Drainage and septic tanks
Are the grades on a drain camera report the same as RICS condition ratings?
No. Camera firms use their own keys for what the video shows. RICS condition ratings 1, 2 and 3 are defined for the home survey’s elements. A grade on a drain chart is not a rating 3, and a rating 3 on “drainage” in the home survey is not a frame of video. Read each document’s key before you add them together.
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?
The home survey may say the drains were not inspected, or that a cover was lifted, or that a specialist should look. That sentence uses RICS wording, including the Level 3 description of services as visual and not tested. The camera report, if you commission one, should explain its own grades. This page will not invent a national drain-grading scale or a price for each grade.
When you negotiate, quote the defect in words: a displaced joint, roots, a collapse, or a chamber that was not lifted. Do not tell the seller “it is a 4” unless you also say whose scale the 4 belongs to. Do not average a camera grade with a roof rating.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did the home survey rate the drains, or leave them not inspected?
- Have you seen a camera report, or only recommended one?
- Are you using RICS ratings or someone else’s grades?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the two reports in the file with their own keys.
- Negotiate from the described defect, not from a bare number.
- Do not ask the home surveyor to rebrand the camera grades as ratings.
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 home survey says NI for drains, can the camera still find a defect?
Yes. Not inspected means not inspected. It does not mean clear.
Can a rating 1 house have a bad drain video?
Yes, if the drain was outside what the survey saw. Read the limitations.