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When to Re-pipe Your Community and How to Fund It
By Eric Lecky
As Every Community manager and community association leader knows, building components begin to fail as they age—and your pipes are no exception. Depending on the material, a building’s pipes may begin to develop age-related cracks and leaks within a few decades of installation, sometimes less.
The question then becomes: When do you repair the pipe and when do you replace the entire piping system?
KNOWING WHEN TO RE-PIPE
Based on estimated useful life tables, some piping materials may begin to fail after 30 years, while others may not show signs of age until 50 years. Because pipe replacement is expensive, you could start assessing your piping systems periodically when your building reaches 20 years old, giving yourself time to reserve funds for a future re-pipe.
Unfortunately, most community managers and boards aren’t regularly testing their pipes, and so they first face the decision to repair or replace when their properties are already...