Define What a Drain Tile Inspection Must Show

Begin with the symptom timeline and the decision the inspection is meant to support. Questions may include whether an accessible segment can be viewed, whether an obstruction limits flow, how a known outlet relates to the perimeter system or what additional investigation is needed. Avoid ordering camera or cleaning work as a generic cure. Provide prior footage, plans, cleanout locations, sump information and repair records so the inspection team can identify what is already known and what remains outside the proposed scope.

• Write the decision the inspection must inform
• Share existing records and access points
• Separate investigation from promised repair

List each known cleanout, sump, catch basin or other approved access point and show it on the property sketch. Ask which direction the inspection will travel, how distance will be measured and which perimeter segments are unlikely to be reached. Access through a single point may not represent the whole foundation. Record any restoration or protection needed to reach an access point. If an access method requires excavation or alteration, move that work into a separate, reviewed scope rather than treating it as an incidental inspection step.

• Label access location and inspection direction
• Identify likely unviewed segments
• Price new access separately

Ask what the proposed cleaning method is intended to remove, how debris or discharge will be handled and what conditions could stop the work. Cleaning may improve access or address a documented obstruction, but it does not prove pipe grade, structural condition or performance of unviewed sections. Protect the property and receiving systems from uncontrolled sediment, chemicals or contaminated water. The City states that storm drains are for rainwater runoff and discharge to local waterways, so disposal and outlet assumptions must be confirmed for the actual method.

• Name the cleaning objective
• Define debris and water handling
• Do not treat cleaning as a whole-system condition report

The report should identify the access point, direction, approximate distance and property location for significant observations. Ask for still images or video references tied to the route sketch, plus a description of visibility limits. Distinguish observed facts—such as standing water, debris, displacement or a blocked view—from interpretation and recommended next steps. If the camera cannot pass or the route cannot be located, that limitation is a result, not evidence that the remaining pipe is clear or failed. Retain original files rather than only a verbal summary.

• Tie footage to route and distance
• Separate observation from interpretation
• Retain original video and stills

Create an explicit list of unviewed sides, branches, connections and outlets. Explain whether the limit came from access, debris, pipe geometry, water, equipment reach or an unknown route. Ask what additional evidence could reduce each uncertainty and whether that work would change the property or require a separate approval. A report that says inspection complete without defining its coverage can make later quotes look more certain than they are. Keep concealed and inaccessible segments visible through every repair or replacement decision.

• List every unviewed segment
• State why coverage ended
• Identify optional next evidence without assuming it is required

Before the work begins, agree on how results will be used. A localized obstruction, repeated defect, unknown grade, incomplete outlet information or inaccessible segment may lead to different follow-up questions. The inspector should not be asked to guarantee basement performance from one camera pass. Use the repair-or-replace page to compare options against documented extent, and the discharge page when outlet or watercourse questions remain. If excavation is proposed, move into a separate scope with utility locating, safety, permits, wall interfaces and restoration.

• Link findings to specific next questions
• Avoid predetermined replacement conclusions
• Separate excavation from the inspection allowance

Combine the route sketch, access map, footage, still images, cleaning record, observed conditions, coverage limits and recommended evidence in one file. Before authorizing an investigation, ask the contractor to quote the accessible segments, location-coded recording and findings summary, identify likely unviewed sections and state the charges and access limits in writing. Ask whether cleaning is included or needs separate authorization, and what happens if access or visibility stops the inspection. Confirm which dated files you receive and may share with other bidders; do not assume a free inspection or later repair credit. Identify who prepared each interpretation, compare the findings with the original symptom log and retain the same agreed records for every quote and construction closeout.

• Index evidence by route and date
• Carry unresolved limits into every quote
• Retain the inspection file with closeout records