A sewer camera inspection report lands in a homeowner’s inbox as a PDF with a few stills, a table of distances and findings, some abbreviations, and a recommendation at the end. The findings decide whether a house purchase goes ahead, whether a repair is a hole or a trench, and whether a landlord is responsible for a tenant’s flooded basement, and most people reading one have never seen a sewer pipe from the inside. This guide is for the customer: what each part of the report means, which findings matter, and what to ask when it is not clear.
Quick answer: read the report in this order. First, the entry point and the direction of the pass, because every distance is measured from there. Second, the pipe material and diameter, which set expectations. Third, the findings table: each row is a distance, a defect, a severity and usually a still. Fourth, the surface marks, if any defect was located. Fifth, what was not inspected and why. Last, the recommendation, which should follow from the findings. If the recommendation does not match the findings, or the findings have no distances, ask.
The entry point and direction
The report should say where the camera went in, the exterior cleanout, the stack test tee, a pulled toilet or the roof vent, and which way it went, toward the street or toward the house. Every distance in the report is measured from that point in that direction, so “offset joint at 42 ft” means 42 ft of pipe from the cleanout toward the street, not 42 ft from the house. A report that does not state the entry has distances that cannot be placed. The cleanout guide explains the entries.
Material and diameter
Clay, cast iron, Orangeburg, PVC, ABS or concrete, and the nominal size. The material predicts what the findings mean: roots at joints in clay are expected and lining fixes them; roots through the wall in Orangeburg mean replacement; a belly in PVC is a bedding fault. A report that says “old pipe” without naming the material has left out the most useful word in it. Identifying pipe material shows how the operator knows.
The findings table
Each row is a distance from the entry, a finding, often a severity, and a still. The common findings and what they imply: roots, a joint or crack that has let roots in, cleaned by cutting and fixed by repairing the joint; offset joint, two sections out of line, minor if small and dry, structural if there is a gap with soil or roots; belly or sag, standing water in a low section, a repair only if deep and causing trouble; crack or fracture, a line in the wall, lining if tight and a spot repair if displaced; scale, normal in cast iron and a problem only when heavy; channeling, cast iron worn through along the bottom, a replacement finding; infiltration, groundwater entering at a joint; debris, grease or sediment, a cleaning item; collapse, the camera stopped at broken pipe, a dig. Severity is often graded one to five or light, moderate and severe; some reports use formal codes, and PACP defect codes explained decodes those.
The stills
A still is a frame from the recording at a finding, ideally with the distance on screen. Look for the pipe shape, the joint, the water and the defect. A good still shows the defect clearly against a sound section; a poor one is a glare or a murk that could be anything. If the stills do not show what the table says, ask for the video at that distance. Interpreting sewer camera footage explains what you are looking at.
Surface marks and locates
If a defect was located, the report should say so, give the surface position relative to the house or a landmark, the depth estimate, and ideally a photograph of the paint mark. That is what a repair contractor quotes from. If no defect was located and the recommendation is a repair, the first question is why not. Marking a dig with a 512 Hz locator explains the procedure.
What was not inspected
A good report states its limits: the camera could not pass the blockage at 60 ft, the branches were not entered, the section under the slab was reached only from the stack base, the inspection was in dry weather and infiltration may not show. Silence on limits should be read as a question, not as soundness. Inspection limitations lists the usual ones.
The recommendation
It should follow from the findings. Light scale and a minor offset: monitor. Roots at three joints in sound clay: cut and line. A belly holding three inches of water with repeated backups: excavate and re-bed. Channeling: replace. A recommendation for a full replacement from a single root finding, or for jetting from a report that found a belly, does not follow, and the red flags guide covers what that pattern usually means.
Questions to ask
Where did the camera enter and which way did it go. What is the pipe made of. For each finding, how severe and is it located. What could not be inspected. Does the recommendation follow from the findings, and would a second inspector reach the same one. And can I have the full recording with distance on screen, because the report is a summary and the recording is the evidence.
Common questions
What does the distance in the report mean?
Feet of pipe from the entry point in the direction of the pass. It is not distance from the house unless the entry was at the house.
Is scale in cast iron a defect?
Light scale is the normal condition of old cast iron. Heavy scale, channeling or holes are the findings that matter.
The report recommends replacement. Should I get a second opinion?
For a large repair, yes, from an inspector who does not do repairs. See should you get a second opinion.
Related guides
See what a professional inspection includes, inspection terminology explained, and understanding distance readings.