Renegotiating or walking away
The report mentions a recommendation for a drain camera next to the price talk. Has a camera survey that has not happened yet been tested, or only named?
Only named. A recommendation for a drain camera, placed next to talk about price, has not been carried out. No camera survey has happened, so the drains have not been tested. The home survey did not become that camera visit by recommending it. Price talk does not create footage. What the pipes are doing, and whether a defect underground exists, stays undecided until a camera survey that has not yet happened is actually done and reported.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
A home survey can see gullies, manholes that were safely lifted, and staining that suggests a drainage problem. It does not send a camera down the run unless that inspection was commissioned and done. A sentence that says a camera is advisable is a recommendation. It is not a film, not a gradient, and not a map of a collapse. Negotiating the price while the recommendation sits unread treats a suggestion as a result. The result does not exist yet.
If the drains matter to the price, instruct a camera survey and wait for it before you treat the underground run as known. Tell the solicitor the recommendation has not been done. Do not agree a figure that pretends the footage was seen. The home survey's limit stands: it named a further test. It did not test the drains. Keep the price conversation behind that missing evidence, or accept that you are talking without it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which drain run did the report say a camera should cover?
- Has that camera survey been booked, or only recommended?
- What price talk is proceeding without the footage?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the camera recommendation as not yet done.
- Instruct a drain camera if the underground run needs to be known.
- Do not agree a price as if the footage already existed.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Did this visit camera the drains?
No. The report named a recommendation for a drain camera. The camera survey has not happened, so nothing in the pipes was tested by it. The home survey's look at what was visible above ground is not that test. Footage does not exist yet.
Can price talk stand in for the missing footage?
No. Talking about price does not film the drain. The recommendation and the negotiation are different. Until a camera survey is reported, the underground condition stays unknown. Do not describe a figure as if it rested on a test that has not taken place.