switch on your air conditioning system! Since 2008 it has been a regulation requirement that air conditioning systems are sized according to space and heat load...
There are a range of independent expert consultants available to consumers and who can potentially identify and document plumbing faults for a fee, but that’s all they can do – give you a written technical report. These reports can cost you anywhere from hundreds to...