Your office AC is leaking water from the indoor unit, you have switched it off, and now you have to choose who comes to look at it. A dripping air conditioner in an office or shop is a business problem before it is a repair problem: water spreads to stock, flooring, cables and desks, and the unit may be out of use until someone looks at it. Tessa Technical Services, a Dubai home and office maintenance company that covers AC repair across the UAE, says on its own website that a leak is usually a blocked drain line overflowing the drain tray, and that the unit should be switched off to protect ceilings. This guide covers what to do before a visit, and what the company's published terms say a visit involves.
Stop the water first
Switch the unit off at the thermostat or remote. Tessa's website advises switching the AC off to protect ceilings. Move stock, paperwork and electronics away from the drip, and put a tray or towels under it. If water is near sockets or wiring, keep people away from the unit and call the technician before anyone touches the electrics.
Record what you can see
A short fault log saves the technician's time and keeps the visit focused. Note the following:
- where the water appears: under the indoor unit, along a wall, at a ceiling cassette, or at a pipe joint
- when it started, and whether it happens only after long running hours
- whether the unit still cools, and whether it has been switched off before
- photographs of the drip point, the drain outlet and the filter
- any ice on the pipes or the coil
Give one person the job of keeping this record, and file it with the premises papers. If the unit is also struggling to cool, this checklist on an office AC that is not cooling covers what to note for that fault.
Check the usual causes
Tessa's website says a leak is usually a blocked drain line overflowing the drain tray, and that a clogged filter can freeze the coil. The U.S. Department of Energy's home cooling guide points the same way on the general maintenance side: it advises checking that the unit's drain is not clogged. The DOE guide also notes that a clogged filter restricts airflow through the unit and reduces its ability to cool the air.
One safe check needs no tools: slide out the filter, if your model allows it, and look at it. Anything beyond that, including the drain line itself, is a job for the technician. These are general checks, not a diagnosis of your unit.
Who Tessa Technical Services works for
Knowing a provider's scope helps you decide whether to call them. Tessa's website says its AC work covers split, ducted, central and package units, in apartments, villas and offices. Its AC repair scope includes fault diagnosis (not cooling, not starting, short-cycling), refrigerant leak detection and gas top-up, compressor, capacitor, fan motor, PCB and thermostat repair or replacement, and routine servicing including filter and drain-line cleaning. For this article's subject, the website lists water-leak repair from blocked drain lines to drain-tray faults.
It describes itself as one multi-trade team, with a supervisor who owns the whole repair, and lists AC installation, duct cleaning, plumbing, electrical, painting, handyman and civil works alongside AC. For a small office or shop, that matters when a leak turns out to involve more than the AC.
The AC leaking water visit, step by step
Tessa's published terms set out the visit in a few points:
- Every job begins with a fixed AED 150 inspection fee, credited to the final invoice when you approve the written quote.
- The technician gives a fixed written quote on site before any work starts. If the scope changes, work stops and the quote is redone.
- If a part has to be ordered, the technician says so before the quote is approved and agrees the return visit with you.
- The technician tests refrigerant pressures, electrical components and airflow, and approved work is tested against the original complaint.
- If you decline the quote, the website says you have still bought a proper diagnosis.
Tessa's terms state that repairs are not charged at a flat rate. Cost varies with the fault, the unit type, the parts and how easy the unit is to reach, so plan around the written quote.
What to ask before you approve
Tessa Technical Services states a fixed AED 150 inspection credited to the final invoice. Put the same questions to the technician in front of you:
- What is the cause, and what in the unit supports that?
- What does the written quote include, and what happens if the scope changes?
- Does a part have to be ordered, and when will the unit be back in use?
- If I decline the quote, what diagnosis do I keep?
The last point is a useful way to see the inspection fee: it buys a proper diagnosis, so you can decide on the repair with the findings in front of you.
Common mistakes to avoid
These are the slips that most often make a leak visit slower or the price less clear:
- Running the unit while water is still falling, which spreads the damage.
- Approving work without a written quote, so the scope and price are open.
- Accepting a quote that lists labour but not parts, which leaves the parts cost open.
- Skipping the fault log, so the technician starts from nothing.
- Leaving the unit on because the drip looks small, when the water may still be reaching the ceiling or the electrics.
Repair visit or contract
A leak is a single fault, and Tessa's own comparison is that a per-repair inspection is fair for a single fault but costly as a habit. If leaks and other AC faults keep coming back in the same premises, the company offers an Annual Maintenance Contract with three public plans (Basic, Value and Premium), where planned visits check AC filters, drain lines and cooling performance. For a comparison of the two approaches, see AC contract vs one-off service for a villa or office.
Plan the visit around the business day
Tell staff which part of the premises to keep clear, and decide who will let the technician in and sign the visit sheet. If the unit serves a shop floor or a meeting room, decide in advance whether that room stays closed until the written quote is approved. Keep the photographs and fault log too: if stock was damaged, the same record shows the date, the location and the symptoms as you saw them. Share the log with the technician at the start of the visit, so the inspection begins with your observations rather than repeating them, and ask for the findings in writing at the end, whether or not you approve the repair.
Next step
Switch the unit off, note where the water is and when it started, and ask the technician for a written quote before any work begins. The company's published terms are on the Tessa Technical Services website.
Disclosure: this article was not written, commissioned or reviewed by Tessa Technical Services; what it says about the company is taken from the company's own website. The checks above are general guidance, not a diagnosis of any unit.