ᐅ Protection of Water and Heating Pipes from Damage During the Construction Phase

Hello everyone,

We are building a multi-family house and recently finished the interior plastering work. A few months ago, the heating technician installed stainless steel water pipes, copper pipes, and some plastic pipes. All pipes are, of course, insulated. After the construction of interior partition walls and the plastering, the insulation on the pipes near the floor has been partially damaged. In some places, the insulation is torn, so the pipes are occasionally visible. During the partition wall work, we made sure to place wooden boards or formwork over the pipes to avoid damage as much as possible. In hindsight, I am wondering how we could have better protected the pipes. Naturally, I am concerned whether any of the pipes might have been damaged, since we recently had many contractors on site and it was unavoidable that some of them stepped on the pipes. The insulation obviously offers some protection, but it is certainly not intended to be stepped on. As a precaution, I plan to ask the heating installer to perform a leak test again. He already conducted one after completing his work, but after all the recent construction activities, I want to make sure no damage has occurred to the pipes.

My questions are:

- What is the best way to protect such pipes during the construction phase? Although it is too late for me now, I am curious to know how you handle this or have handled it in your projects, and whether your pipe insulation was also partially damaged.
- Is it standard practice for the heating installer to conduct a second leak test before starting the floor construction, including all insulation layers and finally laying the screed?

Thank you very much for reading and for your feedback.

Best regards
Baulöwe2020

The insulation can be repaired using appropriate tape. You can only protect everything if you put it back into a protective conduit. However, that is actually pointless.