Drainage and septic tanks
The pipe entering the chamber looks like pitch fibre and feels soft at the collar. Has the survey surveyed the run, or only the end it could touch?
The pitch-fibre pipe that feels soft at the collar has been examined only at the end the survey could touch, not along the buried run. A soft collar at the chamber is a reason to investigate that pipe. It is not a survey of the length still underground, and it is not a camera inspection. The visit can describe the material and the feel at the chamber. It cannot say the rest of the run is sound, deformed, or intact.
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?
Pitch fibre is identified, where it can be, by the look of the pipe at an open end. Feeling a soft collar tells you about that collar. The barrel under the garden, the joints you cannot see, and any ovaling along the run were not in reach. One displaced clay joint, if this were clay, would raise the same limit. Here the limit is the end that was touched.
A camera could later look along the bore, but only if that is agreed as a further instruction. It was not part of this visit unless the report says it was. Do not write that the whole drain is pitch fibre, and do not write that it has collapsed, from a soft collar alone. Keep the comment on the end at the chamber.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- How much of the pipe could you actually see and feel at the chamber?
- Are you naming pitch fibre only at that collar, not along the buried run?
- Was any camera used, or is the bore still unseen?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the soft collar as a limit at the chamber, not as a survey of the run.
- Do not assume the buried length matches the end you could touch.
- If you need the bore seen, instruct a camera separately.
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 collar is soft, has the pipe collapsed under the garden?
Not shown on this visit. Softness at the collar is only the part that was touched. The buried run was not surveyed from that feel.
Can the seller's word that the drains were replaced cover this pipe?
No. A remark is not the pipe at the chamber. The survey records what it could touch, and the rest remains unseen.