CCTV Drain Survey

A drain camera inspection uses a waterproof camera head on a flexible push rod, or on a small wheeled crawler for larger pipes, fed in from an inspection chamber (manhole), a gully or a rodding point. The whole run is watched live and recorded.

• Push-rod cameras suit most household drains, including bends.
• Crawler cameras suit longer, larger runs, such as shared or commercial drains.
• A locating sonde in the camera head lets us trace the route and depth of the drain from above ground.
• A distance counter records where along each run every defect sits, so a repair can be targeted precisely.

If a drain is blocked or heavily coated with fat or scale, the camera cannot see the pipe wall, so it is usually cleaned first, through our drain jetting service, and then surveyed.

A drain survey shows the condition of the pipe, its route and anything restricting the flow. Typical findings include:

• Cracks and fractures: From ground movement, age or heavy loads above.
• Displaced or open joints: Letting water out and soil or roots in.
• Root ingress: From fine hair roots to roots that fill the pipe.
• Deformation and collapse: Common in pitch fibre drains, laid in many post-war homes, which can blister and flatten with age.
• Deposits: Fat, scale, silt and debris that narrow the pipe.
• Sags and backfalls: Low points where waste sits instead of flowing away.
• Connection problems: Poor junctions, or rainwater and foul water connected to the wrong system.

The survey also confirms the pipe material and size, the location of each chamber, and where your drain joins a shared drain or the public sewer. Who is responsible for each part is explained on our drainage services page.

The most common reasons are buying a house (covered in the next section), recurring problems, insurance claims and building work.

It is not a legal requirement, but it is often worth it. A homebuyer drain survey checks the drains before you exchange contracts. A standard home survey usually only looks at what can be seen by lifting the chamber covers, not the condition of the pipes underground, and drain repairs can be costly and disruptive once you own the property.

A homebuyer drain survey is particularly sensible when:

• the house is older and likely to have clay or pitch fibre drains
• there are large trees close to the house or the drain route
• the property has been extended, possibly over or near a drain
• the surveyor has noted slow-draining chambers, cracked covers or smells

If the survey finds defects, you can use the report to ask the seller to repair them or to renegotiate the price before you exchange.

Every survey comes with a written report you can pass to a solicitor, insurer, seller or builder. It typically includes:

• Recorded footage of each run.
• A drain plan: A sketch of the route, chambers and connections.
• Defects graded by severity, coded to a recognised standard: BS EN 13508-2, applied in the UK through the WRc Manual of Sewer Condition Classification.
• Still images of each defect, with its distance along the run.
• Recommendations: No action, cleaning, a localised repair, lining or replacement.

Standard coding means any contractor, insurer or water company can read it.

It depends on the number and length of the drain runs, how easy the chambers are to open, and whether the drains need cleaning first. A simple house with one or two accessible chambers is quickest; shared runs, seized covers or heavy deposits take longer. We confirm the visit length and when you will receive the report when we book.