Waterproofing
Floor drains and wall-adjacent drains done right
Many water-damage claims trace back to one badly fitted floor drain. The GVK rules on replacing old drains, mounting them movement-free, and what may pass through the floor near your shower.
Why this matters to you
The drain is where water leaves — install it wrong and it's where water damage begins.
- Old or unverified drains replaced during renovation
- Mounted rock-steady so the seal can't be broken by movement
- Only permitted penetrations near your shower — nothing improvised
The floor drain is where water is supposed to leave the room — and when it's fitted wrong, it's exactly where water damage begins. GVK is precise here because so many claims trace back to this one component.
When a drain must be replaced
During a renovation, a floor drain must be replaced if it was manufactured before 1990, or if it can't be confirmed to work faultlessly — for example if it's defective or missing clamp rings or spare parts. Old drains are a known, avoidable risk.
Mounted so nothing can move
A drain must be mounted so that no movement can occur between the drain and the substrate, the membrane, or the floor covering. In timber-joist floors it's fixed on a proper mounting plate/support. Any movement breaks the seal over time, so rigid fixing is essential.
Wall-adjacent drains
A drain set closer than 200 mm to a wall ("väggnära") follows special rules and must be approved for near-wall placement together with the specific membrane system used. This popular modern layout is only safe when the drain and membrane are a proven pair.
What may break the floor membrane — and where
GVK sets out exactly which penetrations may pass through the floor membrane, by room type. In the place for bath or shower, only a floor drain is allowed — waste pipes are not. In bathrooms, laundries, technical rooms and WCs, waste pipes are permitted, and pipes to a water heater, heat pump or meter are allowed only with an approved penetration sleeve, per the rules. Nothing is improvised through the floor near where you stand and shower.
What M5 brings to Dubai
We replace old or unverifiable drains, mount them so they can't move, pair wall-adjacent drains only with a matched membrane, and keep the area around your shower free of unauthorised penetrations. It's unglamorous — and it's one of the highest-payoff details in the whole room.
Official source: this is M5's plain-language summary, not the official text. For the full rules see GVK — gvk.se.
Want this standard on your project?
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