Get winter ready

Prepare your business for winter weather

In winter, the cold weather and freezing temperatures can cause problems for the pipes and plumbing around your business.  

With many employees and colleagues on holiday during the Christmas and New Year period, it’s especially important to make sure your business’s plumbing is protected from costly problems that might not be immediately discovered. 

Here’s how you can protect your workplace plumbing during the winter. 

Who to contact in an emergency

Your water and waste retailer may be able to help in an emergency.  

If you’re not sure who your retailer is, you can find your water retailer and get their contact details on the Open Water website. 

Often, you’ll also need to find a plumber to fix the damaged pipe.  

Check your insurance policy

Check your insurance policy to make sure it specifically provides cover for burst pipes and water damage.  

If it doesn’t, it might be worthwhile to add coverage in case you ever do have a leak or burst on your premises. 

The property owner is responsible for maintaining all the pipes between the buildings and the property boundary. If one of those pipes burst or need repairing at all, it can be expensive to fix and clean up the damage.  

Contingency planning

You should make contingency plans so your business knows what to do and how it would manage if the water supply was interrupted due to a leak or burst. 

It’s worth spending some time thinking about how you might cope, what you would need to do and which organisations might be able to help you. 

Tell us about your business's water needs

You can tell us about the specific water and waste needs of your business when you join the Site Risk and Sensitivities Scheme.  

The Site Risk and Sensitivities Scheme also enable you to sign up for text alerts about water and waste incidents in your area

Once we understand your business and the water and waste needs it has, we may be able to provide help and support if you ever lost water supply or had water pressure problems.