Smoke testing
Introducing a testing vapour into a system to see where it emerges.
Smoke testing is not a homeowner activity under any circumstances. If testing is happening in your area, the useful action is to read the notice and contact the office running it.
What this page cannot establish
- Smoke testing cannot establish the condition of a pipe
- Smoke testing cannot establish the responsibility for any opening found
- Smoke testing cannot establish that no opening exists where none was observed
What it is for
To reveal openings connected to the system by observing where the vapour appears above ground or inside a building.
When a professional may raise it
These are circumstances, not rules. No method is appropriate everywhere, and a professional declining to use one is not necessarily cutting a corner.
- generally performed by or for an operating authority across a system area
- when openings or cross-connections are being investigated at scale
What to ask for afterwards
A method performed without a record produces very little you can carry into the next conversation.
- a written note of where emergence was observed
- the date and the area covered
Practical constraints
- usually organised by the operating authority rather than a homeowner
- weather and ground conditions affect results
- this is not a homeowner activity under any circumstances
Questions worth asking
- Who is conducting this and what area does it cover?
- What was observed at this address, if anything?
- What does the result mean for what I am being asked to do?
What would change the answer
- a written note of where emergence was observed
- the date and the area covered
What to do next
What a result means for you is a question only the body running the programme can answer.
Prepare the call to the issuing officeIf your situation is different
- The notice asks you to do something: When you receive a municipal or utility notice
Related, and why
- Received a notice
Testing notices are a common form of official correspondence.