When a camera inspection is worth it
- The same drain has blocked more than once.
- A plumber has recommended relining or digging, and you want to see why.
- You're buying an older home, or one with big trees near the drains.
- You're about to build, extend or pave over a drain line.
- There's a sewer smell or soggy ground and no obvious cause.
What a plumber will do
Find a way in
The camera goes in through an inspection opening, the overflow relief gully or a fixture. If the pipe is fully blocked, it's cleared first so the camera can pass.
Run the camera
A small waterproof camera on a flexible push rod travels along the pipe, recording as it goes. Most show the distance travelled on screen.
Locate the trouble
Many camera heads carry a transmitter. A locator above ground picks up its signal, so the plumber can mark where a crack or root mass sits and roughly how deep.
Explain and hand over
The plumber should talk you through the footage and give you a copy, with the problem spots noted.
What the footage can show
Roots growing through joints, cracks and breaks, joints that have pulled apart, and sags where waste and water sit in the pipe.
Grease and scale on the pipe walls, old repairs, and where the pipes actually run, which drawings don't always get right.
A camera doesn't fix anything. What it does is tell you whether the next step is clearing, hydro jetting, a spot repair or relining.
What changes the job
- How easy the inspection openings are to reach.
- Whether the pipe has to be cleared before the camera can see.
- How long the line is, and how many bends it has.
- Whether you want each problem located and marked on the ground.
- Whether you need a written report as well as the video.
Who pays for the camera?
Using a camera can change what a water company will repay. South East Water, for one, lists "CCTV was used" among the cases where the owner pays. Other companies set their own rules, so check yours before assuming anything is covered.
The footage still helps settle whose pipe failed. If it shows the blockage past your connection point, the plumber should report it to the water company at the time. For each company's rule, see who owns the sewer pipe.
What you can do, and what to leave
You can
- Find the inspection openings and move anything sitting on top of them.
- In Queensland, the QBCC's DIY guide lists "replacing caps to ground level inspection openings on a sanitary drain" as unregulated work, so a missing or broken cap is something you can replace.
- Keep a note of which drains have been slow, and when.
- If you're buying, ask the seller for footage from any earlier inspection.
Leave to a licensed plumber
- Opening the drain and running the camera.
- Clearing a blockage so the camera can pass.
- Reading the footage and recommending a repair.
- Any repair the footage leads to.
Licences
The camera is a tool, but what comes after it is drain work. In the ACT, drainers hold their own licence classes, such as "Operative drainer" and "Advanced sanitary drainer", and Access Canberra's register lets you see expired, suspended, surrendered and cancelled licences.
Elsewhere, our guide shows how to check a plumber's licence. If the inspection leads to a repair, ask what compliance certificate you'll get for it.
Questions to ask about the inspection
- Will I get a copy of the full video, not just screenshots?
- Can you show me the distance to each problem?
- Will you mark the spots on the ground?
- Is the fault on my side or the water company's?
- What would you do about each problem, and why?
What we would do
If a drain has blocked twice, pay for the camera before paying for a third clear. Keep the footage: it's evidence if a water company is involved, and the next plumber can compare against it. If anyone recommends relining or digging, ask the drain specialist to point to the exact spot on the screen and explain it.