A camera survey answers the question rodding cannot: what is actually wrong with the pipe. In Manchester that is usually a terrace where the run keeps blocking under a flagged yard, a cellar with damp nobody has traced, or a mill conversion where the drainage was fitted long after the building went up.

Typical CCTV drain survey costs in Manchester

Most domestic CCTV drain surveys in Manchester fall between £150 and £350.

Some firms covering the M postcodes advertise a short camera look from around £129. That is an inspection rather than a report a solicitor can use. A written residential survey is often closer to £200 to £270. Extra time gets added when the drain cover is buried under the flags in a shared yard, when the run has to be jetted before the camera can see, or when it is a mill conversion with a long fall. National ranges sit on CCTV drain survey cost.

Where your survey stops

This surprises people, so it is worth saying plainly. A drainage company can film your private drain whenever you ask. They cannot simply put a camera into the public sewer.

United Utilities require formal permission for any investigation or CCTV work on the public sewer system, applied for on their own form. The conditions they set out give you a sense of why:

• Equipment must be intrinsically safe, rated for an explosive atmosphere
• Personnel need current confined space training certificates
• Work is restricted to 08:00 to 16:00 on normal working days

In practice that shapes what you can book. A survey of your own run, up to the boundary or to the point it joins a shared pipe, is a straightforward booking. If the problem turns out to be beyond that, the answer is not to pay someone to go further. It is to report it to United Utilities, because beyond that point it is their responsibility.

A good survey report should tell you which side of that line your problem sits on. That is the single most valuable thing it gives you, because it decides whether you are paying or they are.

Terraces, flagged yards and covers nobody can find

The standard Manchester terrace in Rusholme, Levenshulme, Gorton, Longsight or Openshaw has a small flagged yard, a back gate and an entry running behind the row.

Over the years those yards get concreted, decked, turned into parking or built on. The inspection cover goes under whatever came last.

Two consequences, and both show up before any filming starts.

• The cover has to be located, which is time on the clock before the camera comes out of the van
• Access may be poor, because if a van cannot get down the entry the equipment comes through the house or over the yard wall

If you know where your cover is, say so when you book. If you know it has been paved over, say that too. It changes the quote and it is better known in advance than argued about afterwards.

Cellar damp: survey before you tank

A great many Manchester terraces have cellars, and a cellar sits below the level of the drain outside.

That sets up an expensive mistake. Damp appears low on a cellar wall, a damp proofing firm quotes for tanking, and the real cause is a cracked drain running past that wall.

• Tanking a cellar runs into thousands
• A camera survey costs a fraction of it
• If the drain is the source, tanking hides the symptom and the damp returns

Film the drain first. It is the cheapest way to find out which trade you actually need, and a cellar is where Manchester houses show drainage problems earliest.

Mill and warehouse conversions

The drainage in those buildings was not designed alongside them. It was threaded through afterwards, which produces a specific set of problems a camera is good at finding.

• Long horizontal runs to reach an existing connection, with less fall and less force behind the water
• Pumped sections where there is no natural fall at all
• Shared stacks, so the fault is often nowhere near the flat reporting it
• Layouts nobody has a drawing of, because the conversion changed everything

In a block, tell the building manager or managing agent before booking anything. Communal pipework is normally a service charge matter, and a survey you commissioned alone can be difficult to recover the cost of, even when it finds the problem.

Shared runs behind the row

In a lot of Manchester terraced streets one run serves several houses and passes under a shared entry or rear yard.

When the whole row goes slow together, the argument about whose fault it is starts immediately. A survey ends it, because it shows where the restriction actually sits.

When Manchester homeowners actually book a survey

• The same stretch keeps blocking after being cleared
• Buying a house, particularly a terrace with a cellar, anything with an extension, or a mill conversion
• Damp with no traced source, especially in a cellar
• Before an extension, to establish where the run goes before anyone digs
• An insurance claim, where the insurer wants evidence of what failed
• A dispute with neighbours about a shared run
• Before paying for a repair, so you buy the right repair rather than the first one suggested

What you should receive from a Manchester survey

• Video footage of the run, not only stills
• A written report naming each defect and where it sits along the pipe
• A plan or sketch of the layout, which matters most in a conversion
• Recommendations separating urgent work from what can wait
• A clear view on ownership, saying whether the fault is on your pipe, a shared run or the public sewer

FAQs in Manchester

Can a drainage company film the public sewer as well as my drain?

Not without permission. United Utilities require a formal application for any CCTV work on the public sewer system, with intrinsically safe equipment, confined space trained staff and work restricted to normal working hours. Your own run up to the boundary is straightforward.

What if the problem turns out to be beyond my boundary?

Report it to United Utilities. A blockage on their network is cleared at no charge, and a survey report showing the fault is on their side is exactly the evidence you want.

My drain cover is under the yard flags. Is that a problem?

It is workable, but say so when you book. Locating and lifting a buried cover takes time and should be in the quote rather than a surprise on the invoice.

I have damp in the cellar. Should I tank it or survey the drain?

Survey the drain first. Tanking runs into thousands and treats nothing if a cracked drain is putting the water there.

Our whole row blocks at the same time. Will a survey settle who pays?

It is the best way to. It shows whether the restriction is on the shared run, which normally transferred to United Utilities in 2011, or inside one property’s boundary.

I live in a mill conversion. Who books the survey?

Speak to the building manager or managing agent first. Communal pipework is usually a service charge matter, and a survey you commission alone can be hard to recover the cost of.

Will the drain need jetting first?

Sometimes. A camera cannot see through standing water or heavy silt, so a badly blocked run may need clearing before filming. That is extra time and should be quoted.

Can I use the report for an insurance claim?

Usually, if you book a survey with a written report rather than a quick look. Tell the company it is for an insurer when you book.

Getting a quote in Manchester

Describe what you need the survey for and give the postcode. We pass it to companies covering Manchester. Say if it is for a house purchase, an insurance claim, a cellar damp problem or a conversion, because that changes the report you need.

Blocked right now rather than needing a survey? See blocked drains in Manchester. Not in Manchester? See all areas.