In England, the responsibility for maintaining the drainage system of a block of flats can vary depending on the specific arrangements outlined in the lease or ownership documentation. Typically, there are two common scenarios: In the case of a site such as a university campus or school, maintenance responsibility remains […]

The property owner is responsible for maintaining and repairing any drains that are inside the boundaries (curtilage) of the property. These are known as private drains. If there are any issues with private drains, the property owner needs to arrange and pay for the repairs. Be aware that if any […]

A drain is a pipe that serves the purpose of draining water and waste from a building and any other associated structures like a garage. A lateral drain, on the other hand, is a pipe that carries wastewater from your property to a sewer. It is usually located outside the […]

This category applies to the apparatus that enables flow and access to the drainage system. In effect all the drainage appliances other than the pipework itself. This is a fairly large topic, so we will cover the most commonly used drainage appliances.The most obvious are items such as manholes, inspection […]

This should not be confused with below-ground pipework and is normally the grey, white PVC pipework that is located above ground and connects sanitary appliances to the below-ground system via a down pipe or a soil vent pipe. This is generally not part of a camera survey for various reasons […]

The commonly used standard for CCTV reporting is detailed in the Manual of Sewer Condition Classification Manuals (MSCC). There is a difference between drains and sewers, but MSCC allows for this by using a revised subset for domestic and light commercial drains.These manuals are produced by the Water Research Centre, […]

A CCTV survey is the most commonly used method of establishing the condition of a below-ground drain. This may be to establish the reason behind some known existing problem that is causing a blockage or other issue. Surveys are also used to establish the condition of the drain at a […]

Although a CCTV survey is the most commonly used method of establishing the condition of a below-ground drain it is not the only method. Depending on the initial investigation purpose or the results of a CCTV survey other forms of survey, inspection or testing might be required.If the drainage installation […]

What makes up a drainage system and what should be surveyed? Obviously, there is the below-ground pipework that transports waste normally using gravity (there are pumped and vacuum systems) within the network. On private, residential properties this would be to connect appliances and generally transport waste to the the public […]