Choosing a survey level
Is a Level 3, together with no drain camera in the quote, any evidence on a test the level name alone does not add, or only a note of what was visible?
Only a note of what was visible, plus a note of what was not in the quote. A Level 3 is the most detailed of the RICS home surveys, and it is still not a drain camera. No camera in the quote means that test was not added. The level name alone does not put a camera down the pipes. Anything said about drains is limited to what could be seen without that camera. The survey has not camera-surveyed the drains, and it has not decided that the underground pipes are clear or blocked. Do not read the title as if the test had happened.
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?
Buyers often think the longest survey includes every test a house might need. It does not. Level 3 is still a visual inspection with advice. A drain camera is a separate instruction, with its own equipment and its own line in a quote. If that line is absent, the pipes underground were not filmed. Lifting a chamber cover, where it is safe and included, is not the same as running a camera. This quote did not add the camera. The level name cannot smuggle it in afterwards.
If you want the drains filmed, ask for a camera survey as its own instruction and do not rely on the Level 3 title. Tell the solicitor the quote had no drain camera, so the pipes were not tested that way. A drainage firm does that work. Do not tell a lender the drains were cleared by the building survey. The report can speak about what was visible at the surface. It cannot speak for a film that was never commissioned.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was a drain camera absent from the quote, not merely forgotten in the text?
- Does the Level 3 name add that camera by itself?
- Have the underground pipes been left unfilmed?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the missing camera line as a scope limit.
- Commission a drain camera separately if you need the pipes filmed.
- Do not tell a lender the Level 3 cleared the drains.
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
Does looking in a gully count as a camera survey?
No. A gully you can see from the surface is not a camera in the pipe. The quote had no drain camera, and the Level 3 name does not add one. The survey has not filmed the underground drains and has not decided if they are clear or blocked. A surface look stays a surface look.
If the quote is later amended, does this report change?
Not by itself. Adding a camera would be a new instruction and a new result. This Level 3, with no drain camera in the quote, did not film the pipes. A later film would not rewrite what this visit could see. Keep the two products apart. The title still does not contain the test.