What a plumbing inspection covers
The difference between a general plumbing inspection and a sewer camera inspection, and what neither of them will tell you.
These two are frequently sold as the same thing and they are not. Booking the wrong one is the most common reason people feel a plumbing inspection was a waste of money.
General plumbing inspection
This is a visual inspection of what can be seen. It does not tell you about anything buried in a wall, under a slab or outside the building line.
- Visible supply pipework, and its material, which matters for insurability on older homes.
- Water pressure and flow at fixtures.
- Water heater condition, age, venting and relief valve.
- Fixtures, traps and visible waste pipework for leaks and corrosion.
- Shutoff valves, including whether they actually shut off.
- Visible signs of past or current leaks: staining, corrosion, damp.
- Backflow prevention where fitted.
Sewer camera inspection
This is the one that finds the expensive problems, because a sewer lateral replacement is a five-figure job and nothing else in a normal property inspection looks at it.
- The condition of the main sewer lateral from the property to the connection.
- Root intrusion, and how far advanced it is.
- Cracks, offsets, separated joints and collapsed sections.
- Bellies, meaning low sections where waste and water pool.
- Blockages, and whether they are a one-off or a symptom.
- Pipe material, which on older properties can be clay, cast iron or Orangeburg, each with its own failure pattern.
What neither will tell you
If you are buying, book both. The general inspection covers what you will live with, and the camera covers what will bankrupt you.
- The condition of supply pipework inside walls and under slabs, unless there is a visible symptom.
- Whether a repair was permitted or done to code, unless records are pulled separately.
- How long a marginal component has left. Age and condition are reported, not predicted.
- Anything about the municipal main beyond your connection point.