Drainage and septic tanks
The seller pointed at a drainage field in the paddock and the surveyor did not walk it. What soakage has not been seen?
The soakage that has not been seen is the soakage of the drainage field in the paddock. The seller pointed at it, and the surveyor did not walk it. Pointing is not an inspection of the ground. The survey has recorded that the field was indicated and not walked. It has not seen wet patches, ponding, odour, or the pipes, and it has not decided that the field is soaking away as it should. Unseen ground is unseen soakage.
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 drainage field is the ground system that takes liquid from a septic tank or a treatment plant and lets it soak. If the surveyor never walked the paddock, they have no observation of saturation, of lush stripes over laterals, or of effluent at the surface. The seller's gesture does not supply those observations. The home survey only records what was seen, and here the field was not seen on foot. No binding distance is being invented. The limit is simply that the soakage was not inspected.
Ask whoever services the tank or plant to walk the field with you, or instruct that look separately, if you need the soakage described. Tell the solicitor the seller pointed and the surveyor did not walk the paddock. Do not write that the field works because it was indicated from a distance. Keep any drainage records apart from a finger pointed across a field.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where did the seller say the drainage field was?
- How much of the paddock did you actually walk?
- What signs of soakage were you unable to look for?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the tank or plant engineer to walk the field if soakage needs describing.
- Tell the solicitor the seller pointed and the surveyor did not walk the paddock.
- Do not write that the field works because it was indicated from a distance.
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 paddock looks dry from the gate, has the soakage been seen?
No. A dry appearance from the gate is not a walk over the drainage field, and soakage was not seen. Grass can hide wet ground, and the surveyor did not cross the paddock. The seller's direction remains a direction. It is not an inspection of soakage.
Does the seller pointing at the field count as the surveyor walking it?
No. The seller pointing at the paddock is how the field was indicated. It is not the surveyor walking it. Soakage, ponding, and the pipes were not seen. A gesture does not become the inspection the report says did not happen.