When a survey earns its money
- Repeat blockages. A drain that blocks again in the same place has a physical cause. The second clearance is the moment to stop paying for symptoms.
- Before buying a property. A standard homebuyer survey does not look inside the drains. For older London housing with mature trees, that is the expensive gap.
- Insurance claims. Insurers want documented evidence of the defect, its position and its likely cause, in a form they can assess.
- Before building. An extension going over or near a drain needs the run located accurately first, not discovered by a digger bucket.
- Subsidence or unexplained damp. A leaking drain washing soil away is a common cause and a routine thing for insurers to ask about.
What the survey involves
A survey is only useful if it covers the whole run rather than the first few metres. We clear enough of the line to give the camera a readable view, because footage of debris tells you nothing about the pipe behind it, then run the camera through the full length and record what is there.
- Clear the line enough for a usable view
- Run the camera through the full length of the affected drain
- Record the position and depth of every defect with an above-ground locator
- Grade what we find, from minor wear to a defect needing repair now
- Provide the footage and a written summary
The locator is what makes the difference between a video and a repair plan. A defect marked accurately on the ground keeps any excavation to a small hole; a defect described as roughly halfway along does not.
What we look for
Structural defects affect the pipe itself: cracks, fractures, deformation, collapse, displaced joints, missing sections. Service defects affect how it performs without damaging it: deposits, roots, standing water, encrustation, an obstruction. The distinction matters because the first sets a timescale for repair and the second can often simply be cleared.
Two findings come up constantly in London. Standing water in a pipe that should have drained, which indicates a dip, a reverse fall or a restriction downstream, and root ingress at clay joints, which is the leading cause of repeat blockages in period housing.
What you receive
Footage of the run plus a written summary describing each defect, where it sits and how serious it is, written so that a surveyor, an insurer or a builder can act on it directly. Footage with no interpretation is of limited use, which is why the report is part of the price rather than an extra.
What it costs
A CCTV drain survey is a fixed £300 plus VAT, including the footage and the written summary. No digging is involved: the camera goes in through an existing chamber or access point, which is the entire point of surveying before excavating.
Most residential surveys are completed within a couple of hours, depending on the length of the run and how many branches connect into it.