Drain query

[Janel85]

Hello, I want to buy a property that has scope for a big side extension, there are drains on the side, I'd like to find out (before an offer is made and accepted and formal conveyancing kicks off) if these drains are to a main sewer or not, and whether we'd be able to do the extension. This is key because if we can't extend then we don't want the house as it's not big enough. We've asked the estate agent to find out from the owner and they can't find any paperwork from the searches that were done when they bought the property, they don't think it's a main sewer drain, just private, but they can't say for sure. How do I find out before we get to solicitor stage? Thanks

Case for a surveyor?

Have you tried contacting the local sewerage provider to see if they have plans covering the area?

Contact the private sewer company for that region, you can obtain plans from them, potentially costing you a small fee.

Just because there is a public sewer, doesn't mean you can't build over the drains. I am now officially a drain expert (because we built over a public sewer a few years back without realising the implications of this - all cleared as fine by building control at the time, who told us drain situation was completely fine when he inspected them, but we've come to sell our house and buyers want retrospective consent to build over. Argh!).

If you do want to build an extension, you consult your sewer company who liaise with your building control officer to either enable you to build over to their required standards, or request you divert the sewer around the extension. It certainly shouldn't stop you from doing the extension.