CCTV drain surveys
CCTV drain surveys, with a written report you keep
A survey is only worth having if you get the evidence. Every survey we do comes with the footage, still images of anything we find, and a written report you can hand to a solicitor, an insurer or another contractor.
Plenty of firms will run a camera down your drain and tell you what they saw. That is not a survey, it is an opinion. What a buyer, a lender or an insurer needs is a record: where the pipe runs, what it is made of, what condition it is in, and where the defects are, measured from a fixed point.
We survey the full run rather than the first accessible length, code what we find against the standard defect classifications, and give you the file. If the report says you need work, you are free to take it to anyone.
What is included in the price
- Full CCTV walk of the drain runs, not just the first accessible length
- Written report with defects described, located and coded
- Still images of every defect found
- The video file, supplied to you to keep
- Chambers lifted, camera cleaned and chambers reinstated
- A fixed price quote for any remedial work, given on the day
- The survey fee credited against remedial work booked on the same visit
What is not included
Any of these is quoted separately and agreed with you first. Nothing gets added to a bill without a conversation.
- Excavating a buried inspection chamber nobody can find, quoted before we start
- Additional chambers beyond the first two on the property
- A supplement for a survey booked outside normal working hours
- Tracing and mapping a run to produce a scaled drainage plan, quoted separately
Get this priced
Four questions and we will come back to you, usually inside the hour.
No call-out fee, at any hour
Coming out to look and giving you a price is free, day or night, weekends and bank holidays included. There is no supplement for out of hours work either.
How it works
Four steps, no surprises
Tell us why you need it
A house purchase, an insurance claim, a recurring blockage and a build over a sewer all need a slightly different survey. We ask first so the report answers the right question.
We survey the runs
Chambers lifted, camera through the full length, foul and surface water where both are accessible. Usually an hour to two hours on a domestic property.
You get the evidence
Video file, still images and a written report with the defects coded and located. Sent through the same day or the next working day.
You decide what happens next
If there is work to do you get a fixed price on the day, and the survey fee comes off it if you book the work with us. If you would rather take the report elsewhere, that is fine, it is yours.
Questions
CCTV drain surveys: your questions answered
Do I need a drain survey before buying a house?
A standard valuation does not look at the drains at all, and a homebuyer survey will normally do no more than lift a cover and note that it exists. Drain repairs run from a few hundred pounds for a patch to five figures for a full replacement under a driveway, so on an older property it is one of the cheapest pieces of information you can buy before you exchange.
What does the report actually tell me?
Where the pipes run and what they are made of, the condition of each length, and every defect with its position and severity. Cracks, displaced joints, root ingress, scale, standing water, previous bad repairs and any connection into a drain that is not yours. Enough for a solicitor to raise an enquiry or an insurer to open a claim.
How long does it take?
A normal three or four bedroom house takes one to two hours on site. The report follows the same day or the next working day.
Can you find where a drain runs if there are no plans?
Yes. We use a sonde in the camera head and a locator above ground to trace the line and depth from the surface, and we can mark it out for you. That is what you need before anyone digs footings or lays a driveway.
Is the survey fee wasted if you find nothing?
You still have the report, and on a house purchase a clean report is exactly what you were paying to find out. If you buy the house and later need work, the report tells your contractor what they are dealing with.
Where we do this
CCTV drain surveys across Hampshire, Surrey and the Berkshire borders
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A valuation does not look at drainage and a homebuyer survey barely does. On an older property a drain survey is the cheapest way to find a five figure problem before you exchange.
Read the guide →Blocked drain, or a job you want priced properly?
Ring us and speak to the person who will be doing the work. Twenty four hours a day, no call-out fee, and a fixed price before anything starts.