Blocked Drain Outside: Who Is Responsible?

If a drain outside your home is blocked, you are responsible only if the blockage is in a pipe that serves your property alone and sits inside your boundary. Pipes shared with neighbours, the section running beyond your boundary and the sewer in the road have been the water company's responsibility since 1 October 2011, and it clears them at no direct cost to you. Road gullies belong to the council. For a blockage that is yours, our blocked drain clearance starts from £120 + VAT.

This guide explains how to work out whose pipe is blocked, the legal definitions behind the rules, who to call in the East Midlands and what changes for flats and newer homes.

Who is responsible for a blocked drain outside?

It depends on which pipe is blocked, not where you are standing. The same manhole in your garden can hold a private drain, a shared sewer or both.

Citizens Advice sums it up: you maintain drains inside your boundary that serve only your property, and you can choose any contractor to do it. The water company maintains lateral drains and sewers, including pipes shared with neighbours, even when they run under your land.

How can you tell if the blockage is yours or the water company's?

Check who else is affected and where the water is standing. A useful test from Severn Trent is that if your neighbours are affected too, the problem is likely to be in the public sewer.

Work through these checks in order:

1. Only one fitting is slow (a single sink or toilet): the blockage is probably inside your home, so it is yours.
2. Your outside gully is overflowing but your inspection chamber is empty: the blockage is between the gully and the chamber, on your side.
3. Your inspection chamber is full, but the next chamber downstream is empty: the blockage is in the pipe between them. If that pipe carries only your waste, it is yours; if it also serves a neighbour, it is the water company's.
4. Your chamber and your neighbour's are both full: the blockage is further down, in a shared pipe or the public sewer. Report it to the water company.
5. Water is pooling at a kerbside gully in the road: that is a highway drain. Report it to the council.

Only lift light gully grates and covers you can move safely, wear gloves, and never lift heavy or stuck manhole covers. If you can't tell where the pipes go, a CCTV drain survey shows the route, the connections and the exact position of the blockage, which is useful evidence if you need the water company to take responsibility.

What is the difference between a drain, a lateral drain and a sewer?

The legal definitions come from section 219 of the Water Industry Act 1991, and they decide who is responsible:

• Drain: a pipe "used for the drainage of one building or of any buildings or yards appurtenant to buildings within the same curtilage". In plain English, the pipes that serve only your home and sit within your boundary.
• Lateral drain: "that part of a drain which runs from the curtilage of a building… to the sewer with which the drain communicates". This is your pipe outside your boundary, often under the pavement or road.
• Sewer: everything else that serves buildings, including pipes that carry waste from more than one property.

What changed on 1 October 2011?

Before October 2011, many shared pipes were "private sewers", and neighbours had to split the cost of clearing or repairing them. The Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011 changed that:

• Private sewers and lateral drains connected to the public sewer before 1 July 2011 transferred to the water companies on 1 October 2011.
• Private pumping stations forming part of those sewers and lateral drains followed, with the transfer due no later than 1 October 2016.

So if your home was connected before July 2011, the shared pipes and the pipe beyond your boundary are now public. A pumping station serving a single property, such as a barn conversion or basement, normally stays the owner's to maintain. Severn Trent notes that its responsibility diagram does not apply to homes built after 2011 unless their sewers have been adopted, so owners of newer homes should check with the developer or the water company.

Who do I call about a blocked outside drain in the East Midlands?

Call your sewerage company, which is not always the company that supplies your water.

• Severn Trent is the sewerage company for Nottinghamshire and most of Derbyshire and Leicestershire. It says "You're responsible for private drains and we cover the public sewers", and takes sewer blockage reports at any time on 0800 783 4444 or through its blocked drains page.
• Anglian Water covers most of Lincolnshire and the Market Harborough area. Its sewer pipe responsibility page explains the split.
• Yorkshire Water handles sewerage around Chesterfield.

If Severn Trent attends and finds the blockage is in your private drain, it may offer to clear it for a fee. You don't have to accept; you can use any contractor for a private drain.

For flooding from a road gully, report it to the council's highways team. In Nottinghamshire you can report a flooding or drainage problem online or on 0300 500 8080; Nottingham City, Derby City, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire councils all have similar online forms.

What about flats, rented homes and terraces?

Flats. Pipes outside the building that serve several flats are shared, so they normally fall to the water company once they connect to the public sewer. Pipework inside the building, such as a shared soil stack, is generally the responsibility of the freeholder or management company. Check your lease.

Rented homes. The landlord normally arranges drain repairs, and tenants may be recharged for blockages they caused. Our guide on whether the landlord or tenant pays for a blocked drain covers the law, HMOs and a full decision table.

Terraces and shared back alleys. Terraced streets often have one pipe running behind several houses. If it joins the public sewer and carries waste from more than one home, it is a sewer and the water company's responsibility, even though it runs under private gardens.

Can the council make me fix my private drain?

Yes. Citizens Advice notes that a council's environmental health team can require owners to repair defective private drains, so a neglected drain that causes a nuisance can become a formal problem. Dealing with it early is cheaper. Our guide to the signs of a blocked or collapsed drain helps you spot damage, and if you want to try clearing a gully yourself first, read how to unblock an outside drain.

When to call a professional

Call a drainage engineer when the blockage is on your side of the boundary, when a DIY attempt hasn't worked, or when you can't tell whose pipe it is. We clear blocked outside drains, gullies and manholes across Nottingham and the rest of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. We're open 7 days, 6am to 8pm, with emergency call-outs 365 days a year, no call-out fee and a price agreed before we start. If the blockage turns out to be in the public sewer, we'll tell you so you can report it to the water company rather than paying for work that isn't yours.

You can book online, ask for a quote or call 07300 600 950.

Sources

• Water Industry Act 1991, section 219 (legislation.gov.uk)
• The Water Industry (Schemes for Adoption of Private Sewers) Regulations 2011, SI 2011/1566
• Citizens Advice: who is responsible for repairing drains and sewers
• Severn Trent: sewer pipe responsibility
• Severn Trent: blocked drains
• Anglian Water: sewer pipe responsibility
• Nottinghamshire County Council: report a flooding or drainage problem