Sonde location, CCTV survey and full drainage layout plans for property managers, developers, architects and conveyancing — so you stop guessing where the drains run.
35+ years on the tools · Same-day service guaranteed · Fully insured domestic & commercial
35+
Years on the tools
Guaranteed
Same-day response
£5M PL
Fully insured
CO5 8DX
Local to West Mersea
Locating every drainage asset on a site — manholes, interceptors, gullies, rodding eyes, soakaways — and tracing the runs between them using sonde and CCTV technology. Output is a measured plan showing pipe layout, depths, materials, connections and condition — usable for asset management, refurbishment, extension design and dispute resolution.
Property managers and facilities teams needing an asset register. Developers and architects sizing extensions or new connections. Conveyancing solicitors investigating shared private drains. Surveyors investigating subsidence or escape-of-water claims. Homeowners with no idea where their drains run — and a planned conservatory in the way. Local authorities and managed estates documenting infrastructure.
Before any extension, basement or driveway dig. Before buying a property with shared private drainage. Before a managed-estate refurbishment programme. After a subsidence claim where drainage is the suspect. Before an Anglian Water build-over agreement. Whenever 'we don't know where it goes' becomes a problem worth solving.
Mapping needs the kit — sonde transmitters, multi-frequency line locators, push-rod CCTV with full chainage and a plan-drawing capability — plus the experience to interpret what the camera shows. A surveyor who can't read a CCTV image of a Y-junction will mis-map the run. We do this every week and the plans we issue stand up in dispute and at planning.
Working a site without knowing the drainage is how small projects become big ones. Here's what we see:
Extension footings dropped through a clay lateral nobody knew existed. Project on hold, drainage section replaced, all costs out of pocket.
Anglian/Thames Water refuse to sign a build-over without a clear plan. Project paused waiting for the survey you should have commissioned three months earlier.
Whose drain is it? Without a plan, the answer is 'everyone's' and the cost falls on whoever cracks first.
Insurer wants a documented drainage map before paying out on a subsidence claim. No plan = no payment timeline.
Two-minute call with Matt to scope the symptoms, agree an ETA and confirm pricing brackets before we leave the yard. No call-out fee for the conversation.
We lift covers, run flow tests and — where relevant — drop the CCTV camera in to identify the actual cause, not the easiest symptom.
Itemised price covering parts, labour, disposal and timeline. You approve in writing before any tools come out of the van.
Work carried out cleanly: dust sheets, tool mats and bagged waste. We protect floors, gardens and driveways throughout.
Post-works flow test, CCTV verification where appropriate, photos and a written job sheet emailed within 24 hours plus our workmanship guarantee.
Output is a drawn site plan with every asset located, every run traced and labelled — usable at architecture, planning and dispute level.
Pipe materials, sizes and invert depths logged per run — what builders, architects and Anglian Water all ask for.
CCTV footage of every traced run grades condition (1–5) and flags defects — turns a map into an asset register.
Multi-frequency line locator picks up the sonde at full bore — accurate enough to mark on the ground for build planning.
Reports formatted for Anglian Water, Thames Water and Essex & Suffolk Water build-over consents. We've seen what they accept and what they bounce.
Time-stamped CCTV, signed plans, dated reports — what a solicitor needs when 'whose drain is it' goes to evidence.
Mapping a site properly takes the right kit and the discipline to use it. Here's how we approach it across the Essex, Suffolk and London patch.
Discuss your projectMulti-frequency sonde transmitters (33kHz/512Hz/8kHz). Radiodetection line locators. Push-rod CCTV with full chainage display (typically 60m–120m range). Crawler CCTV for larger commercial mains. Manhole step gauges and laser invert measurement. CAD plan output (DWG/PDF) at 1:100 or 1:200 site scale. We don't outsource — every part of the survey is done in-house.
Site walkover and access lift on every visible cover. Sonde traced through every run from upstream to downstream. CCTV recorded with chainage on each lateral and main. Invert depths measured at each manhole. Materials confirmed visually and logged. Connections, branches and orphan pipes flagged. Drawn plan produced from field notes — signed, dated, issued as PDF and DWG inside 5 working days.
Domestic: typical 4–6 manhole property, 2–4 hours on site, plan + condition report inside 5 days, £350–£650. Small commercial: 8–20 manhole site, half-day to full-day on site, full plan + asset register + CCTV library, £900–£2,500. Large commercial / managed estate: multi-day, full register, CAD-ready output, quoted on site.
Anglian Water and Thames Water build-over consents require accurate site drainage plans showing public sewer position, depth and material. Our mapping output is formatted to the build-over consent application — we've done dozens, we know what the water-company surveyors flag and we save the project the rejection cycle.
Shared private drain disputes, party wall drainage issues, subsidence claims and conveyancing problems all need defensible mapping. Time-stamped CCTV, signed plans and witness-of-fact statements where required. We've supported solicitors through to mediation and tribunal.
Colchester, Essex, Suffolk & London.
Call Matt direct or request a written quote — we'll come back to you fast.
Clear Drains 4 U · West Mersea, Colchester CO5 8DX · 35 years' experience
