A CCTV drain survey starts at £250, and that is the same whether it is a straightforward look at a single dwelling, a homebuyer survey before you exchange, or the survey and plan a build over agreement needs. Drain unblocking starts at £140.
Call-out is included in both. There is no separate charge for turning up.
| From | |
|---|---|
| CCTV survey, single dwelling | £250 |
| Homebuyer drain survey | £250 |
| Build over agreement survey | £250 |
| Drain unblocking | £140 |
These are starting prices. Every site is different, so the exact figure is agreed on the phone before we come out, and it does not change when we arrive.
Most drainage companies will not put a number on a website at all. Drainage genuinely varies, and a single fixed price either gets padded to cover the worst case or gets revised on the doorstep. A starting price and an honest phone call is the better version of that.
What moves the price
The property. A single dwelling on a straightforward run is the starting price. A large or older house with several runs, a converted property with drainage serving more than one flat, or anything altered as the building changed over the years, all take longer to survey and produce a longer report.
How much pipe there is. We charge for the survey rather than by the metre, but a system with six runs takes longer than one with two. Terraces built around a shared rear drain are usually quick. Detached houses with a separate surface water system usually are not.
Access. Lifting a chamber cover that has been tarmacked over, or working through an internal WC because there is no external access, adds time. If there is a chamber in the garden and the cover comes up, we are straight in.
Whether the drain has to be cleared first. A camera cannot see through a blockage. If the drain is blocked we clear it before we survey, and that is the unblocking charge plus the survey rather than one or the other.
Whether you need a drawn plan. A condition report grades what is there. A site plan showing pipe runs, depths and directions of flow is extra work on site, and it is what Severn Trent want for a build over agreement.
Commercial rather than domestic. Bigger systems, more chambers, often out of hours, and a report that has to satisfy somebody else’s compliance file. Priced on the job.
Questions people ask before booking
Is there a call-out charge on top? No. Call-out is included in the prices above. The figure we give you on the phone is the figure you pay.
Will a homebuyer report satisfy my solicitor? Yes. The report is written to be handed to somebody else (a solicitor, an insurer or a water authority) rather than just read once. Every section carries a grade, every defect is coded to MSCC5 and positioned in metres from the manhole, and you get a site plan and the full video.
Why is a homebuyer survey not more expensive? Because it is the same work. Some firms charge a premium for the word homebuyer. The survey, the coding and the report are identical, so the price is identical.
Is the survey included if you unblock the drain? No, they are separate. If we clear a blockage and you then want to know why it blocked, the survey is additional. We will tell you on the day whether a survey is worth doing or whether the cause was obvious.
How long does the report take? Same day. You get the report, the site plan and the full video the day we attend.
Do you charge to tell me the drain is not mine? If the blockage turns out to be on a shared run or beyond your boundary, it is very likely Severn Trent’s to clear at no cost to you, and we will tell you that rather than invoicing you for it.
Book a survey
Ring 01902 475 611 and we will give you the price before we come out. We are based in Castlecroft, so most of Wolverhampton is under fifteen minutes away.
CCTV drain surveys · Homebuyer drain surveys · Build over agreements · Blocked drains
Talk to the person who will do the work.
Surveys across the West Midlands, south Staffordshire, east Shropshire and north Worcestershire. Unblocking closer to home.