Blocked Drain Pricing Guide UK 2026: What to Charge for Drainage Work

What causes blocked drains?

Understanding the cause matters for quoting accurately — a simple grease blockage and a root-ingress collapse need very different responses.

• Fat, oil and grease (FOG) — the most common cause in kitchen drains. FOG cools and solidifies on pipe walls, gradually constricting flow until it stops entirely. High-pressure jetting is the standard fix.
• Wet wipes — marketed as "flushable" but they don't break down in drains. A leading cause of toilet and sewer blockages, and a growing source of emergency call-outs.
• Root ingress — tree and shrub roots find microscopic cracks in older clay or concrete pipes and grow into the bore. Often requires CCTV survey plus jetting, cutting, or full relining.
• Collapsed or broken pipe — ground movement, vehicle loading, or simple age causes pipes to crack or flatten. A survey is needed before quoting repair work.
• Scale and mineral buildup — common in hard-water areas. Descaling nozzles on a jetter are usually enough for light buildup.
• Foreign objects — toys, sanitary products, cotton buds. Mechanical rodding or jetting, sometimes with a retrieval tool.

Drain unblocking costs 2026

Most reactive drainage work is priced either as a fixed call-out price or as a call-out fee plus hourly rate. Both work — fixed pricing gives the customer certainty and reduces objections; hourly protects you on awkward access jobs. Know which model you're using before you pick up the phone.

• Sink or basin unblock (rodding/plunging): £80–£150
• Toilet unblock: £100–£180
• Drain jetting — residential (standard): £150–£300
• Call-out + hourly structure: £80–£120 call-out + £60–£100/hour (common alternative to flat-rate)
• Emergency out-of-hours (7pm–7am, weekends, bank holidays): 50–100% premium on standard rates — a £200 daytime jet becomes £300–£400 out of hours
• Commercial drain jetting: £200–£600+ depending on access, pipe diameter, and run length

Emergency premium pricing is legitimate and expected by customers calling at midnight. State it clearly when you take the call — customers who object at midnight would have objected in the morning too.

CCTV drain survey costs and what they show

A CCTV drain survey sends a camera through the drain to produce a recorded report. It's an upsell on top of jetting work but also a standalone product — particularly when homeowners are buying or selling a property, or where a drain has caused repeated problems.

• Residential CCTV survey: £150–£350 (includes report with recorded footage)
• Commercial CCTV survey: £300–£800+ depending on pipe length and complexity

What a good survey report will identify:

• Tree root ingress and root mass location
• Pipe damage — cracks, fractures, broken sections
• Precise blockage location and type
• Displaced or open joints (common in older clay systems)
• Collapsed or deformed sections requiring excavation
• Defects within 3 metres of a public sewer (relevant for build-over agreements)

The CCTV survey is the gateway to all the higher-value remediation work: relining, excavation, insurance claims. Position it as the diagnostic tool, not a nice-to-have.

Drain relining: the no-dig alternative

Cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) lining is the biggest value-add service a drainage business can offer. Instead of digging up a damaged pipe, a resin-saturated liner is fed through the existing drain and cured in place using steam or UV light — creating a new pipe inside the old one. No excavation, no reinstatement, far less disruption.

• CIPP lining — residential, per metre: £80–£200/m
• Full-length house drain liner: £2,000–£6,000
• Patch lining (localised repair, single defect): £500–£1,500

How to structure the quote: per-metre rate + CCTV survey cost + setup/access charge. For most residential jobs, access is from a manhole or rodding eye, so access costs are minimal. Longer runs, restricted access, or large-diameter pipes (150mm+) will push rates toward the top of the range.

Relining work is highly profitable once you own the equipment. Many contractors start by subcontracting lining work while building their survey pipeline, then invest in their own liner kit when volumes justify it.

Drain excavation and pipe replacement

When a pipe is too far gone for relining — severe collapse, multiple fractures, or misaligned sections — excavation is the only option. This is the highest-value drainage work but requires plant (mini digger), proper reinstatement, and often a council road opening permit if the run crosses a pavement or adopted road.

• Excavation and pipe replacement (garden/driveway): £2,000–£8,000+ depending on depth and run length
• Road reinstatement: additional cost; a council road opening permit is required before breaking public highway — factor in the permit fee (typically £200–£500) and a certified reinstatement contractor if you're not NRSWA-qualified
• Typical scenario — collapsed 100mm clay pipe, 3–5 metres depth, driveway plus footpath reinstatement: £4,000–£10,000

Always survey before quoting excavation work. Groundwater level, proximity to foundations, and the condition of adjacent pipes all affect programme and cost. A CCTV survey that confirms scope protects you from scope creep claims and gives the customer a clear picture of why the price is what it is.

Build-over agreements

If a customer is building an extension, garage, or other structure within 3 metres of a public sewer, they need a build-over agreement from their water company (Thames Water, Severn Trent, United Utilities, etc.) before work starts. Many homeowners don't know this until a drainage engineer tells them — which makes it a billable service.

• Build-over agreement application: £300–£600 (your time to manage the process, prepare the CCTV report, and liaise with the water company)
• CCTV survey required: the water company will ask for a pre-build survey to record the existing condition of the sewer
• Timescale: 2–8 weeks for water company approval

This is a natural referral from builders and architects. If you're not actively targeting that channel, you're leaving these jobs on the table.

Shared responsibility: who owns the drain?

One of the most common sources of confusion for customers — and a conversation you need to be able to handle confidently.

• Private drains (within the property boundary, serving only that property) → homeowner's responsibility
• Lateral drains (outside the boundary, running from the property to the public sewer) → water company's responsibility since the Water Industry Act 2011 transferred these
• Public sewers → water company's responsibility
• Shared private drains (serving more than one property but not yet adopted) → shared responsibility of all connected homeowners; can be complicated

If you establish on-site that the problem is in the lateral drain or public sewer, the customer needs to contact their water company. Your time to diagnose that is still billable — the CCTV footage is the evidence.

Un-adopted private sewers can be transferred to the water company under the Water Industry Act 1991 through a formal adoption process. Some drainage businesses offer to manage this process for residents' associations and housing developers.

Running a drainage business

The economics of a drainage business are attractive: reactive work is non-deferrable, margins on survey-to-reline conversions are strong, and emergency premiums are accepted without negotiation. A few things to get right operationally:

• Pricing structure — decide early whether you're fixed-price or call-out plus hourly. Fixed-price converts better on inbound calls; hourly protects you on complex jobs. Many operators use fixed price for unblocking and hourly for excavation and remediation.
• Call-out fees — charge one. A clear call-out fee filters tyre kickers and covers your mobilisation cost on jobs that turn out to be quick fixes.
• Fleet and equipment — core kit for a reactive drainage business is a high-pressure jetting rig, CCTV camera with reporting software, and a root-cutting nozzle set. For larger commercial work, a vacuum tanker (either owned or hired) opens up septic tank emptying and large blockage clearance.
• NADC membership — the National Association of Drainage Contractors provides industry credibility, training access, and a quality mark that resonates with insurance companies and commercial clients.
• Insurance work — building up relationships with loss adjusters and home emergency insurers creates a steady pipeline of non-negotiated call-outs. Insurers pay on invoice rather than requiring upfront payment from the homeowner.