Condition assessment

Pipe condition assessment: what a condominium should have on file

Before a board chooses between repair, treatment and replacement, it needs to know what its pipes are, how they have behaved and what the water is doing to them. A pipe condition assessment gathers that evidence and reports it in a form the board can act on. This guide explains what to gather, what an assessment can include and what good findings look like.

By ProShield Leak Detection Inc. · Updated 2026-09-30

Illustrative technician and building representative reviewing a tablet beside pipework — Illustration: A useful handover explains the findings, remaining uncertainty and next step.

An assessment turns leaks into evidence a board can decide on.

It has four parts: records, a look at the accessible system, laboratory and water testing where warranted, and a written finding that separates what was observed from what is concluded. It repairs nothing and it is not a sales proposal. It is the evidence that any proposal should be tested against.

The need is real because prediction alone is unreliable. Researchers at the United States Environmental Protection Agency say that with copper pitting the exact cause and the solution are often unknown, and a 2017 peer-reviewed review says pitting on copper premise plumbing cannot yet be accurately predicted.

Start with records.

An assessment starts with records the building already has, or can reconstruct. Mark unknown details as unknown, and do not estimate water use and present it as a meter reading.

Leak dates, locations and repairs: the floor or riser, hot or cold line, the observed pipe condition, the repair made, and photographs.
Building age, unit and storey counts, drawings and any known pipe materials. See pipe materials in condominium buildings.
Planned plumbing, meter, boiler or hot water tank work.
A year of water bills or water-use records, with the meter they cover identified.
The mechanical equipment: incoming meter and backflow assembly, booster pumps, hot water tanks, boilers, recirculation pumps and existing water-test locations.
Water-damage insurance claims and the corporation’s deductible history.

What a reserve fund study covers, and what it does not.

Alberta’s Condominium Property Regulation requires the study to determine the present condition of the depreciating property and an estimate of when each component will need to be repaired or replaced. The provider must conduct an on-site visual inspection of all visible components and review relevant documents, including construction documents and maintenance records. Because the inspection is of visible components, pipes inside walls are not necessarily examined.

The regulation limits who may act as a reserve fund study provider to listed qualified individuals, beginning with professional engineers and professional technologists. A new study is due no less than every 5 years. The Condominium Property Act lists, among uses of the reserve fund, a report prepared by an expert examining the condition of the corporation’s property and the common property. A pipe-specific investigation is a separate piece of work that the reserve fund study can then draw on.

What an assessment can include.

Not every building needs every step. The leak history and the first findings decide which to add.

Steps in a pipe condition assessment, what each can show and its limits
Step	What it can show	Limits
Leak-history mapping	Patterns by system, riser, floor and line. BC Housing says domestic hot water recirculation pipes are generally the first to start leaking, followed by space-heating hot water pipes, then cold water pipes.	Only as good as the records.
Walk of accessible pipe and mechanical rooms	Materials, visible condition, equipment and how the loop is arranged.	Pipe inside walls is not seen.
Pipe sample analysis by a laboratory	The type of corrosion, the deposits and the metals present. One research study analyzed solids from failed pipes using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometry, and acid digestion with mass spectrometry. ASTM G46 is a standard guide to examining and evaluating pitted metals, including assessing whether to repair or replace pit damage.	A sample is small compared with a building, so choose locations from the leak map.
Water testing	Chemistry at representative points. Health Canada says measuring the contaminant at the tap is the best tool to assess corrosion and exposure to metals.	Health Canada says there is no single, reliable index or method to measure water corrosivity and reflect population exposure to contaminants released by the distribution system, and the EPA says the Langelier index has no value as a corrosivity indicator for lead and copper.
Thermal imaging and a water-consumption survey	BC Housing says thermal imaging of the pipes may be needed to identify problem areas to replace, and a water consumption survey is recommended, before installing a mineral-dosing system.	A paper on thermography of building envelopes says locating moisture with it is often simple, but determining the source of the moisture can be difficult and condensation, rather than leakage, is often the culprit.
Pressure, flow and camera checks	Whether a section holds pressure and what a cavity contains. See how hidden pipe leaks are found.	Each answers one question, not all of them.

Keep the failed pipe.

A research study of a community’s pinhole-leak problem had three parts: analysis of failed pipes removed from the system, a survey of where and how the pitting occurred, including hot versus cold water, and an examination of water chemistry. A building can follow the same logic. When a plumber cuts out a failed section, keep it, label it with the date and location, photograph it in place, and note whether it was hot or cold water.

Water tests: what to ask for.

Ask for samples from representative points: the cold water entry, the hot water supply, a hot water return and a rarely used branch. Ask for an accredited laboratory. Health Canada says lead analyses should be undertaken by an accredited laboratory to ensure accurate results and appropriate quality assurance and quality control.

Read the results with a qualified professional. Health Canada says there is no single, reliable index or method to measure water corrosivity and reflect population exposure to contaminants released by the distribution system, and EPCOR says its published results are daily averages leaving the water treatment plants and that numbers in the distribution system may vary. See Edmonton’s water and your building’s copper pipes.

What good findings look like.

Findings should be usable by a board, a reserve fund study provider, an insurer and a contractor.

They separate an observation, an indication, a likely source and a confirmed source, so a conclusion is never stronger than its evidence.
They state the limits: what was not seen, not tested or not accessible.
They compare the options, and say under what conditions each stops being suitable. See repipe, line or treat.
They record who did what, when and with which equipment, and how samples were handled.
They are independent of any single product, and they say so when the author also sells one.
They open with a one-page summary for the board and put detail in an appendix.

Using the findings.

Give the findings to the reserve fund study provider so the piping estimate rests on evidence. Tell owners early about the likely timing of any major project. Share the findings with the corporation’s insurance broker: BC Housing says buildings with low water-related claims and a proven history of maintenance are a lower risk for insurers, and that this affects cost and renewal conditions. Plan any work in phases the reserve fund can support. See how long building pipes last.

Where ProShield fits.

A LEaC Shield assessment brings the building’s history, water-use records and mechanical equipment into one conversation before an installation is scoped, and it is a review of suitability for that program, not an independent engineering condition report. ProShield’s leak investigations add documented evidence about where water appeared and how it behaved. An independent assessment of pipe condition would be done by a qualified professional such as an engineer or technologist, and ProShield’s leak records can be given to them. See when a condo needs a leak assessment.

Sources and further reading

Questions people ask

Is a reserve fund study a pipe condition assessment?

No. The regulation requires an on-site visual inspection of visible components and a review of documents. Pipes inside walls are not necessarily examined, so a pipe-specific investigation is separate.

Who should carry out a pipe condition assessment?

It depends on the scope. The Condominium Property Regulation limits reserve fund study providers to listed qualified individuals, beginning with professional engineers and professional technologists. A laboratory analyzes pipe samples, and a leak investigator documents where water appeared and how it behaved.

Can the reserve fund pay for an assessment?

The Condominium Property Act lists, among uses of the reserve fund, a report prepared by an expert examining the condition of the corporation’s property and the common property. The board should confirm the details with its lawyer or reserve fund study provider.

How often should a building’s pipes be assessed?

The sources found set no interval for pipe assessments. A reserve fund study is due no less than every 5 years, which is a natural point to bring new evidence about the pipes.

What should we keep after a pinhole leak is repaired?

Keep the failed section of pipe, photographs and the plumber’s notes. A research study of a pinhole-leak problem included analysis of failed pipes, a survey of where and how the pitting occurred, and an examination of water chemistry.