State-of-the-art leak detection technology finds hidden water leaks behind walls, under floors, and in ceiling voids without unnecessary demolition or damage to your property.
Not every water leak announces itself with a visible drip or a puddle on the floor. Some of the most damaging leaks in Dubai properties are completely hidden, running silently inside walls, beneath floor slabs, or through ceiling voids for weeks or months before anyone notices. By the time visible signs appear, such as damp patches on walls, bubbling paint, warped flooring, or a musty smell, the damage is often extensive and expensive to repair.
At PROTECH, we provide professional water leak detection services that use advanced technology to find these hidden leaks accurately, quickly, and with minimal disruption to your property. Our leak detection specialists carry thermal imaging cameras, acoustic listening devices, moisture meters, and tracer gas equipment that allow them to locate leaks behind walls, under floor tiles, inside concrete slabs, and in other concealed locations without the need for exploratory demolition. In villa gardens, a pool that is losing water is often a shell or plant-room leak, and we can trace it before committing to a full drain-and-refill. Once the source is confirmed, we move to sealing the leak once it is found as a separate scope so the fix is done properly rather than patched.
Our leak detection service is used by homeowners investigating unexplained damp patches or high water bills, building managers tracing the source of leaks between apartments, insurance companies needing documented evidence of leak origins, and property developers checking new builds for plumbing defects. Whatever the reason you need leak detection, our team has the equipment and expertise to find the answer. On new handovers, we can capture damp readings at handover so early moisture issues are logged before you accept the unit.
Different types of hidden leaks require different detection methods. Our specialists select the appropriate technology based on the situation, often using multiple methods to cross-reference results and ensure accuracy.
Thermal Imaging: Thermal imaging cameras detect differences in surface temperature that are invisible to the naked eye. When water leaks behind a wall or under a floor, it creates a cooler zone compared to the surrounding dry area. Our thermal camera displays these temperature variations as a color-coded image, allowing us to see exactly where moisture is present without touching the surface. Thermal imaging is particularly effective in Dubai because the large temperature difference between the air-conditioned interior and the water-cooled surfaces creates strong thermal contrast that makes leaks easier to identify.
Acoustic Leak Detection: When pressurized water escapes through a crack or hole in a pipe, it creates a sound. This sound may be inaudible to the human ear, especially when the pipe is buried in concrete or hidden behind thick walls, but our electronic acoustic sensors can pick it up clearly. We place sensitive microphones against walls, floors, and ceilings, and listen for the characteristic sound of escaping water. By comparing sound intensity at different points, we can triangulate the exact position of the leak. This method is especially useful for locating leaks in main supply pipes that run through floor slabs.
Moisture Meters: We use both pin-type and pinless moisture meters to map the extent of moisture in walls, floors, and ceilings. Pin-type meters insert tiny probes into the material to measure moisture content at specific depths. Pinless meters use radio frequency signals to detect moisture below the surface without making any holes. By taking readings at a grid of points, we can create a moisture map that shows the full extent of the affected area and helps identify the direction from which water is traveling.
Tracer Gas Detection: For leaks that are extremely difficult to locate using other methods, we use tracer gas. We isolate the suspect pipe section, pressurize it with a safe, inert gas mixture that includes hydrogen, and then use a sensitive gas detector to scan surfaces above the pipe route. The gas escapes through the same crack or hole as the water and rises through the floor or wall material to the surface, where our detector picks it up. This method is highly accurate and particularly useful for slab leaks and underfloor heating leaks.
CCTV Drain Camera Inspection: For leaks related to drainage systems, we insert a small waterproof camera into the drain pipe to visually inspect its condition from the inside. The camera transmits live video to a monitor, allowing us to see cracks, breaks, joint separations, and root intrusions that could be causing water to escape from the drain system into surrounding structures.
Our experience with thousands of leak detection jobs across Dubai has shown us that certain leak scenarios are particularly common in the emirate's building stock. Understanding these patterns helps us conduct faster and more targeted investigations.
Behind Bathroom Walls: Bathrooms are the most common location for hidden leaks in Dubai apartments. The plumbing connections for showers, bathtubs, basins, and toilets are typically concealed inside the wall, and these connections can develop leaks due to thermal expansion, vibration, or joint failure. The first sign is often damp patches appearing on the wall of the adjacent room or corridor. We use thermal imaging and moisture meters to trace the moisture back to its source, which may be several meters from where the visible damage appears.
Under Kitchen Sinks: The confined space under a kitchen sink contains multiple plumbing connections, including supply lines for hot and cold water, drain connections, and often connections for a dishwasher and water filter. Small leaks in this space can go unnoticed for months because the area is hidden behind cabinet doors and often cluttered with cleaning supplies. The water damages the cabinet floor and can seep through the building slab to the unit below.
Inside Ceiling Voids: Many Dubai apartments have plumbing running through the ceiling void of the unit below, which serves the bathroom or kitchen of the unit above. When a pipe in this void develops a leak, the water may travel along the pipe or along structural elements before dripping through the ceiling, sometimes far from the actual leak location. Our acoustic detection equipment is particularly useful in these scenarios, as it allows us to listen for the leak source along the pipe run without removing ceiling panels unnecessarily.
Slab Leaks: Some plumbing runs are embedded directly in the concrete floor slab, particularly in older Dubai buildings. When these pipes develop leaks, the water has nowhere to go except outward through the slab, eventually appearing as damp patches on the floor or ceiling below. Slab leaks are notoriously difficult to locate without proper equipment because the water can travel significant distances through the concrete before becoming visible. Our acoustic and tracer gas methods are specifically designed to handle slab leak detection.
Swimming Pool Leaks: Villas with swimming pools can experience leaks in the pool shell, plumbing connections, return lines, or suction lines. A leaking pool can waste enormous amounts of water and undermine the surrounding ground structure. We use pressure testing on individual pipe runs and specialized dye testing to identify exactly where pool water is escaping.
One of the most common reasons Dubai residents contact us for leak detection is an unexpectedly high DEWA water bill. When your water consumption suddenly increases by 20, 50, or even 100 percent without any change in your household habits, there is a strong possibility that you have a hidden leak somewhere in your property's plumbing system.
Our DEWA high bill investigation service is a systematic process designed to determine whether a leak exists, find its location, and provide you with a detailed report that you can use to support a dispute with DEWA or an insurance claim.
The investigation begins with a meter reading verification, where we confirm that your DEWA meter is reading correctly and that the readings match what appears on your bill. We then perform a static pressure test on your water supply, which involves closing all outlets in the property and monitoring the meter and pressure gauge for any movement that would indicate water is escaping somewhere in the system.
If the static test confirms a leak, we proceed with a targeted search using our detection equipment to find the exact location. We then provide you with a written report that includes our findings, photographs, thermal images where relevant, and our professional assessment of the leak cause and recommended repair. This report is formatted to be useful for DEWA billing disputes and insurance claims.
In our experience, the most common causes of high DEWA bills from hidden leaks include leaking toilet cistern flush valves that allow water to trickle continuously into the bowl, failed isolation valves that allow water to pass even when closed, concealed pipe leaks in walls or floor slabs, and leaking water heaters with faulty pressure relief valves that discharge water into drain pipes. Each of these can waste significant volumes of water without producing obvious visible signs.
Some property owners attempt to find hidden leaks themselves, often by opening up walls and floors in areas where they suspect the leak might be. While this approach sometimes gets lucky, it more often results in significant unnecessary damage to the property and still does not find the leak. Professional leak detection offers several important advantages.
Accuracy: Our detection equipment allows us to locate leaks to within a few centimeters in most cases. This precision means that when the wall or floor is opened for repair, the opening is small and targeted. Compare this to the exploratory approach where large sections of wall or floor may be removed before the leak is found, if it is found at all.
Speed: A professional leak detection inspection typically takes one to three hours depending on the complexity. Our equipment quickly narrows down the search area, and our experience with Dubai building types allows us to focus on the most likely locations first. An amateur search can take days and still produce no result.
Documentation: Our service includes a detailed report with photographs, thermal images, and moisture readings. This documentation is essential for insurance claims, building management records, and DEWA billing disputes. Without professional documentation, it can be difficult to prove where a leak originated, who is responsible, and what the extent of the damage is.
Cost Effectiveness: While there is a cost for professional leak detection, it is typically a fraction of what you would spend on unnecessary demolition and rebuilding if you tried to find the leak by opening up walls and floors randomly. A single tile removal and replacement in a Dubai apartment can cost more than our entire detection service. Professional detection saves money by directing repairs precisely where they are needed.
Preservation of Property: Non-destructive detection methods preserve your property finishes. There is no need to remove tiles, break walls, or pull down ceiling panels during the detection process itself. Physical access is only needed for the actual repair once the leak has been located, and even then, the opening is kept to a minimum.
When you book a leak detection service with PROTECH, here is what happens from start to finish.
Before the Visit: Our team may ask you a few questions over the phone about the symptoms you have noticed, when they first appeared, and the layout of your property. This helps our specialist prepare the right equipment and plan the investigation. We recommend that you clear access to areas where symptoms are visible, such as moving furniture away from damp walls or clearing items from under sinks.
Initial Inspection: Our specialist arrives and conducts a visual inspection of the affected areas and the surrounding plumbing. They check obvious potential sources first, including visible plumbing connections, water heaters, toilet cisterns, and appliance hoses. Many leaks that appear hidden actually originate from an accessible source, and identifying these quickly saves time and cost.
Detection Phase: If the source is not immediately apparent, our specialist deploys the appropriate detection equipment. For wall and floor leaks, this typically starts with thermal imaging to identify cool zones, followed by moisture meter readings to map the moisture extent, and acoustic detection to listen for the sound of escaping water. The specialist methodically scans the suspect areas, gradually narrowing down the leak location.
Findings and Recommendations: Once the leak is located, our specialist explains their findings to you, showing thermal images and moisture readings that support the diagnosis. They recommend the most appropriate repair method and can provide a quotation for the repair work. If the repair is straightforward, it can often be completed during the same visit.
Report: You receive a written report documenting the investigation, findings, and recommendations. This report includes photographs, thermal images, and moisture maps as applicable. The report is designed to be clear and comprehensive, suitable for sharing with building management, insurance companies, or DEWA.
Transparent pricing with no hidden fees. Final price confirmed after assessment.
From AED 500
Thermal imaging + moisture mapping
From AED 750
Larger area coverage
From AED 600
Includes written report
From AED 800
Acoustic + tracer gas methods
From AED 900
Shell and plumbing inspection
From AED 300
Add-on to any detection service
No single instrument finds a hidden leak. Each one answers a different question, and the order matters, because a reading taken before the circuit has been proved can send the repair to the wrong wall. This is the sequence, and what each step is allowed to decide.
1. Prove there is a loss. With every tap, float valve and appliance closed, the DEWA meter should stand still. If it creeps, water is leaving the pressurised system somewhere after the meter. If it holds, the wet patch is being fed by a drain, a shower tray, a waterproofing membrane or an AC condensate line, and no listening equipment will hear any of those. A roof tank complicates the test: its float valve refills the tank and reads like a leak, so the tank is isolated before the meter is read.
2. Thermal confirms the area. The camera sees surface temperature only. Water evaporating from a wall cools it. A hot-water line leaking under the screed warms the tiles above it. A chilled-water or condensate line shows as a cold stripe. The image says where moisture has reached; it does not say where the pipe failed, and a thermal bridge, a sun-loaded external wall or a foil-backed board can print the same pattern with no water present at all.
3. The moisture meter bounds it. A pinless meter is swept in a grid across the thermal footprint and a pin meter confirms the wettest points. That turns a colour pattern into a map with numbers on it, and it exposes the false positives: metal studs, foil and reinforcement make a pinless meter read wet over a dry substrate, and the pin reading shows it.
4. The pressure test proves the circuit. Hot and cold are isolated and tested one at a time, with the water heater and any tank shut off and the air purged from the line, because trapped air produces a gauge drop that looks like a leak. The circuit that fails to hold is the one that gets listened to. If neither drops, the search leaves the supply pipework altogether and moves to drainage, waterproofing or condensate.
5. Acoustic verifies the point. A contact microphone on the valves and exposed pipe ends picks the noisy section. A ground microphone is then moved across the run at a fixed gain and the strongest response is marked on the surface. This is the intensity comparison described in the acoustic card above, and it is the step that finally puts a mark on a tile.
6. The correlator narrows a long run. Where the pipe runs under a slab with no surface access, or two peaks cannot be separated by ear, we clamp the two sensors of our leak noise correlator to the same pipe at either end of the suspect length. The instrument measures the time delay between the two arrivals of the same leak noise and, with the pipe material, diameter and route length entered, calculates a distance to the leak. That is a computed position rather than a judgement about where the sound is loudest, which is why it is the tool for leaks under floors and inside slabs.
7. Cross-check before anything is opened. The acoustic peak, the correlator distance and the moisture map should agree, allowing for the fact that water runs downhill and along the screed, so the wettest tile is often below the failed joint rather than on top of it. When they disagree, the pressurised-evidence tools own the source: pressure test, acoustic and correlator decide where the pipe failed. Thermal and moisture own the extent: they decide how far the water has travelled. A cold patch over a circuit that holds pressure is a condensate, sweating or drainage problem, and a thermal image does not overrule a pressure gauge.
8. Tracer gas when the leak is silent. A weep too small to hiss, a line running below one bar, or a long plastic run can defeat listening entirely. The section is drained, sealed and charged with a 5 percent hydrogen, 95 percent nitrogen mixture at its normal operating pressure, and a detector is swept over the surface where the gas rises through screed and tile.
9. Scan, then the smallest opening. The pipe route is traced with our wall and post-tension scanner before any cut, and in a post-tensioned tower slab the same instrument locates the tendons. A borescope goes through the first small hole to see the drip before the opening is enlarged. Repair follows, and then the same instruments run again in the other direction: the pressure test verifies that the repair holds, and a repeat thermal and moisture pass verifies that the area is drying.
A wet patch never says what fed it. Three pairs get confused most often in Dubai apartments, and looking harder at the stain settles none of them. Each pair has one test that does.
Every fan coil unit makes water. Warm room air crossing the cold coil condenses onto it, collects in a tray and leaves through a condensate line of roughly 20 to 25 millimetres bore that runs through the ceiling void to a drain. When the tray silts up or the line loses its fall, that water reaches the ceiling board and shows as a stain under or near the unit, often at a corridor bulkhead or beside the access panel. The differential is timing and the meter. Condensate appears while the AC runs and on humid days, dries when the unit is off, and the DEWA meter stands still with every tap closed. A supply leak wets the same patch by the same amount whether the AC is running or not, and the meter creeps. The water is cold and clear in both cases, so feel alone settles nothing. If the pattern follows the AC, the fault and the fix are on our AC leaking water page: tray, drain line, fall and coil. If it ignores the AC, the pressure test and the microphone take over.
Buildings on district cooling carry chilled water from the energy transfer station up the risers and out to the fan coil unit in every flat. Where the insulation on that pipe has wrinkled, collapsed or been cut back around a valve, the bare pipe sits below the dew point of the ceiling void and harvests water out of the air for the whole summer. Nothing has burst. The pipe is sweating, and the drip is largest on the most humid afternoons. A thermal camera shows a cold line in both cases, so on its own it cannot tell them apart. A real loop leak is constant, indifferent to how hard the AC is working, and appears on the building side as make-up water and a loop pressure that keeps falling. The loop beyond the energy transfer station is the building's own plant under the cooling provider's published conditions of service, so either finding goes to the management entity in writing with the thermal image attached and a note of whether the AC was on or off when the patch was measured.
When the stain sits at the ceiling of a hall or a maid's room and the wall behind it backs onto the service shaft, the source is usually above the unit or inside the common riser rather than in the flat's own pipework. Water from a riser joint, from the slab, or from the wet room of the flat above tracks along the slab soffit and drops several metres from where it entered. The test order does not change; the reading of it does. The unit's own supply is pressure-tested first, and if it holds, the unit is cleared and the evidence points upward. Under Law 6 of 2019 the slab and the utility services that serve more than one unit are common parts, maintained by the management entity out of the service charge. That is why the written report matters more here than anywhere else. A dated report that clears the unit's own circuit is the document that moves the repair from the resident's account to the building's, and the full picture for leaks behind walls and under floors is on its own page.
Four parties can own a leak in a Dubai property, and the boundary between them is fixed by where the water came from, which is exactly what the detection visit establishes. A report that names the source settles most of the argument before it starts.
DEWA. DEWA's responsibility for connections and maintenance ends at the meter. Everything after it is the customer's: the internal pipework, the roof tank and its float valve, the fixtures and every metre of pipe inside the walls. DEWA's High Water Usage Alert flags abnormal consumption on a smart meter, which is a genuine early warning for a slab leak that has not yet surfaced, but the alert is a prompt to investigate and the investigation is the customer's to arrange.
The building. Law 6 of 2019 on jointly owned real property draws the line inside the building. Article 7 lists the structural components, including the structural walls, ceilings and foundations, among the common parts. Article 9 states that a unit does not include the utility services inside it that serve the common parts or another unit, so the riser passing through a 2 BHK is common property even though it runs behind the resident's own wall. The management entity maintains the common parts out of the service charge, is required by Article 41 to carry liability cover for damage to occupants and third parties, and under Article 42 disputes under the law sit with the Rental Disputes Centre. A leak that starts in a riser, in the slab or in the podium therefore lands on the building's account, and the resident's job is to prove in writing that it did.
Landlord and tenant. Inside the demised premises, Law 26 of 2007 places maintenance and the repair of any defect that affects the tenant's use on the landlord under Article 16, unless the contract says otherwise, and Article 17 keeps the landlord liable for defects that are not the tenant's fault. Article 19 requires the tenant to look after the premises as an ordinary person would, so a tenant who ignored a wet wall for three months is in a weaker position than one who reported it by email on the first day. The Rental Disputes Centre lists reducing the rent, and carrying out the repair and deducting the cost, among a tenant's remedies where a landlord neglects maintenance, and it requires the Ejari-registered contract to open a case. At end of tenancy, at the move-out inspection, Article 21 requires the premises returned in the condition received apart from ordinary wear and tear, the fair wear and tear line of a standard tenancy contract. Leak damage traced to a building riser is neither wear nor the tenant's doing, and the dated report is what keeps it off the security deposit.
What the boundary changes on the day. The unit's own circuits are tested first. If they hold, the resident is cleared and the notice goes to the management entity with the report attached. If one fails, the resident or the landlord owns the repair, and the report tells the insurer whether the failure was sudden or gradual.
A report is only useful if a third party can act on it without phoning us, which means the insurer, the management entity and the next contractor each need to find their field without asking. Every PROTECH leak report carries the fields below. Each is there for a reader.
Cause, origin and whether the failure was sudden or gradual. Home insurance in the UAE commonly covers a sudden and accidental escape of water and excludes gradual seepage, so this line decides whether a claim is even open. The report states which it was and the evidence for it. A split heat-fusion joint with a dry surround is sudden. A corroded galvanised fitting with staining that has crept through three coats of paint is gradual. We write what the evidence shows.
The location, referenced from fixed points. Distance from two named walls, the floor level, and the circuit: hot, cold, chilled water or drain, so that a second contractor who has never been to the flat can put a drill on the same spot. "Near the bathroom" is not a location.
Methods used, in order, with the readings. Meter movement over the closed-outlet window, pressure at the start and end of each test in bar, moisture readings at the failure zone and at a dry reference point in the same material, and the marked acoustic peak. A reader can see which instrument confirmed the area and which verified the point.
Thermal images with the visible-light frame alongside. A thermal image without its matching photograph cannot be placed in the room by anyone who was not there.
Photographs in sequence. The first symptom, the access opening, and the damaged pipe section before it is replaced. The last one is the photograph insurers ask for and the one most often missing, because the fitting has already gone in the skip by the time the claim is filed.
Secondary damage. What else got wet. Skirting, cabinet carcasses, the gypsum ceiling of the unit below, the parquet that lifted two rooms away because the screed carried the water there.
Who acts on it. Four readers, each looking for one field. The management entity reads the circuit and the origin, because a common-parts repair is funded from the service charge only once the source is shown to be common. The insurer or loss adjuster reads sudden or gradual. The Rental Disputes Centre reads the dated location and the photographs beside the Ejari contract. DEWA reads the meter test, as described in the DEWA section above.
Explore more services from PROTECH Dynamics
PROTECH Dynamics serves all communities across Dubai
Emergency response available to any location across Dubai.
Our emergency team responds 24/7 across all of Dubai.
Our advanced detection technology locates hidden leaks accurately and without unnecessary damage to your property. Book your leak detection inspection today.
Available 24/7 for emergencies | info@protechfitout.com
