How Much Does it Cost to Repair Sewers?

Job Costs

Job	Description	Labour
1	To replace all your sewer line from the manhole at the side of the house to the front gate. We assume a baby “JCB” will be used, the distance is about 30 feet and the pipes are about 3 feet down. The driveway is pavour bricks, which will all go back down again afterwards. That’s 2 men, 3 days.	£825
	Plus materials, professional fees, tipping etc for the above	£850
2	To line the pipe instead of replacing it, is difficult to price for. However quotations are free and the lining company will also do the CCTV bit, so you could get them in on that basis and take it from there!	£650ish
	The CCTV for the above will cost you about £250. The lining may cost about £400
3	To hand dig down to a specific point on the sewer line, do the small repair and make good. This will take 2 men a day and a half (and the inspector won’t be needed).	£425
	Plus materials, tipping etc for the above	£300

“Labour” at £175 a day (tradesman) £100 (labourer), includes incidental fixings etc. and tipping charges. “Materials” if mentioned, are larger things (a boiler) and stuff only you can choose (tiles etc). Also VAT must be added all round.

Information Sheet on Fix/Replace Underground Pipework

You are responsible for any sewer line serving your property, right to the point where it passes under your boundary and out into the road (for instance). However, you may not be the only household using that sewer line, in this case should any repair costs be shared? Obviously it’s a tricky one, particularly if it’s your tree causing the damage, or your neighbour doesn’t even realise there’s a problem!

Sometimes a sewer runs under a property and doesn’t serve that property. Who pays if your tree damages it?

If a sewer line needs replacing there has to be a problem. Problems have causes, so make sure you remove the cause before you have any new pipes laid.

Any new sewer line will have to be “signed off” by a building inspector. This is a legal requirement, make sure the builder organises it and be prepared to pay for the process, it will cost about £200

Sewers fail because of poor initial workmanship (poor joint making etc), tree root damage, land movement, some idiot digging through them, delivery lorries crushing them (if they are incorrectly laid very near the surface), that sort of thing. They don’t “wear out” (unless God forbid, they were made from pitch fibre – you were just making that very point at Marcus and Georgina’s dinner party last Saturday!)

If the problem isn’t obvious, the only way to determine accurately what’s wrong is by sending down a camera. These travel through the pipes sending a CCTV image back to a monitor on the surface. This costs money of course.

It may then be more economical to dig down to a single isolated “fault” and just repair that, as opposed to replacing the whole lot.

Don’t have a new line laid until you are sure that it’s necessary. It may be possible to repair the existing one. This requires a flexible tube to be inserted which lines the original pipework and sets hard. It’s called “Cured in Pipe” lining or some such nonsense.