Drainage and septic tanks
The inspection chamber was opened and it is full of silt. Why is that still not a camera survey?
Because the cover was lifted and the silt was seen. A camera was not sent along the pipes. Silt hides the invert and the benching, so you cannot say the run is clear, and you cannot say it has collapsed. The open chamber is the limit of what this visit saw.
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?
Chambers collect debris. A full one may mean the line is slow, that the chamber has not been cleaned, or that a downstream problem is holding silt back. Looking at brown water does not choose. The surveyor who lifted the cover, where it was safe, reports the level and whether the frame is broken. They do not jet it as part of a home survey. RICS surveys are visual. Approved Document H does not contain a silt score, and drain-camera grades are not RICS condition ratings. Do not write a grade into the email. Nobody filmed the pipe.
The practical next step is to have the chamber emptied so the channels can be seen, and then to camera only if a drainage firm, or the survey, has a reason to go further. Cleaning is not a diagnosis. A camera after cleaning shows roots, cracks and displaced joints that silt conceals. Until then, do not deduct the cost of a full relay, and do not accept “it has always been like that” as a film. A standard Level 1 or Level 2 inspection does not promise every cover comes up. This one did. Report that chamber. Do not claim the next chamber, if it stayed shut, was the same.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which chamber was lifted, and how full of silt was it?
- Could you see the channels at all?
- Was a camera used after the cover came up? Please say no if it did not.
What are the typical next steps?
- Do not treat silt as a collapse.
- Ask a drainage firm what they need to see once it is cleaned.
- Do not grade the unseen pipes.
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 a silted chamber mean the septic tank is the same?
No. A chamber on the plot is not the tank. The tank was not inspected by this cover.
If the silt is only in one corner, is the run clear?
No. You still have not seen inside the pipes.