CCTV Drain Survey in Livingston and West Lothian

Drain surveys elsewhere

Outside West Lothian, see our pages for a drain survey in Edinburgh, a drain survey in Dunfermline and drain surveys across Fife. If the survey finds a broken pipe, read about collapsed drain repair.

What a CCTV drain survey actually involves

We lift the chambers, jet or rod the run clean if it needs it, then push a self levelling camera along the pipe and record the whole length. The footage is measured, so every defect we record has a distance from the chamber and a depth against it. That is what turns a video into something a builder can quote from and a solicitor can use.

We own our camera equipment and carry it on the same van as the jetting gear, so a run that has to be cleaned before it can be inspected is dealt with in one visit rather than two.

What the survey finds

• Cracks, fractures and open or displaced joints
• Root ingress, and the defect the roots came in through
• Deformation, partial collapse and full collapse
• Standing water showing a loss of fall
• Fat, scale, silt and debris reducing the bore
• Misconnections, redundant runs and unrecorded connections

What the report includes

Video footage of the full inspection, still images of each defect, the distance and depth of each defect from the chamber, a plain English explanation of what it means in practice, and a costed repair option where work is needed. Where it is useful we add a simple line drawing of the run so you can see how the drainage is laid out.

The report is written to be read by a homeowner, a landlord or a solicitor. If you want it addressed to an insurer, a factor or a lender, say so when you book and we will format it for that.

How long it takes

A typical domestic survey takes one to two hours on site. A large property, a long shared run, or a commercial site with several chambers takes longer. Reports are normally with you within one to two working days, and faster than that when a purchase deadline depends on it.

What happens if the survey finds a problem

You get options and prices, and nothing is decided on the day. A good deal of what we find is minor and needs nothing more than monitoring. Where a repair is needed we tell you plainly whether a patch liner will do it, whether the run needs full relining, or whether the section has gone far enough that it must be excavated and replaced.

We carry out all three ourselves, so there is no handover to another contractor and no second survey to pay for.

Deciding whether to book

Read do I need a drain survey? and how long a drain survey takes.

Drain inspection or drain survey?

People search for a drain inspection, a drain camera survey and a CCTV drain survey, and in practice they mean the same thing: a camera travelling along the inside of the pipe while the footage is recorded. What makes it a survey rather than a quick look is the measurement and the written report. A short camera inspection can confirm where a blockage was or whether a pipe is broken. A full survey records the whole run, measures each defect and explains what it means.

Do I need a drainage survey?

A survey is worth having when the same drain keeps blocking, before buying a property, before building over or near a drain, when roots are a suspect, or when an insurer, factor or neighbour needs evidence of where a fault is. If you are buying, see homebuyer drain surveys. If the footage shows a cracked or root-damaged pipe, drain relining may repair it without digging. For the reasons behind three of those, see our guides to building over a drain in Scotland, pitch fibre drains and whether home insurance covers drains.

Drain surveys in Lanarkshire

We also carry out drain surveys in Lanarkshire, including Motherwell and Coatbridge. Our Motherwell page covers drainage in that area.

Drain survey questions