A standard building and pest inspection covers the structure, roof, subfloor and timber pests. It does not — and cannot — assess the underground drainage. The inspector might run some taps, but the condition of the sewer and stormwater lines under the yard is invisible without a camera.

That gap matters because drainage is one of the most expensive systems to repair, and older homes frequently carry hidden problems:

  • Earthenware drains with root intrusion — near-universal in pre-1980s suburbs with established trees. The current owner may be managing it with regular clearing you know nothing about.
  • Cracked, displaced or bellied sections from decades of ground movement.
  • Sections collapsed or crushed under driveways and extensions.
  • Unapproved plumbing from past renovations, including cross-connections.

A pre-purchase CCTV drain inspection puts a camera through the sewer (and ideally stormwater) lines and gives you recorded footage of their actual condition. The outcomes are all useful:

  • Clear footage — genuine peace of mind on a major hidden system.
  • Defects found before contract — negotiate the price, ask the vendor to repair, or budget with real numbers instead of discovering the problem the first time the drains block after settlement.

Relative to the purchase price of a Brisbane home — and to the cost of excavating a collapsed sewer under a new driveway — a drain inspection is one of the cheapest forms of due diligence available. For homes built before the 1980s, or any property with large established trees, it should be considered essential.