Sewer scope Training

Scott Gilligan inspector@accuracyinspections.com

Offers that service in this Area.
Send him a message.
May be a good place to Start your Search

I have also been considering adding this as an add on service. I am wondering what the investment cost might be for something like this, including equipment and training. I’m not sure if I will be able to sell enough to justify the cost, including liability insurance. Another thought is to bring in a third party company to do the inspection. I would love to hear other thoughts, ideas, experiences on this subject.

I tell all my clients they should consider a sewer scope on the house. About 40% do it and about 15% - 20% find a problem. I then call another inspector in the area that does them and have him do it. “Down the hill” I give his regular price. “Up the hill” here in the mtns, I add $30 for his gas. Nobody complains. Take no referral, just a service by someone I trust. And I don’t want to do it. I concentrate on the inspections.

Yes: http://www.nachi.tv/equipment/drain-pipes-and-duct-inspections-with-a-camera.htm

I do them on about 90% of all my inspections. I have a guy that comes on site with me. He collects his fee I collect mine and we are on our way. IMO it’s to time consuming to do a home inspection and a lateral sewer inspection all at the same time with just one person. I will tell you this though almost all in my area offer it now because I honestly think I was leaving them in the dust lol. :slight_smile: I checked before I started offering it almost no one did here.

There is no online training out there on this subject that I have been able to find. Doing these types of inspections requires field training that you simply would not be able to get from watching a video online or reading a manual. There are many different manufacturers of cameras and they all work a little different. The basic principle is the same regardless of what type of camera you use.

You will need a thorough understanding of plumbing drainage systems and proper venting. The tools involved go beyond simply having a camera to shove down the drain as well. You will also need an invasive inspection agreement because some older brass clean out plugs need to be broken out because they are seized in place. You will also need to make some of your own tools because there isn’t anyone out there that sells some of the things you will need in order to get the camera head in the required location sometimes. You will also need reporting and recording software to document your findings.

The actual inspection process of running a camera down a drain line is not that involved, but the equipment fees and field knowledge are what most guys are lacking in order to offer these inspections on their own. I learned from someone else teaching me over a period of several weeks on a larger commercial inspection I performed. The service is definitely marketable and needed during any real estate transaction. I rarely ever do one on an older system that doesn’t have some sort of problem crop up. Newer PVC and ABS systems are nice to work on, but cast iron or terra cotta systems almost always have something going on.

My advice to you is to follow someone around that does them on a regular basis and see first hand if it something you want to get involved in offering. The equipment can be costly. I am on my second camera and have had the first one repaired several times already. Expect equipment failure and budget that into your fees. Repairs are not cheap unless you know how to work on CCTV systems yourself.

I thought you was going to put together a course, Mr. Vice President? Been too busy or what?

Local construction rental business rent out scopes. They have CD record. I use them for french drain inspections and foundation crack investigation.
They also rent a sounding device that will tell you where pipe is laid.
Please do not ask me the name of the devices. I took a quick 20 minute course to use the equipment and out I went.
Try Lowes, Home Depot.
Scot makes an EXCELLENT POINT.
Might want to follow behind a plumber. Shadow a plumber and ask them about courses.

We are currently putting together a course on performing sewer scope (video) inspections. It will be up and running in the spring of 2018. We are planning on having the class at the convention in Atlantic City as well as other locations. Hope to see you there.

Will you be covering State laws regarding this service as well? That would be an exceptional service to the Inspectors considering performing this service.

Interesting subject! I’ve just decided to add Septic Inspection, and took the course offered by NAWT, it was a 2 day ordeal. That allows me to inspect probably 80% of the stuff I see (rural area, lots of septic), but adding sewer would help with the other 20%. I handed off about 10K in sewer scope/septic inspection fees last year, I just refer the local guy now, but when I tried to bid out for a commercial, two things sealed the deal for someone else.

  1. My sewer scope guy took 2 days to get back to me with an estimate, so my estimate was just about too late to the deal
  2. The guy I refer has a broken recording set up that he feels he doesn’t need to fix, so he doesn’t offer a video of the scope. That is what actually lost the deal for me.

I figure if I start offering this, I can increase my gross, and help get my kiddos through college (which is the reason I do this stuff anyways).

At this time I do not have the state requirements (most states do not appear to have any requirements for sewer scopes) but over time I am planning on submitting the course to the individual state licensing boards to get both Inter-NACHI and state CE credits for home inspectors.

The sewer scope class will be first offered at the InterNACHI House of Horrors in Boulder in March, 2018. Class sign up will begin early February. It will be a 8 hour class with classroom and hands on training. We have just finished installing a 140 foot mock lateral sewer line with five types of piping. The course is designed to enable you to competently add sewer scopes to your ancillary services.

Possibly then you can obtain a clarification to this email I sent to the Texas State Board Of Plumbing Examiners. They have indicated that a Plumbers license is required to perform sewer scoping in the State of Texas. See attached email.

I do wish you luck submitting your course to TREC at Texas. I’m sure Nick and crew can use their training provider status to help get it approved.

SewerScopingTX.pdf (24.9 KB)

Nice! Will this becoming to HOHII in Weston too?

Hello

I will have InterNACHI look into this as it is the first time it has come up.

Thanks
Jim Krumm

Yes, we plan on offering this at the Florida House of Horrors.

Emmanuel

Per InterNACH from their previous legal reviews / opinions. Inspectors can perform sewer scopes in Texas as a scope is an observation of the plumbing system not a repair or modification, please see link below.

OCCUPATIONS CODE CHAPTER 1301. PLUMBERS

Hope to see you at one of our classes. The first live sewer scope class is being offered April 6th, 2018 at the Boulder campus.

Jim Krumm

Have you validated that with the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners? See the following post.

Thank you for the offer but I have very recently communicated with the Texas State Board Of Plumbing Examiners and they have confirmed that the rules/laws have not changed and only a Licensed Plumber can perform sewer scoping (other than the homeowner themselves of course). As such there is no reason for me to take any courses and expend any funds for it and/or equipment when this service can not legally be offered by other than a licensed plumber.