Surveyor suggests a drain survey before exchange - is this OTT?

[Wizzywoo18]

I know drains problems can cost thousands but I can't work out if this surveyor is covering himself or suggesting something that could save me £££?
I got a RICS Level 2 homebuyers survey for a 3 bed semi detached Victorian house. There was a ground floor extension put in over 20 years ago. It wasn't built over a main sewer and the local water company says there is no history of a build-over agreement for this house.
No smells or obvious signs of a blocked drain. But he thinks I should get a CCTV survey as this is 'prudent'.
Anyone else done a drains survey before purchase?

Get the survey! We didn't, moved into 4-bed Victorian terrace and had awful problems with 'blocked' drains which turned out to be a drain that went to nowhere 😬 Enough to say, it costs us thousands to fix (and many weeks of horrendous dealings with Thames Water and no working plumbing), which the insurance company did not cover.

With old houses like this, everything can seem fine (our survey came back with the all-clear and the same assurances you mention) but you won't know until you move in. I doubt the survey will cost that much and, if you do find an issue, you are in a great position to negotiate the price down.

We lived in a Victorian house when I was a kid and whilst I can’t give you details of why, we were constantly, constantly having problems with water.

You can always call the surveyor and ask if he is being overly cautious or if the advice is based on previous experience of similar homes.

I’m originally from East of England, lots of issues with subsidence in Victorian houses. This usually shows up first in the drains - it was standard to have a drain survey there.

Thank you for your responses.
@ForestElfGirl Oooh, a drain that went nowhere - yikes! I'm in a Thames Water area so not ideal, especially now considering their precarious finances.
@KievLoverTwo Thank you - I will get back to the surveyor. He's already recommended a roof repair that the roofer who quoted for me didn't think was necessary - which is why I was a bit doubting. But better to be safe than sorry, especially after searching on Mumsnet for nightmare drains posts.
@Twoshoesnewshoes Interesting that drains surveys are standard in your area. Makes sense.
Right, I'm off to the DynoRod website!

So if you are in the South, an additional problem with pipework will be limescale. From what I have been told, they are particularly problematic with older properties. I have read tales of people installing water softening systems and once those have cleared through the limescale, they spring leaks everywhere, because the limescale was holding together a bunch of corrosion and holes!

There are a few useful old house groups on Facebook.

@KievLoverTwo My sister has been recommending I get a water softener!
Yes, firmly in hard water territory. Thanks for the heads up about Facebook groups too.

Yeah... Do that if you can afford to replace all the pipework!

(I am such a doom mongerer)

Apparently they are amazing and I would love to have one l.

We were buying a late Victorian/early 20th century house. Our level 3 survey turned up a pretty major damp problem, suggesting a specialist damp survey which we did, which then suggested a drain survey, which we also did, to rule that out as a cause of the damp.

The cctv ones can only show so much, they can also do smoke testing and all sorts. We gave up after the cctv one was clear or we’d have spent a fortune. But I’m glad we did do all those extra surveys in the end.

Thames water don’t know where a lot of their pipes are. A drain survey will cost you £200.

Really wish we’d had a drain survey before buying our house, like you had a level 2 survey.

We eventually had a drain survey after moving in and realising we had a rat infestation😪It was a collapsed sewer pipe that was the source. Ours is a 1930s house.

I think your surveyor may be concerned about the extension. apparently uncapped pipe can be left under them, leading to rat issues.

I will definitely be having a drain survey next time, 🤞