Electrics and gas
The water meter is in the pavement and no indoor stopcock was found. What should you ask before you treat the supply as easy to isolate?
No. Do not treat the supply as easy to isolate. The water meter is in the pavement and no indoor stopcock was found, so you should ask where the water can actually be shut off, who can open that chamber, and whether a key or the water company is needed. The survey records the meter position and the missing indoor stop. It did not prove the pavement valve works, and it did not pressure-test the house. Isolation that lives in the street is not the same as a valve under the sink. Ask those questions before you call the supply easy to control.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
An indoor stopcock is the valve an occupier can usually reach. A pavement meter can include a stop, but it sits in a chamber in the highway, sometimes locked, sometimes stiff, and not always yours to force. The survey did not find an indoor valve and did not operate the street one as a plumbing test. Easy isolation would mean a known, workable valve. The finding is a gap in what was found, not a certificate that the street valve will turn.
Ask the seller where they shut the water off, and ask the water company what stop serves the property if the seller cannot show one. Do not lift the pavement cover and strain a valve on a viewing. Tell your solicitor that no indoor stopcock was found, so a later leak is not assumed to be easy to isolate from inside. If a plumber finds a hidden indoor valve the survey missed, that updates the picture.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where did you look for an indoor stopcock, and which cupboards were locked?
- Did you see a stop in the pavement chamber, or only the meter?
- Any external valve on the wall that you are not calling an indoor stop?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask where the water can be shut off before you call isolation easy.
- Ask who can open the pavement chamber and operate any stop there.
- Do not force a street valve on a viewing.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does a pavement meter mean there is always a working stop beside it?
No. The survey saw the meter in the pavement and did not find an indoor stopcock. It did not prove that a street valve turns.
Can you buy without knowing how to isolate the water?
You can still be told where the stop is. Do not treat the supply as easy to isolate until someone has shown a valve that works.