Drain leak detection and CCTV surveys for retail
Cracked, displaced or blocked drains under a service yard or a unit do not show up until there is a smell, a sinking slab or a flood in the stock room. A CCTV survey shows the inside of the pipe; a pressure test shows whether it holds water.
Below-ground drainage on retail sites takes a hard life: delivery vehicles over the manholes, fat and grease from food units, tree roots along the boundary and decades of ground movement. When a drain cracks or a joint opens, foul water leaks into the ground and the surrounding soil is slowly washed away. The surface signs come later: a dip in the yard, a manhole that has dropped, a smell in the unit and, eventually, a slab with nothing under it.
Our engineers survey the drainage run with CCTV cameras, record the defects with their positions, and pressure test the sections in question to confirm whether they are leaking. Where the drain runs under a unit, we combine the camera survey with moisture mapping inside so the leak can be tied to the damage above. The report gives you a clear picture of the run and what needs doing.
Signs you have one
- A persistent drain smell in the unit, service corridor or yard that cleaning does not shift
- A dip, crack or sunken area of tarmac or block paving above the drain line
- A manhole cover that has dropped, rocks or sits in a puddle
- Gullies that overflow in heavy rain or drain slowly all the time
- Repeated blockages in the same place after every jetting visit
- Damp or staining on the floor of a stock room with no water pipes nearby
- Rats or flies where there were none before
- Lush or dying vegetation along the line of the drain in the yard
What we do
Trace the run
We locate the manholes and gullies, establish the direction of flow and map the run so the survey covers the right pipes, including shared drains serving several units.
Survey with CCTV
A camera is put through the drain and the footage is recorded. Cracks, open joints, displaced sections, root ingress and scale are logged with their position along the pipe.
Pressure test the suspect sections
A camera shows the defect; a test shows whether it leaks. Sections are isolated and tested so the report states which are actually losing water into the ground.
Tie it to the damage
Where the drain runs under a unit, moisture readings and thermal imaging inside the building link the defect below to the damp or the sinking floor above.
Retail considerations
Deliveries and service yards
Manholes in loading bays get the worst of it. We survey from the yard side outside delivery windows so the bay stays open.
Food and hospitality units
Fat, oil and grease from kitchens are behind most repeat blockages in food-led parades. Where a unit has a grease trap we include it in the survey and check the run downstream.
Shared drains, shared bills
Drains on retail parks and in centres usually serve several units before they reach the public sewer. The report records where the defect is and which units share the run, which helps the landlord or managing agent settle who pays.
Questions
Do we get the footage?
Yes. The recording and a written report with the defects and their positions along the run are yours, and they are what a drainage contractor, landlord or insurer will ask for.
Can you clear a blockage while you are there?
Where a blockage is preventing the survey we clear it so the camera can pass. The purpose of the visit is to find out why the drain keeps blocking or leaking rather than to jet it and leave.
Whose drain is it?
In England and Wales, a drain serving only your property is generally private up to the point it joins a shared pipe, and most shared sections transferred to the water companies in 2011. Scotland has its own arrangements. Our report shows where the defect sits, and the managing agent or water company can confirm ownership from that.
Is the sinking floor definitely the drain?
Not always. A leaking water main can wash out the ground in the same way. The survey tests both where the evidence is unclear, and the water mains page covers the other possibility.
How disruptive is a CCTV survey?
Very little. Access is through existing manholes and gullies, the camera does the work inside the pipe and nothing is dug. Many surveys are done from the yard without entering the unit at all.
Other services.
Most engineers arrive with the full kit, so if the leak turns out to be a different kind, the survey carries on.
Water mains & underground
Supply pipes under car parks, service yards and slab floors. The usual suspect behind a water bill that has quietly doubled.
See the serviceHeating & pipework
Commercial central heating and underfloor systems losing pressure. Tracer gas and thermal imaging find the break with the floor still in place.
See the serviceRoof & ceiling leaks
Flat roofs, rooflights, box gutters and drips from the unit above. We trace the water back to where it gets in, which is rarely where it shows up.
See the serviceUnder-floor & slab
Pipes buried in screed beneath tiles, vinyl and timber. Located from above, so the shop floor stays whole.
See the serviceWashrooms & staff areas
Customer toilets, staff kitchens and cleaners’ cupboards. Small rooms with a lot of pipework, and the source of most damp patches next door.
See the serviceDamp & structural ingress
Penetrating damp, basement stock rooms and party walls. Moisture mapping shows what is a leak and what is condensation.
See the serviceWhere this comes up.
Restaurants & cafés
Kitchens, cellars and the ceiling of the customer downstairs.
View sectorRetail parks
Long supply runs under car parks and shared service yards, often unmapped.
View sectorSupermarkets & grocery
Chillers, condensate lines and busy back-of-house plumbing on a floor that never really closes.
View sectorSpeak to the team about your leak.
One call gets a leak engineer moving. Our methods are non-invasive, so there is usually nothing to dig up, and you get a written report ready for your insurer.
Engineers across England, Scotland and Wales. £5 million public liability insurance.