- Camera & locator in the van
- Recorded footage for you
- Price before we start
Nobody should dig up a lawn, quote a reline or replace a drain on a guess. A camera down the pipe shows exactly what is wrong and where, and a locator on the surface marks it on the ground with the depth. Then the quote covers the fault, not the whole yard.
Monarch Civil & Plumbing runs CCTV drain camera inspections on sewer and stormwater lines across South West Sydney and the Macarthur region: after a blockage is cleared, before relining or excavation, before buying an older house, and at new-build handover. You see the pipe on screen, we mark the fault on the surface with its depth, and you get the footage and a written quote for the fix that is actually needed.
What the camera shows
The camera goes through the inspection opening, the gully or, if there is nothing else, the toilet. On the screen you see the inside of the pipe in real time: tree roots coming through joints, cracks and breaks, joints that have dropped or separated, sections holding water because the pipe has sagged, grease and scale, collapsed earthenware, and the odd toy, tampon or tree branch. A transmitter in the camera head lets us find it from the surface with a locator, so the spot gets a mark on the grass and a depth, and the dig, if there is one, is a small one.
When it is worth doing
After any blockage that has come back a second time, because a drain that blocks, clears and blocks again has a cause the jet blaster is not fixing. Before anyone quotes relining or excavation, because you should see what you are paying to fix. Before you buy a house built before about 1980 in Liverpool, Fairfield, Glenfield or Campbelltown, where the sewers are earthenware and the roots have had fifty years. At handover on a new build, because unglued PVC and crushed stormwater lines are cheaper to argue about while the builder is still answering the phone. And after a reline or replacement, so you have proof the job was done.
What you get
The footage, on your phone the same day. The fault marked on the ground with the depth written on the mark. A plain-English explanation of what is wrong and the options: leave it and clean yearly, repair the failed section, or dig and replace the run, with a price for each, and a straight answer if a specialist reline under a driveway or slab would be the better spend. We own a Komatsu PC18 excavator and a Grundomat boring tool, so if the answer is a dig, it is our crew and one invoice, not a subcontractor and two.
The camera is half of the job. Where the line is blocked we are clearing blocked drains with the jetter in the same visit, and jet blasting blocked drains explains why we jet before we film. If the footage shows roots, tree roots in sewer pipes covers the options.
What it costs
A camera inspection is quoted on inspection and is usually bundled with clearing the drain, because the lens cannot see through a pipe full of dirty water; the drain is cleared first and the camera goes down the clean line. Sydney 2026 price guides put a standard blocked drain clear at $180 to $450, and a clear with camera and jetting at $400 to $1,025 depending on the length of the run and what is found. There is no call-out fee with us and the price is confirmed before we start.
From recent jobs
CCTV Drain Inspection: questions we get asked
What does a CCTV drain inspection show?
The inside of your sewer or stormwater pipe in real time: tree roots at the joints, cracks and breaks, separated or dropped joints, sagging sections holding water, grease, scale, collapsed clay pipe and foreign objects. The locator then marks the fault on the surface with its depth.
Can the camera go through a blocked drain?
Not usefully. The lens can't see through dirty water, so the drain is cleared first, usually with a jet blaster, and the camera then goes down the clean pipe to find out why it blocked.
How long does a drain camera inspection take?
Most residential runs take 30 to 60 minutes once the drain is clear, including locating and marking any fault on the surface. Long runs, several branches or access only through the toilet take longer.
Should I get a drain inspection before buying a house?
For anything built before about 1980 in South West Sydney, yes. Older sewers are earthenware with a joint every 600 mm and roots find them. A building and pest report doesn't look inside the pipe, and once you own the house the sewer is yours to fix.
Do I get a copy of the footage?
Yes. We send the recording and photos of the fault the same day, along with the written quote, so you can get a second opinion if you want one.
Where we do this work
Across Austral, Liverpool, Fairfield and the Macarthur region, see all service areas, Liverpool, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Moorebank, Glenfield, Camden. Suburb pages for this job: blocked drains Liverpool, blocked drains Campbelltown.