Backflow testing for property managers
You manage the letters, not the valves. Every ICI and multi-residential building in a Durham portfolio has at least one backflow preventer on file with the Region, each on its own annual clock, and every notice comes to you. The job is to make the whole portfolio run on one calendar.
The problem from your chair
Backflow notices arrive one device at a time, addressed to whoever the Region has as owner, often the head office. Each one gets forwarded to a site contact, who forwards it to a contractor, who may or may not have a registered tester available that week. Multiply by the number of buildings and you have a compliance task with no calendar, no owner, and no way to know which reports actually reached the Region.
The by-law does not care about any of that. Section 3.3 puts the duty to have a device on the owner; section 6.3 puts annual testing on the owner; section 6.6 puts five years of report retention on the owner. As the manager, you are the one who has to make it happen.
What managed-portfolio testing looks like with us
| You send | We return |
|---|---|
| A list of addresses (a spreadsheet is fine) | A per-device price and a total per building |
| Device counts and types where known, notices where in hand | Confirmation of what the Region has on file per building |
| Access contacts and any timing constraints | One schedule, grouped by municipality and access window |
| Nothing else | Reports per device, filing confirmations, and a due-date calendar for next year |
Once the first cycle is done, we hold the device history and due dates. Thirty days before each device is due, you get a reminder naming the building and device, and a slot proposal. The Region’s notice arrives after the test is already booked.
Devices you likely have across a portfolio
- Double check (DCVA) on the domestic service of most offices, plazas, apartment and condo buildings. Moderate hazard.
- RPZ wherever there is a boiler with chemical treatment, a commercial kitchen tenant, a medical or dental tenant, or a car wash. Severe hazard, and the one that fails most.
- PVB on irrigation at properties with landscaping. Tested at spring start-up when the line is live.
Mixed portfolios have all three. Each is tested differently and each has its own report. See our device pages if you want to know what the tester is doing in there.
Ownership changes, tenant changes, and the survey trap
Section 5.3 of the by-law (as amended May 2026) requires a new cross-connection survey every five years from the first one, and again on any tenant or ownership change, re-zoning, or change of process or chemical use. Surveys are done by licensed master plumbers, professional engineers or certified engineering technologists (Appendix A), not by testers. When a unit turns over to a higher-hazard use, the survey may call for a device upgrade (a DCVA replaced with an RPZ, say), and the Region will issue an install notice.
We do not do surveys. What we do is tell you when we see something that suggests one is due, and keep the annual test running so that at least that clock is never the problem.
Access, keys and the by-law
Section 7.1 requires owners to provide access to anyone the Commissioner authorises, on reasonable notice. Section 7.2 allows the Commissioner to shut off water if access is refused within 24 hours of written notice. Neither is aimed at annual testing, but both are reasons to have a working access plan for every mechanical room: a key with the super, a lockbox, or a standing arrangement with the site contact. When we book, we confirm the access plan per building and remind the contact the day before.
Reporting to owners and boards
Each test produces a report with device details, every reading, pass or fail, and the tester’s registration. For condo boards and owner reporting, we can supply a one-page summary per building per cycle: devices on file, test dates, results, filing confirmations, and anything the tester flagged for next year (a marginal check, an RPZ in a pit, seized shut-offs). It answers the board’s question (“are we compliant?”) in one sheet.
Why not just leave it with the building’s plumber
Some plumbers are registered testers and do it well. The pattern that causes trouble is not the plumber, it is the arrangement: no calendar, no confirmation that the report was filed, no history when the plumber changes. If you have a plumber you trust for repairs, keep them. Repairs are theirs under the by-law anyway. Let the annual test and the filing be a separate line that runs on its own schedule.
Property managers: questions
Can one tester handle buildings in several Durham municipalities?
Yes. The program is Regional, the tester registration is Regional, and the filing portal is the same everywhere. A portfolio with buildings in Oshawa, Ajax and Bowmanville is one schedule for us, grouped by area.
How do we stop notices going to the wrong person?
The notice goes to the owner of record at the address BSI Online has. When a building changes manager, ask the owner to update the contact with the Region or BSI. Meanwhile, send us the building list and due months and we remind you directly, so the Region's letter is a formality.
What do we need to keep on file?
The by-law requires the owner to keep test reports on site for at least five years (section 6.6). We send a report per device per test; keep them wherever the building's compliance records live and we can resend copies on request.
A tenant changed. Does that affect backflow?
It can. Section 5.3 of the by-law triggers a new cross-connection survey on any tenant or ownership change, or a change of process or chemical use, because the hazard classification may change (a dentist moving into a former office, for example). The survey is a plumber's or engineer's job; the annual test carries on regardless. Tell us about tenant changes and we will flag it.
Do you send one invoice per building or one per cycle?
Whichever your accounting prefers. Most managers want one invoice per building for cost recovery to the owner; some want a portfolio invoice with a per-building breakdown. Both are fine.
Send the building list once
Addresses, device counts if known, and any notices in hand. We return one schedule grouped by area, one price per device, and one set of reports when it is done.