A sewer camera inspection: what it is and when it earns its money

A camera inspection is exactly what the name says: a flexible cable with a camera head travels through the pipe, and on a monitor you watch live what is going on in the pipe — grease build-up, root ingrowth, subsidence or a fracture. The technician reads off the position as it goes, so the location of the problem is known to the metre and there is never digging or breaking on a hunch.

An inspection costs € 85 to € 175 and is often combined with unblocking: jet the pipe first, then check with the camera whether the cause is really gone. You receive the footage or a short report — and that report is worth more than it seems. With subsidence or a fracture it is your evidence towards the insurer or municipality; when buying or selling a home it prevents disputes afterwards about the state of the sewer.

When does it earn its money? Above all with a blockage that keeps returning — then jetting is symptom control and you want to see the cause. Also with a persistent sewer smell whose source cannot be traced, before digging or garden landscaping, and as a purchase check on an older home with vitrified-clay or cast-iron drains.

When not: for a first, one-off blockage of a single drain a camera is usually unnecessary — that job is quickly fixed with a snake or jetting. So before booking a camera inspection, ask yourself what you will do with the outcome; the rates for the inspection and the follow-up jobs sit side by side in the price index.