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Drainage Plans for My House and How I Find Them

Drainage Plans for My House and How I Find Them

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The drainage plans for your house show you the entire drain system passing underneath your property. Drainage plans are important for knowing the structure of your drainage system, the sewer water and surface water from your property takes, and where the pipes can be accessed. All this information is extremely helpful if you’re considering building next to your property, installing an extension, or fixing a broken pipe underground.

Why Do I Need a Drainage Plan for My Property?

Drainage plans for your property

You may be wondering why drainage plans are important and why you need one for your property. Having a drainage plan helps you to identify where all drains lead and this is the main reason you need one. What’s more, if you want to apply for an Environment Permit, consent to discharge into a watercourse, or planning permission, having a drainage plan is essential.

If your property is very old and you have drainage plans, but you don’t think they’re up to date, it’s important you have new drainage plans drawn up.

Coastal Drains Provide Drain Tracing Services

If you need to have new drainage plans for your property drawn up, the team at Coastal Drains are here for you. We provide comprehensive drain tracing services, locating your drains so that you don’t have to. By using a multiple frequency digital locator, we can detect and trace your drains with absolute precision and accuracy.

In addition to locating the drains on your property, this system is also used to locate buried services such as electric, gas, water, telecom, and more. So, with the help of our drain tracing services, you can really get a full picture of your property’s underground drainage system.

What Should Your Property Drainage Plan Include?

Drainage plans for planning permissionIf you’re getting a new drainage plan drawn up for your property, it’s important you know what information should be included. A professional drainage plan should include all the drains on your property, storage areas, effluent tanks and the following:

  • Location, depth and construction details of any soakaways.
  • Onsite effluent treatment plants.
  • Storage areas for raw materials, products and wastes.
  • Discharge points from the site.
  • Bunded areas, with an indication of capacity.
  • Watercourses, springs and boreholes on or near to the site.
  • Mains water supply and sprinkler control valves.
  • Sensitive areas such as unmade ground.
  • Location of emergency equipment like spill kits and drain covers.

How Do I Find Drainage Plans for My House?

Finding drainage plans onlineIf you want to get hold of your property’s existing drainage plans, it is possible to contact your local water authority. However, it is important to note that you usually have to pay for permission to access these plans. And generally, the drainage plans provided from your local water authority will snow you the location of all main drains on your road and not the private drainage system of your property.

You Can Access Property Drainage Plans from the Council

It is very likely that your local Council will also have the drainage plans for your property. These can be extracted from the archives (note that you will be charged an administration fee for this access).

It is worth noting that the drainage plans provided by your local Council may not be what you will find on your property. The reason for this is that new drains may have been installed since the last drainage plan draw-up, extensions may have been built, and other changes may have been made. So, just be aware of this when you send in your drainage plan application.

Ask Your Neighbour for More Information

Talk to your neighbour about drainage plansOne point you may not have considered is asking your neighbour if they have any information regarding your property’s drainage. Not only will they be able to provide you with knowledge of joint drainage systems, but they may have knowledge of drainage installation works or maintenance on your property. At the very least, your neighbour might be able to give you more information about your drains.

Ask the Previous Property Owner About Drainage Plans

If you’re able to get in touch with the previous owner of your property, it may be worth asking them about drainage plans, building regulation or planning permissions applications they have applied for. Asking the previous property owner is not only a great way to find out more about your house, but it can often be the easiest way to get hole of your property’s drainage plans.

Contact the Coastal Drains Team for More Information

Finding the drainage plans for your property, or having new plans drawn up is very important. We hope this article has been informative. If you have any questions or you would like more advice, contact the Coastal Drains team for more information.

Click here to find out about surface water drainage, your property and what you need to know.