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How much does a CCTV drain survey cost in Cheshire?
In Cheshire, a CCTV drain survey price depends on how the pipe is reached, how much of it is filmed and whether you get a written report as well as a video. This page does not print a figure, because we could not find two dated public sources that agree on one.
Last reviewed:A camera in a pipe is not a price list
In Cheshire, a CCTV drainage survey means a camera is passed along a drain so someone can see a crack, a collapse, a root or a blockage. The houses this guide is written for first are in Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach, and the same questions apply across the county. What the page does is show which lines make two quotes comparable.
A survey is a look. It is not, by itself, a repair, a new soakaway, or a pump. If the firm also wants to jet the pipe or dig it up, those are extra lines. Ask for them to be written separately so a cheap look is not compared with a look-and-dig.
Anyone in the UK can post a job or register. QuoteZila is new, so how many firms reply depends on who has joined near you [QZ5].
Do not mix this up with a camera on the wall
Home security cameras, alarms and doorbells are a different industry. This page does not set out the rules for filming a street or a neighbour's garden. If that is the job, use the CCTV and alarm installers page. If the job is a drain that backs up, stay on this page.
Say "drain camera" or "survey of the underground pipe" in the post. "CCTV" alone is how the two jobs get muddled.
What changes the visit
| Question | Why the visit changes |
|---|---|
| Which pipe | A basin waste is not a shared sewer |
| How it is reached | An outside chamber is not a roof |
| How much is filmed | A short run is not a whole plot |
| What you receive | A video on a stick is not a written report |
| Whether a repair is included | Looking is not digging |
| Any fee if you stop after the survey | A no call-out claim has a narrow meaning [S4] |
| VAT | Registration threshold is £90,000 [S5] |
None of those rows is a Cheshire tariff. They are the questions that stop you comparing unlike pieces of paper.
What you can see without lifting a cover
Do not lift a manhole. Do not go onto the roof to find a vent. Do not send a household cable down a WC to "help the camera". Photos of the slow fitting, of any outside gully you can see from the path, and of water on the ground, are enough.
Write which rooms are affected. A single basin is a different survey from a house where every downstairs fitting gurgles together. If the problem started after building work, say what was built, without guessing that a pipe was broken.
If sewage is on the floor, say that in the first line and stop using the fittings.
What a written quote should contain
Citizens Advice says a quote is a fixed price and an estimate is only a rough guess, so do not rely on a verbal price [S1]. Try to get written quotes from at least 3 traders before you choose [S1]. Some traders charge for preparing a quote, so ask about that before anyone comes out [S1]. After you accept, the quote is a binding agreement, which is why the wording matters [S1].
Ask the paper to show a fixed total, a breakdown, how long the price lasts, whether VAT is included, and when it can rise [S1]. A daily rate, rather than a fixed total, can lead to the work being strung out, so if time is the basis, ask for days and hours in writing [S1].
A business must register for VAT when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or when it expects to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days [S5]. Ask which kind of total you were given.
If the advert says there is no call-out charge, the Advertising Standards Authority says the claim is fair only when you are not charged for travelling to the premises, the initial diagnosis, or any other charge before the work is agreed [S4]. A survey is often the whole job. Ask whether you pay if you then decide not to book a repair.
For a deposit, Citizens Advice says not to agree more than 25% where a deposit cannot be avoided, and to take a receipt [S1]. Pay by card if you can, rather than cash for the whole visit up front [S1].
A file you can play is not a marked-up note
Ask what you will be handed when the van leaves. A video you can play is one deliverable. A short written note that names the start of the run, the end of the run and what the camera showed is another. A quote that only says "CCTV" can mean either, or both, or a visit with nothing left behind. Citizens Advice says a written quote should break the work down so you can see what is included [S1]. Put the deliverable in that breakdown, and say whether a second appointment to talk through the film is a separate line.
Keep your own copy. If a later contractor, or a building control body, asks what was seen, a description from memory is weaker than the file. If the firm wants to keep the only copy until a repair is booked, that condition belongs on the paper before you accept it. Accepting a quote is a binding agreement [S1], so a sentence that says "repairs as found" can commit you to work you have not seen.
Say the pattern, not a cause
"The downstairs WC rises when the bath is emptied" is a different brief from "the side gully overflows only in heavy rain". A price for one of those can film the wrong pipe if you actually have both. If both happen, say both, and ask whether one visit covers two runs. Do not write a theory about roots or a collapsed pipe unless a previous film, which you still have, already showed it.
Do not lift a chamber lid to help the camera. Do not pour a household product down the pan to "clear the way". If sewage is on the floor, stop using the fittings and put that in the first line of the post.
Access you can describe from the path
Say whether a lid is visible and you have not opened it, whether the only access you know is the WC, and whether a van can stop near the house. A long run of hose changes the visit. You do not need a measured length. You do need to say if a gate is too narrow, or if the lid sits under decking you will not take up yourself.
If the property is a flat, say the floor and whether you think the stack serves other homes. This page does not decide who is responsible for a shared stack. A quote written as if the building were one house can be the wrong paper for one flat. If the camera would pass into a neighbour's land, say that too. A camera is not excavation. GOV.UK's party wall guidance is about digging near foundations, which is a later question if someone wants to open the ground [S3].
If the survey leads to building work
GOV.UK says building regulations approval is different from planning permission, and that you might need approval for works that are not on its example list [S2]. Check with a building control body when you cannot tell [S2]. A camera does not build a drain. A new connection, a new chamber or a diverted run might. Put those in a second quote.
GOV.UK: find your local council for building control. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
The rules are also on GOV.UK's building regulations approval page [S2].
If the next step is a dig beside a neighbour, GOV.UK says the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 covers excavation near to and below the foundation level of neighbouring buildings [S3]. The Act sits apart from planning permission and from building regulations approval [S3]. A timber fence is outside the garden-wall example on that page [S3], which is a reminder not to treat every boundary as the same kind of work. Ask the contractor to say whether any dig would be that excavation, before they fold it into the survey price.
Jobs you might post
These are examples, not taken from real job posts.
- The downstairs WC and the basin both gurgle. You have not lifted a cover. Ask for a camera survey only, with the repair priced separately if they recommend one.
- A puddle keeps appearing on the lawn in the same place. Ask the quote to say which pipe they will film and what you will be given afterwards.
- A survey was done years ago and you still have the disc. Ask a firm to say whether they need a new survey before they will price a repair. Do not send them into the roof.
How to read two survey quotes
Put the length of pipe side by side, then the deliverable, then anything that is a repair. Citizens Advice says a price much lower than the others may mean the work is not the same work, or that the trader does not have the skills [S1]. Be wary if they will not write it down [S1]. Ask to see insurance and check the policy will still be in date when they come [S1].
Plumbers cover waste pipes inside the house. Builders are the page if the follow-on work is a dig. Plumber cost is a guide to reading a plumbing price, not a camera tariff. Soakaway drains are a different installation.
This page is general information, not professional or legal advice. QuoteZila does not check Gas Safe, WaterSafe, NFRC, NICEIC or other registrations against the register on your behalf: look them up yourself.
Honest status: QuoteZila is new. We're starting in Cheshire, beginning with Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach, and growing area by area. Anyone in the UK can still post a job or register a business. How fast you get quotes depends on how many local businesses have joined near you. Businesses can register and receive jobs straight away. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire.
Posting a job is not open yet
Questions about drain surveys
How much does a CCTV drain survey cost in Cheshire?
Access, the length of pipe and the kind of report all change the visit. Compare written quotes that name the same run of pipe and say whether a repair is included or not, so a camera look is not set beside a look and a dig.
Is this the same as a security camera on the house?
No. This page is about a camera sent along a drain. A camera fixed to a wall to watch a garden or a door is a different trade and a different set of rules. Do not use a home-security quote to judge a drain survey, and do not book a drain firm to install an alarm.
Will the survey include the repair?
Only if the quote says so. A look inside the pipe is not the same booking as jetting, patching or digging the pipe up. Ask for those as separate lines. Citizens Advice says a quote should break the work down so you can see what is included.
Do I need building regulations approval for a survey?
A camera inspection by itself is not on the GOV.UK list of example alterations. GOV.UK says you could still need approval for works that are not on that list, and that you should check with a building control body if you cannot decide. If the survey leads to a new drain, ask about that new drain, not about the camera.
What if the pipe runs beside next door?
Say so. GOV.UK says the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 can cover excavation near to and below the foundation level of neighbouring buildings, and that the Act is separate from planning permission and building regulations approval. A camera is not that dig. A dig that follows the survey might be.
Does QuoteZila check drainage firms?
No. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire. You can report a quote or a business from your job page.
Can I post a drain survey on QuoteZila?
Yes. Say which fittings are affected and add a Cheshire postcode. Up to five matched local businesses can quote. QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses.
Related reading
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Related pages
- Cost to Move a Radiator: What Changes the Price. What changes a quote to move a radiator: pipe runs under floors or in walls, draining down, valves, the new wall and making good. No price is printed here.
- Dishwasher Installation Cost: What Changes the Price. What moves a dishwasher installation quote: a like-for-like swap or a new space, water and waste pipes, a socket or spur, integrated doors and removal.
Sources
- QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila home and jobs copy.
- QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila terms, customers.
- QZ5: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila FAQ.
- S1: Before you get work done on your home, Citizens Advice. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
- S2: Building regulations approval, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.gov.uk/building-regulations-approval
- S3: Party Wall etc Act 1996 guidance, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-resolving-disputes-in-relation-to-party-walls
- S4: Call-out charges, Advertising Standards Authority. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/call-out-charges.html
- S5: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat