Drain inspection: compare quotes and prices

Define the inspection’s purpose first

A recurring blockage calls for a different investigation from a baseline survey before alterations. After new construction or rehabilitation, the aim is to inspect the sections completed. When buying a property, an understandable condition report may support subsequent decisions.

Name the result you want and the areas involved. Inspecting the house connection does not automatically cover every stack, garden drain or neighbouring connection. An unknown route can be assessed initially; a complete pipe plan is not required for the first request.

What a pipe camera shows and what remains unverified

Cracks, displaced joints, roots, deposits, foreign objects and deformation may be visible. Their significance depends on context. An isolated image does not replace clear identification and assessment of the section concerned.

Dirt, standing water, tight bends and major obstacles can restrict visibility or camera passage. An inaccessible part is not automatically inspected by surveying the section next to it. Have the report identify the routes actually examined and the parts left outstanding.

An optical inspection does not provide a complete measured leak test. Visible cracks or entering water may be indications. If watertightness needs testing, agree an appropriate separate examination.

Allow for cleaning and suitable access

Depending on condition, preliminary cleaning may be needed to see the pipe wall. A complete blockage may need clearing first. Ask whether preparation is included or charged additionally according to the actual work.

The contractor selects the camera and approach for pipe size, route and access. Small building drains and larger sewers do not require identical equipment. Known inspection openings or chambers help organise the work without asking you to open or enter them yourself.

Describe known access conditions: rooms, floors, narrow routes, vehicle positioning or entry to coordinate. The contractor clarifies missing technical information. Measuring pipes, entering a chamber or chemical preparation is not part of making a request.

Distinguish distance along a pipe from location on the property

A distance displayed in a recording identifies a position along the route surveyed. To find it again, the starting point, direction and pipe section must be clear. It is not automatically an exact geographical position or a reliably measured depth.

Additional location work may be useful to find a defect from the surface or update a plan. Its possibilities depend on access, equipment and surroundings. Discuss whether marking, a sketch, a plan or reusable measurement data are needed.

For a simple problem investigation, you do not have to choose professional data formats. For a planning commission, the future recipient should specify the information needed early. This helps avoid unnecessary processing and duplicate surveys.

Agree recordings, condition reports and required evidence

A video, individual images and an interpreted condition report are different deliverables. A useful report identifies sections, visible findings, survey gaps and the significance of observations. Recommendations should be distinguishable from the recorded findings themselves.

If the survey will be used by a property manager, designer or responsible authority, clarify the required documents and responsibilities before the visit. Local requirements may depend on the project and existing pipes. A contractor’s report does not automatically count as complete acceptance everywhere.

Submission or a further assessment may be charged separately from the camera work. A pipe’s general age does not establish one inspection interval throughout Switzerland. The actual purpose and requirements for your property matter.

Compare the cost of the survey and the result you need

The work depends on length, number of sections, access, preparation and camera passage. Several short pipes with difficult access may need more work than one long accessible run. Also clarify how an interrupted survey attempt or necessary extra visit will be charged.

Compare the same services. A brief camera check without detailed interpretation differs from a comprehensive survey with location work, plans and further tests. Repairs are a separate commission unless expressly agreed with defined scope and approval.

Prepare the request using information you know

Choose the reason and briefly describe the areas concerned. Unknown technical dimensions can remain to be clarified. Existing plans and reports may help later; neither photographs nor technical classifications are required to begin.

• Goal. Investigate a problem, record condition, prepare planning or inspect completed work.
• Pipes. House connection, underground drains, stacks or other known areas.
• Known information. Approximate length, observations and documents already available.
• Result. Required report, additional location work or a test to discuss.
• Organisation. Location, affected floor, access and preferred timing.

Discuss the findings before ordering further work

Ask which findings matter and what supports the measures proposed. Next steps may range from no intervention to cleaning, another test or repair. A recording does not automatically justify replacing the entire pipe.

Keep the agreed data together with its identification. A later professional can then consider the existing results. Unexamined areas and outstanding questions should be clearly identified at handover.

• Define. Agree purpose, sections and necessary deliverables.
• Prepare. Professionally arrange access and required cleaning.
• Inspect. Complete the agreed survey, location work or additional test.
• Hand over. Explain findings, survey gaps and next steps.