Sewer Scope Inspections:An investment for your business

Home inspectors, may your clients be warned: Having a damaged sewer line can really stink.

Unnoticed sewage exposure from broken or blocked lines can expose home dwellers to health hazards like bacterial, fungal, and parasitic infections. Compromised sewage lines can also cause flooding, sinkholes, mold, and foundation cracks and shifts. Once manifested, these problems can cost thousands of dollars to mitigate and repair.

Fortunately, there is a way to detect potential sewage line problems early: with a sewer scope inspection.

What is a sewer scope inspection?

A sewer scope inspection, also known as a sewer line or camera inspection, is a video examination of a residential sewer line. Using a flexible, waterproof, borescope camera, inspectors assess the underground pipe’s condition in real-time. 

Common issues inspectors uncover during sewer scope inspections include:

• Root intrusion.
• Line cracks, breaks, or fractures.
• Waste blockages.
• “Bellies” or sags in the pipe.
• Pipe corrosion or deterioration.
• Pipe misalignment.

Sewer inspection cameras are portable and the examinations usually take less than an hour. As such, sewer pipe system inspections can be efficient add-on services for home inspectors.

Why Home Inspectors Offer Sewer Scope Inspections

The home inspectors we interviewed perform sewer scope inspections to meet consumer demand and make more money.

1. To meet demand.

Home inspectors like Matthew Hawley of Hawley Home Inspections, LLC in Missouri started offering sewer scope inspections to fulfill clients’ requests.

“After we had three buyers ask for a service that we didn’t provide, we figured out how to offer it,” Hawley said.

While any client can benefit from sewer inspections when buying a house, real estate agents especially recommend them for homes more than 20 years old. Therefore, you may have more demand for sewer inspections if there are lots of older homes in your area.

2. To make more money.

After 17 years of residential home inspections, Chuck Lambert from Sunrise Inspection Services in California provides drain scope inspection services for growth and job security.

“I wanted to make more money, make myself more diversified, make myself more in demand,” Lambert said. “Because if the [real estate] market crashes like it did a couple years back…and if all you do is home inspections, you’re going to be sitting around twiddling your thumbs.”

One of the reasons Lambert chose scoping plumbing lines over other ancillary services is how much profit he could make. While the initial investment was higher, Lambert can charge more per inspection than he can for many other additional services. For Lambert, the ability to make his investment money back quickly and then some is a great trade.

“Not a lot of home inspectors do [sewer line inspections] because it’s not cheap,” Lambert said. “My attitude is, if I can spend $7,000 on a tool that’s going to make me $40,000 in a year, where do I sign up?”

Investments Inspectors Make

Although startup sewer scope inspection costs can yield a great return, they can be a barrier for newer inspectors. Before you introduce sewer inspection services, research any initial investments tied to education, licensing, equipment, and insurance endorsements.

Education & Licensing

Some states and jurisdictions require training and licensing before becoming a sewer scope inspector. Check your state and local laws to see what’s required to become a certified sewer scope inspector.

And even if training is not required in your state, we recommend taking courses to bolster your knowledge of plumbing systems and scope inspections. By pursuing knowledge, you qualify yourself to perform better inspections, earn more credibility, and mitigate potential claims. There are multiple resources available through associations and training schools.

Equipment

You can’t perform a sewer scope inspection without a camera system. Most quality systems cost between $6,00You can’t perform a sewer scope inspection without a camera system. 

Most sewer inspection cameras cost between $6,000 and $7,000 and include cables and batteries. Some things to consider when selecting the best sewer scope for home inspectors include:

• Probe length.
• Probe material.
• Lighting capabilities.
• Image capturing and features.
• Weight and maneuverability.

Note that some vendors will finance camera systems, making the barrier to entry lower. Talk to sewer inspection camera sellers to see what payment options are available.

Equipment Coverage

Worried about damaging your camera system on the job? Consider purchasing equipment coverage, which insures your inspection tools and equipment against theft and damage. We strongly recommend such coverage for expensive tools—even (and perhaps especially) those you rent.

Endorsements

An endorsement modifies or adds coverage to your insurance policy. Most home inspection insurance policies exclude additional services like sewer camera inspection services. 

If you perform sewer scope inspections or want defense and indemnity for related claims, you may wish to add coverage with an endorsement. Typically, insurers charge a flat, annual fee around $150 for a sewer scope endorsement.

Limiting Your Liability

Carrying a sewer scope endorsement is one of the most important things you can do to protect against related claims. However, there are additional risk management techniques you can employ to safeguard your business. We recommend having a protocol for addressing sewer lines, training your staff on sewer scope inspections, checking your scope’s length, not reporting line depth, caring for your equipment, and knowing when to stop.

Have a protocol in place.

Clients often ask: “Do home inspectors check sewer lines? Is a sewer scope part of a home inspection?” 

Most inspectors don’t offer sewer scope inspections as part of their standard inspections. Instead, they allow clients to opt in-into the service.  

Whether a sewer scope inspection comes included in your standard inspections is up to you. But have a rule in place so you’re consistent across inspections. Otherwise, including a sewer scope inspection without an explicit request for one client and not another can open your business up to liability. 

Whenever you give clients the option to add on a service, make sure you have an addendum that includes your additional scope of service for them to sign.

If you’re an InspectorPro insured, you have access to our state-specific pre-inspection agreements and their addendums as part of your policy. Ask your broker for a copy of our agreement and its sewer scope addendum.

Train your employees.

It takes skill and practice to use a scope well. So if you run a multi-inspector firm, it’s important that you train not only yourself but also your employees to be proficient sewer scope inspectors. 

To make sure his new employees know what they’re doing, Hawley has them practice scope inspections beforehand.“

My employees do around 50 sewer scope inspections with me before doing one on their own,” Hawley said. “Then, I review my employees’ sewer scope inspections for four to six months after they start doing them on their own.”

Make sure you have a long enough scope.

Remember how we said scope length is necessary to consider when purchasing a camera system? Having a long enough scope may help prevent claims during pipe scoping operations.

In several recent claims, inspectors’ scopes were too short to see the entire sewer line. To avoid falling short, invest in a longer scope or investigate other openings to the sewer line.

If you’re unable to inspect the entire sewer line due to the length of your scope and lack of alternative access, let your client know—both verbally and in your report. Also, recommend your client hire a plumber to examine the remaining feet you were unable to inspect.

Don’t report line depth.

Many sewer inspection cameras provide a number to indicate the depth, and plumbers or contractors frequently ask inspectors for that number. But whether or not inspectors should report the depth of a sewer line is heavily debated. 

According to Charles Lambert of Inspector 55 in Texas, the number on the sewer cam is seldom reliable. So don’t report the line depth verbally or in writing. If you do provide a number and it ends up being incorrect, you could face a claim.

Take care of your equipment.

In a recent claim, a home inspector’s camera battery failed during a portion of their sewer scope inspection. Rather than backing the scope up and restarting with a fresh battery, the inspector assumed things were okay in the uncaptured area.

Unfortunately, there was a break in the pipe right where the camera had failed. Had the inspector re-scoped, they surely would have spotted the problem.

Avoid unnecessary equipment failure with regular maintenance and checks. If, despite your best efforts, your equipment does break down during your inspection, tell your client. 

Again, it’s smart to communicate to your client verbally and in your report. We also suggest working with your client to reschedule the sewer scope inspection for a later date when your equipment is fully functional.

To learn more about your equipment-related risk, read our article “Am I liable if my home inspection tools fail?”

Don’t go further than you should.

While errors and omissions (E&O) claims are more common, plumbing claims, general liability insurance claims can also occur from sewer scope inspections. That’s why Matthew Steger of WIN Home Inspection in Pennsylvania stops his sewer scopes when he encounters blockages. 

“If I find an obstruction, I don’t go further. [If I did,] my camera could get stuck or damaged,” Steger said.

Learn more about general liability insurance for home inspectors here.

Sewer scopes and your home inspections

Have a lot of older homes in your area? Are clients expressing interest in having their sewer lines inspected? Looking to make more money?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, perhaps it’s time for your company to offer sewer scope inspections.

---

This article was published in the ASHI Reporter in September 2021. See how this story appears in print below.