To expect notice before neighbour switches my water off?

[PolitelyFumingNextDoor]

NC and will try not to out myself in the detail 🫣

I live in a maisonette. The stopcock valve that is in the pavement in front of our building controls the water for both upstairs and downstairs maisonettes. I understand there will be occasions when the water will need to be switched off to allow work to be carried out, but am I being unreasonable to expect to be told when this happens? Ideally given notice too?

On a previous occasion my neighbour had a plumber who switched off my water, I could hear someone banging upstairs so I assumed there was someone working upstairs but I'd been home and noone had let me know. On that occasion I messaged my neighbour to ask if she was having work done and asked to be told in future before the water was switched off. On that occasion I was WFH so I could have filled the kettle before it was switched off for example.

This morning at 9am my water went off again, I saw the plumber and said I needed it back on immediately as I needed to use the shower and I had an appointment to get to. When it wasn't put back on I went to the front door and my neighbour came and said I'd told her I didn’t want to know when she was having work at her house.

A couple of months ago she messaged first thing in the morning when I was on school run to say someone was coming to read the meter and asked me to reply immediately to say I'd read the message. I replied in a hurry as I was about to spend 20 mins driving and had a Zoom call to attend as soon as I got home. My reply was along the lines of we have our own meter, your meter has nothing to do with me. She obviously got the hump and said fine, I'll never let you know anything again. When I realised she'd taken offence, I replied to apologise if my message had offended, explained I thought she wanted access to my property to see the meter and explained she didnt. I said I didn't need notice for people going to her house unless it would impact is, mentioned the water being switched off, and the times her window cleaners have come into my garden and scared the crap out of me and the kids.

Am I being unreasonable to expect to be told when my water is being switched off? And to expect my neighbour to mention to her plumbers that the stopcock controls both properties? Even in an emergency, where notice can't be given, I expect the courtesy of someone knocking to inform me. They literally walk past my front door to do it.

I think you are unfortunate to have a rude and inconsiderate neighbour. The only course of action is to turn the water off at some point, don't notify her in advance and see if that drives your message home!

well I expect the same from the electricity, gas, water companies and don't get notice from them either. normally the people actually doing the work are happy to do what they can to help but sometimes it's not possible if they are mid flow of a big job.

Of course your neighbour should tell you if the water is being switched off and they have advanced knowledge of it. Can’t believe anyone would think otherwise.

wonder if there’s room inside the stopcock housing box for a note to say that the stopcock is “for no 5 and 6” or whatever you are and “both to be informed when switched off” or somethimg. you could get it carved into plastic so no risk of pen running and a not becoming illegible.

timsons do plastic maje plates and plaques etc. dunno cost.

Because I have young children I am on the priority register and so I get a text message to inform me if there is power cuts or water supply issues impacting the area.

If it was an emergency and the plumber wasn't able to let me know, then surely my neighbour still could? I'd have the same consideration for her if the roles were reversed. I was up at 05:30 this morning, I could have easily ensured we had used the bathroom earlier had she mentioned they were coming and might need to switch the water off.

I was thinking this today. I might try a laminated note first but I know it can get very muddy in there so wonder how long it would be legible.

That's odd. Whenever our water is off for any reason, we get a text from Severn Trent pre-warning us and giving an indication of how long it will be off for

OP - your neighbour is a twat. I would turn the water off and give her no notice, maybe then she will recognise the inconvenience it causes

I would expect at least a weeks notice if he waters being turned off and that period of time is quite normal for planned work
I wouldn’t expect notice in an emergency. I would, however expect to be informed with enough to to at least fill the kettle

Your neighbour is being unreasonable
Water is an essential need and her plumber should not be turning off someone else’s water.

Have you told him it’s your supply too

South east water ( in our area ) when dealing with emergencies may text but sometimes that’s after they’ve turned it off.

They do say approx how long it will take though.

Ex-water company employee here. Please ask your supplier to 'split the supply'; it wasn't aways possible back in the day, but tech moves on.

Although all costs within private land are met by the owners. So for a maisonette could be quite pricey.

So? I'd pay rather than have my supply at the mercy of my neighbours.

Well i never thought i would say it but, hoorah Severn Trent because that is one thing I can praise them for, they always give notice and trust me, they turn it off regularly as we have a lot of leaks. Plus, when it's off for 8 hours or more they waive a month's payment

I'm on a priority register as well for all services. Doesn't seem to matter.

She never seems to use the same person more than once, so although I've mentioned it today and previously, I doubt they'll be back.

It was same with gardeners and the garden waste bin. She's never paid the £60 and whoever was doing her garden (always someone different) would fill ours. I told her it was her responsibility to explain to each gardener that she doesn't have a bin so they wouldn't use ours. That saga went on for months but ended when I said I'd send her a bill for cleaning the bin the next time it was used.

I would just go and turn it back on again, although if you are the downstairs neighbour this might not be such a good idea!

This is useful to know. We're hoping to move soon though so might not be worth it.

Which is your choice of course.

I’m just letting OP know

Neighbour is very rude and inconsiderate, YANBU. In light of your most recent post it appears she’s also a cheeky fucker.

It's a bit odd each maisonette doesn't have its own stop cock. Our flats have a isolation valve for the whole building and then each flat had a stop cock that people can use to switch off supply to just their own flat. If nothing else it is a bit of a pain you need to go down in to the street if your supply needs to be turned off in an a emergency, eg burst pipe.

On notice, no you are not unreasonable. If for any reason a flat owner in our building needs the whole building turned off they have to give 36 hours notice at least.

Better to just empty the contents of your bin for her to sort out herself

Meanwhile write on the bin the flat address.

I understand your frustration and I agree tthat someone should let you know. However round here, if you need a plumber the best you can usually achieve is for one to come 'by Friday' or whatever. Then when it comes to Friday they will ring you during the day to say roughly when they're coming. Often you only get half an hour's notice. So while I agree that someone should keep you informed, you might not be able to get as much notice as you'd like.

I can't imagine NOT letting my neighbours know as soon as I knew when it would be if I could. Even if it was NOW and unavoidable like a sudden leak, I's pop over and see if they were in!

Me too, of the possibility to get it separated.

Bin was always very clearly labeled and I did empty into bags and leave on her doorstep more than once. We also went through a phase of locking it in the shed but it was inconvenient and was catching the entrance to the shed when it was full and heavy.

I just remembered that the last time we went on holiday she filled it. We made her empty it as we were back before it was collected (and we needed to do our own garden).