Commercial
Tailored commercial drainage surveys across Lancashire — clear reports, expert advice, and a plan of action that makes sense for your business.
Running a business in Lancashire brings its own set of drainage challenges, whether you're operating a busy food-service kitchen in Preston, managing a rural hotel near the Forest of Bowland, or overseeing an industrial estate on the outskirts of Blackburn. Off-mains drainage systems — septic tanks, cesspits, package treatment plants and the pipe networks connecting them — can quietly develop faults that, left unattended, lead to costly downtime, environmental liability, and potential breaches of the Environment Agency's General Binding Rules for sewage discharge. A professional commercial drainage survey is the most reliable way to understand exactly what you've got, where it's going, and what condition it's in before small issues become serious ones.
Our commercial drainage survey service is built around your business, not a one-size-fits-all checklist. Before we arrive on site, we'll take the time to understand what you need the survey to achieve — whether that's satisfying a landlord or lender's due-diligence requirement, benchmarking the condition of a drainage network ahead of a site expansion, or simply getting to the bottom of a persistent drainage problem that's been causing disruption. We'll also discuss any access restrictions, working-hours constraints, or site-specific health and safety requirements, and we can supply fully documented Risk Assessments and Method Statements (RAMS) ahead of works commencing.
On the day of the survey, one of our qualified drainage surveyors will attend your site and carry out a thorough inspection of the network using high-definition CCTV camera equipment. As the camera travels through the system, we build a clear drainage layout — essentially a readable map of how your drainage connects, where each run goes, and where any access points sit. If the pipework is carrying heavy debris or blockages that would prevent the camera from doing its job, we can deploy a jetting unit alongside the survey to clear the way. Everything is recorded, logged, and referenced so that the resulting report tells a coherent story from manhole cover to outfall.
Once the site visit is complete, our surveyors don't simply send over a file of footage and leave you to interpret it. We analyse the CCTV data and cross-reference it with the drainage layout to pinpoint the precise location of any defects — root ingress, cracked or displaced pipework, joint failures, surcharging chambers, and so on. Each identified fault is assessed in context, and our construction and repairs team work with the surveyor to identify the most practical and cost-effective remedy. Your finished report includes a written explanation of every defect, its likely cause, and a clear proposed solution alongside associated repair costs, so you can make informed decisions without needing a drainage engineering background to understand them.
For businesses with interceptors, grease traps, or large-volume treatment systems — common across Lancashire's hospitality, food production, and agricultural sectors — the survey can be scoped to incorporate these assets as part of a wider drainage management review. Whether you manage a single commercial property or a portfolio of sites across the county, Lancashire Septics Ltd can tailor the scope, programme, and reporting format to suit you. Get in touch to talk through your requirements, and we'll put together a survey plan that fits your timeline and budget.
Why choose Lancashire Septics Ltd
- Full CCTV camera inspection with recorded footage available on request
- Bespoke drainage layout plan overlaid onto your existing site drawings where available
- Qualified surveyor's written report with defect locations precisely identified
- Repair options and associated costs included — no hidden follow-up fees for the report
- RAMS and Health & Safety documentation supplied ahead of works on request
What's included
CCTV Drainage Survey
High-definition camera inspection of your underground drainage network, producing recorded footage and a detailed condition log that forms the backbone of the survey report.
Drainage Layout & Mapping
We produce a clear, to-scale plan of your drainage network during the survey visit — invaluable for ongoing maintenance planning, planning applications, and due-diligence purposes.
Pre-Purchase & Due Diligence Survey
Buying or leasing a commercial property with off-mains drainage? Our pre-purchase survey gives you a complete picture of drainage condition and any remedial liability before you sign.
Drainage Compliance Review
We assess your drainage system against current Environment Agency guidance and General Binding Rules, highlighting any compliance gaps and the steps needed to address them.
Interceptor & Grease Trap Survey
We inspect and assess the condition of interceptors and grease traps on site, and can arrange clearance and ongoing maintenance to keep these assets working correctly.
Frequently asked questions
- We don't know where the problem is — will the survey actually find it?
- That's precisely what a CCTV drainage survey is designed for. The camera travels through the accessible sections of your network and records everything it finds, allowing our surveyor to pinpoint faults even when there are no obvious above-ground symptoms. If the drains are already blocked or heavily silted, we can bring a jetting unit on the same visit to clear them first, so the camera gets a clear view — just let us know when you book.
- Can you map where our drainage runs if we have no existing plans?
- Yes — producing a drainage layout from scratch is a standard part of what we do. Provided there are accessible manholes or inspection chambers, we can trace where each run originates, which direction it travels, and where it discharges. If you do have existing drawings, we can overlay our layout onto those for a more complete picture.
- How does pricing work and will we get a quote before anything starts?
- Because every commercial site is different in size, complexity, and scope, we don't publish a fixed price list — your quote is tailored to your specific requirements after we've discussed the job. We'll agree the scope and cost with you before any work begins, and your survey report will include repair costs for any defects found, so there are no surprise invoices further down the line.
- Can you provide RAMS and Health & Safety documentation for our site?
- Yes, we can supply Risk Assessments and Method Statements before works commence, and we're happy to adapt these to meet your site's own health and safety requirements. If the survey involves confined-space entry or any other specialist access, we may arrange a brief pre-start site visit to make sure everything is properly documented and agreed.
- Will the report tell us how to fix the problems found?
- Absolutely — the report isn't just a list of faults. For each defect identified, our surveyor works with our repairs team to set out the recommended remedy and the associated cost, so you receive a practical action plan alongside the technical findings. You then decide whether you'd like to proceed with repairs, at which point our installation and construction teams take over.
- How long does it take to receive the completed report after the site visit?
- Report preparation typically takes around five working days from the survey date, depending on the size and complexity of the network. We'll confirm the expected timescale when you book, and if you have a specific deadline — such as a property transaction or planning submission — let us know early so we can do our best to accommodate it.
Get in touch
Tell us what you need
Fill in the form and we'll be in touch within one working day with a quote or booking slot. For emergencies please call us - it's the fastest way to get a truck on site.
Phone: +441616947241