The defects water authority inspectors find most often on Section 104 sewer adoption inspections, and the practical fixes that get a site passed first time.
Adoption failures are predictable
Almost every Section 104 rejection we are called out to repair comes down to the same short list of defects. Water authority inspectors work from the Design and Construction Guidance, and they check the same items on every visit — which means the outcome of your final inspection is largely decided long before the inspector arrives on site.
The good news is that a predictable failure list is also a preventable one. A pre-adoption inspection carried out a few weeks ahead of the authority visit will usually surface every item below while there is still time to fix it without delaying bond release.
The defects we find most often
Across housing developments in the North West and nationwide, these are the issues that appear again and again on rejection reports:
- Standing water in manholes caused by incorrect pipe levels or falls
- Poor, cracked or incorrectly profiled benching
- Damaged channels and displaced pipe joints from following trades
- Missing or incomplete concrete surrounds to chambers
- Defective, rocking or incorrectly set frames and covers
- Infiltration through joints, connections or chamber walls
- Missing or corroded step irons and unsafe access
- As-built drawings that do not match what was actually constructed
How to protect the programme
Book an independent pre-adoption inspection before the authority attends, get a written defect schedule with costs against each item, and programme the remedial works around your site rather than after handover. Re-survey once the repairs are complete so the CCTV footage you submit is clean.
That sequence — inspect, schedule, repair, re-survey — is the single biggest factor in a fast adoption and an early release of retentions.