Why is it important to have a pre house purchase drainage survey

We recently attended a property in Woodford, Essex for new home owners. Since moving in they had reoccurring blockages. On inspection we found pitch fibre lines, which have a maximum life expectancy of 40 years, that had compressed due to ground movement.

The only access point was a manhole in the conservatory which had been built over at some point. Our team had to remove the flooring and dig through the concrete to replace the faulty section of line with new.

Once replaced the area was made good and our team made the manhole accessible in case of any future blockages. A pre purchase survey would have flagged the faulty pipework and saved a lot of unnecessary stress and expense for the new home owners.