Survey costs
Is the cost of a drainage camera written into the RICS home survey standard?
No. The cost of a drainage camera is not written into the RICS home survey standard. A camera survey is a further instruction to a firm that will put equipment through the drains. The standard does not print that firm's charge, and it does not make the charge part of the original home-survey invoice. Ask the camera firm for their fee and for what length of drain, and which chambers, the fee covers.
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?
Home surveys differ in how far they look at drainage, and only where it is safe and the chambers can be opened. That is still not a CCTV survey, and it is not a published price for CCTV. The standard is about the inspection, not about a tariff for specialists who come later. If the report says the drains need a camera, treat that sentence as a prompt to appoint someone. Do not hunt the PDF for a hidden camera price. It is not there, because RICS has not set one.
When you book the camera, ask whether the fee includes jetting, a recording, a sketch, and a return visit if a blockage stops the camera. Those extras change the bill and are the camera firm's terms, not clauses of the home survey standard. If the seller will not lift a cover or will not allow access, that is a problem for the booking you made with the camera firm. It does not create a national cancellation charge inside the original survey fee.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did your inspection open any chambers, or stop at the surface?
- What drain question is actually unanswered?
- Is a camera survey inside your fee, or a new instruction?
What are the typical next steps?
- Book the camera firm on its own written scope.
- Do not look in the home survey standard for a camera price.
- Keep any recording with the solicitor, separate from the survey PDF.
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
If the surveyor lifted one cover, has the camera already been paid for?
No. Looking in a chamber, where that happened, is not a priced camera run through the system.
Does RICS state a mileage add-on for drain contractors?
No. Any travel term is the contractor's. The standard does not print one.