Drainage and septic tanks
A crack in the wall sits beside a drain run that was not camera-surveyed. Why is the crack not already a drainage defect?
Because the drain was not seen, so the crack is not already a drainage defect. A crack beside a drain run that was not camera-surveyed is a wall crack next to a pipe the inspection did not look inside. The survey has recorded the crack and the fact the drain was not surveyed. It has not found a broken pipe, a leak, or a washed-out bearing. Proximity is not a test. Drainage defects are what a drain inspection finds. This visit did not do that inspection, and the crack does not become one by standing nearby.
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 leaking drain can soften the ground and let a wall crack, which is why the neighbourliness of the pipe is worth a sentence. The sentence is a hypothesis, not a result. No camera was run, no flow was tested, and the surveyor did not excavate the run. The crack has its own description: where it is, how it tapers, what it crosses. Adding 'drainage defect' without a view of the pipe invents the cause. Inventing a failed drain from an unseen run would go beyond the crack.
Ask the surveyor to keep the wording as a crack beside an unsurveyed drain, not as a failed drain. If you need the pipe known, instruct a separate camera survey and give the operator the line of the crack. Tell the solicitor the home survey did not inspect the drain. Do not notify an insurer of a drainage cause the inspection did not establish, and do not let a quote for excavation pretend the camera has already been down.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you record the crack without surveying the drain by camera?
- What, exactly, did you see of the drain run from the surface?
- Are you leaving any drainage defect to a later inspection?
What are the typical next steps?
- Call it a crack beside a drain that was not camera-surveyed.
- Do not call the crack a drainage defect in advance.
- Instruct a camera survey if the pipe itself needs to be seen.
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 gully smells, is the drain condemned?
Not from a smell beside an unsurveyed run. Smell can be a reason to look, and it is not a camera result. The survey did not inspect the drain, so the crack is still not already a drainage defect. The inspection did not stretch the unsurveyed drain into any wider claim at all.
Does a clear rodding eye mean the run is sound?
No. A visible rodding eye is an access point, not a survey of the pipe. The run was not camera-surveyed. A tidy eye does not clear it, and it does not convict it either. Keep the unsurveyed drain inside the facts the surveyor actually recorded on the day.