Clark Drainage provides commercial drain repair services and professional drainage solutions to businesses and industrial properties across the UK.
You already know something is wrong.
The CCTV survey has shown a cracked drain pipe, a collapsed section, root damage, or displaced joints. Or maybe you haven’t had a survey yet, but the same blocked drain keeps returning no matter how many times it gets jetted, and you’re starting to suspect the drainage issue is structural rather than just a buildup of oils and grease or debris.
Either way, the drain needs repairing, not just clearing.
And for commercial buildings, that repair needs to happen with as little disruption to your business as possible. That’s where we come in.
Our drainage experts carry out commercial drain repairs using methods that range from no-dig drain relining that can be completed in a single day through to full excavation and replacement for drains that are beyond saving.
We use CCTV technology to inspect and diagnose the problem first, explain your options honestly, and fix it properly so you’re not dealing with the same drain issue again six months from now.
What is commercial drain repair?
Commercial drain repair covers any work that restores a damaged commercial drainage system to full working condition, whether it’s a minor repair to a single crack or a major drain line replacement.
That might mean relining a cracked pipe from the inside without any digging, replacing a collapsed drain through excavation, cutting out root ingress with robotic equipment, or patching a single defect in an otherwise sound drainage run.
The approach depends entirely on what the damage is, where it is, and how severe it’s become.
A hairline crack in an accessible pipe needs a very different solution to a fully collapsed sewer running beneath a car park or loading bay.
Commercial drain repair requires heavier equipment, experienced drainage specialists, and a company that understands how to work on complex drainage networks serving busy commercial premises without shutting down your operations.
Unlike domestic repairs, commercial drainage systems often involve larger pipe diameters, longer drain line runs, shared infrastructure between multiple tenants, and legal obligations around trade effluent and drains and sewer connections.
Drainage issues can cause flooding, health hazards, compliance failures, and lost revenue, so getting it right first time matters.
Signs your commercial drains need repair
Not every drainage problem is a simple blockage. Ignoring structural damage that won’t go away with jetting or rodding can lead to costly mistakes.
Ignoring these drain issues leads to emergency plumbing call-outs and far greater disruption to your business. Here’s what to watch for.
Recurring blockages
If the same drain keeps blocking in the same location, even after professional drain jetting, the pipe itself is probably damaged.
A crack, displaced joint, or partial collapse creates a snag point where debris catches and accumulates.
No amount of drain clearance or blocked drain clearance will fix a structural defect. You need pipe repair, not just pipe maintenance.
Foul odours that won’t clear
Persistent smells from drains or manholes often indicate a broken pipe with a leak allowing sewage into the surrounding ground.
This is particularly concerning for food businesses and healthcare facilities where hygiene standards are strictly enforced by Environmental Health.
Subsidence or sinkholes
Visible dips in car parks, paving, or landscaped areas near drainage runs can indicate a collapsed pipe underground. The surrounding soil washes into the broken pipe, creating voids that gradually reach the surface.
Left unaddressed, subsidence worsens and can affect building foundations and surrounding structures.
Slow drainage across multiple outlets
When several drains in the same area all run slowly, the problem is usually in a shared pipe downstream rather than in the individual connections.
Structural damage to a main drainage run restricts flow for everything connected to it.
Damp or water damage inside the building
Unexplained damp patches on ground-floor walls or floors sometimes trace back to a leaking drain running beneath or alongside the building.
A CCTV drain survey will confirm whether the drainage system is the source.
Commercial drain repair methods
We provide commercial drain services using a comprehensive range of drain repair methods depending on the type and severity of damage.
Our engineers identify and resolve each situation individually and recommend the method that gives you the best result with minimal disruption and protects your business from further damage.
Pipe relining (CIPP)
Cured-in-place pipe lining is the most common no-dig repair method for commercial drains. We insert a flexible liner coated with resin into the damaged pipe through an existing access point like a manhole or inspection chamber.
The liner is inflated against the pipe walls and cured using UV light, hot water, or ambient temperature, depending on the pipe size and material.
Once hardened, the resin forms a smooth, jointless pipe within the existing pipe, sealing cracks, fractures, and displaced joints without any excavation.
CIPP relining works on pipes from 50mm up to over one metre in diameter, and it’s suitable for clay, concrete, cast iron, and plastic pipework.
The finished lining has a design life of 50 years or more, and because there are no joints, it’s highly resistant to future root ingress. Most commercial relining jobs are completed within a single day, keeping your business running with minimal downtime.
We would highly recommend drain relining to any commercial client looking for a cost-effective, high-quality repair that avoids the disruption of excavation.
Patch lining
When the damage is limited to a single defect in an otherwise sound pipe, a patch repair is often more cost-effective than relining the entire length.
We position a resin-saturated patch over the damaged area using a packer system, then cure it in place.
Patch repairs are quick, typically taking one to two hours per defect, and they’re ideal for isolated cracks, small fractures, or individual joint failures. This is a cost effective option when the rest of the drain line is in good condition.
Excavation and replacement
Some damage is too severe for relining. If a pipe has fully collapsed, lost its shape entirely, or suffered damage across a long section, excavation and replacement is the only option. We dig down to the damaged pipe, remove the failed section, and install new pipework before backfilling and reinstating the surface.
Excavation is more disruptive than no-dig methods, but sometimes it’s the right call. We plan the work carefully to minimise the footprint of the dig, protect surrounding services and structures, and complete the reinstatement to the required standard, whether that’s tarmac, concrete, paving, or landscaping.
Pipe bursting
Pipe bursting replaces an old pipe with a new one without traditional excavation. We pull a bursting head through the existing pipe, which fractures the old pipe outward while simultaneously drawing a new pipe in behind it. This method works well when the existing pipe is too damaged for relining but you want to avoid the disruption and cost of open-trench excavation.
It’s particularly suited to straight runs under car parks, roads, and hardstanding areas.
Robotic cutting
When tree roots, intruding connections, or hardened deposits need removing before a repair can take place, our robotic cutting equipment handles it from inside the pipe.
Remote-controlled cutters trim roots, remove displaced lateral connections, and prepare the pipe surface for relining, all without digging. This is often used as a preparation step before CIPP lining to ensure the finished repair sits flush and the flow rate through the pipe is restored.
When to repair vs replace
The honest answer depends on what the CCTV survey shows.
Relining makes sense when the pipe is structurally intact enough to support a liner. Cracks, fractures, displaced joints, minor deformation, and root ingress damage can all be repaired without replacing the pipe.
Relining is faster, less disruptive, and typically costs less than excavation. It’s the right choice for the majority of commercial drain repairs we carry out.
Replacement is necessary when the pipe has fully collapsed, lost its circular shape to the point where a liner can’t be installed, or when the pipe needs to be upsized because the existing diameter can’t handle the flow demands of the property.
Replacement is also the better option when multiple defects are spread across a very long run and the cost of relining exceeds the cost of a new pipe.
We always start with a full CCTV survey so you can see the damage for yourself.
Our engineer will explain which repair method is appropriate and why, and you’ll receive a fixed quote before any work begins. We don’t push relining where excavation is needed, and we don’t recommend excavation when a reline would do the job perfectly well.
Industries that need commercial drain repair
Drainage failures affect drains in commercial properties of every type, but some industries face greater consequences than others. We provide commercial drainage services to all of them.
Restaurants, hotels, and hospitality
A damaged drain in a commercial kitchen doesn’t just cause blockages. It can lead to sewage contamination, pest ingress through broken pipes, and Environmental Health enforcement that forces you to close.
We carry out repairs around your trading hours and coordinate with your ongoing drain maintenance programme so the fix integrates with your regular maintenance and commercial drain cleaning schedule.
Retail and shopping centres
Shared drainage infrastructure serving multiple units means a single pipe failure can affect several businesses at once. Subsidence from collapsed drains can damage flooring, disrupt access, and create slip hazards for customers.
We work with centre management teams to plan repairs during quiet hours and keep disruption away from trading areas.
Offices and business parks
Multi-tenant buildings with ageing drainage are particularly prone to joint failures and root ingress from surrounding landscaping. No-dig relining lets us repair the drainage network without digging up car parks, paths, or landscaped areas that tenants and visitors use daily.
Industrial and manufacturing
Factories and processing plants often have large-diameter drainage carrying process waste and surface water from hardstanding areas, along with gully connections, septic tanks, and interceptor systems. Pipe damage in these environments can lead to trade effluent compliance failures and contamination of surrounding land. Our engineers handle industrial-scale repairs quickly and effectively, and understand the regulatory requirements around waste water discharge.
Healthcare and education
Hospitals, care homes, schools, and universities can’t tolerate drainage failure. The risk of sewage exposure in healthcare settings is particularly serious.
We prioritise these repairs, schedule work during off-peak periods, and provide full documentation for your compliance records.
Property management
Managing agents looking after portfolios of commercial properties need a single contractor who can handle repairs consistently across multiple sites. We coordinate repair programmes across your portfolio, provide standardised reporting, and offer rapid response to urgent drainage needs through our commercial drainage services contracts.
Our range of commercial drain repair services means we handle everything from emergency plumbing services through to proactive maintenance and planned pipe repair across all your sites.
Why choose Clark Drainage for commercial drain repair?
Clark Drainage has over two decades of experience. This means we’ve dealt with every type of pipe damage in every type of commercial property, and we know which drainage repair method works best in each situation.
We recommend drain repair approaches based on what the damage actually requires, not what’s easiest for us.
Diagnosis before repair
Too many drainage companies quote for relining or excavation based on guesswork, then find unexpected problems once the work starts. That’s why we never start repair work without a CCTV survey first.
Our survey-first approach means the quote you receive is based on actual footage of the damage, not assumptions.
Full range of repair methods
We carry out CIPP relining, patch repairs, excavation and replacement, pipe bursting, and robotic cutting. Because we offer every method, we recommend what’s right for your situation rather than defaulting to the one technique we happen to specialise in.
Available around the clock
We operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
If a drain collapse threatens to flood your premises or shut down your operations, our rapid response emergency team can be on site within one to two hours to assess the damage and start work. We also handle emergency plumbing and sewer cleaning where pipe blockages have caused backup alongside the structural damage.
Survey to solution, one company
Unlike companies that only diagnose or only repair, we handle the entire process as your complete drainage solutions provider.
One company manages the whole job from start to finish, so you’re not coordinating between different plumbing contractors or chasing separate quotes.
Frequently asked questions
How much does commercial drain repair cost?
It depends on the repair method, the length and diameter of pipe involved, and site access. No-dig relining typically costs less than excavation because there’s no digging or reinstatement. We provide free, no-obligation quotes based on CCTV survey findings, so you know the exact cost before work begins.
Can drains be repaired without digging?
Yes. No-dig methods like CIPP pipe relining and patch lining repair the pipe from the inside, using existing access points like manholes. Around 80% of the commercial drain repairs we carry out use no-dig techniques. Excavation is only needed when the pipe has fully collapsed or lost its shape.
How long does commercial drain repair take?
Most relining and patch repairs are completed within a single day. Excavation jobs take longer, typically two to five days depending on the length of pipe, depth of the dig, and reinstatement requirements. We give you a timeline when we quote.
Will the repair disrupt my business?
No-dig repairs cause minimal disruption because the work happens from external access points with no excavation. For jobs that do require digging, we plan around your operations and can work evenings, weekends, or outside trading hours. We keep the work area as small as possible and reinstate surfaces promptly.
How long do drain repairs last?
CIPP relining has a design life of 50 years or more. Excavation and replacement with modern materials should last even longer. Patch repairs are equally durable for the area they cover. All our repair work comes with a guarantee, and we provide documentation you can share with insurers or property managers.
Do I need building control approval for drain repair?
It depends on the scope of work. Like-for-like repairs generally don’t need building control sign-off, but alterations to the drainage layout, new connections, or work near a public sewer may require notification to the local water authority. We advise on this as part of our quoting process and handle any required notifications on your behalf.
Can you repair drains in any pipe material?
Yes. We repair clay, concrete, cast iron, pitch fibre, and plastic pipes. Our relining systems bond to all common pipe materials, and for excavation jobs we replace damaged sections with modern materials suited to the application.
Book commercial drain repair with Clark Drainage today
Whether you need emergency repair for a collapsed drain right now or you’re planning a repair programme based on a recent CCTV survey, contact our friendly team and we’ll take it from there.
Our drainage specialists can meet any drainage need, from urgent pipe repair through to planned rehabilitation of your entire drainage system.
Get in touch through our form or by calling us on 0141 280 3431, for your free, no-obligation quote. We will get back to you as soon as possible and arrange a site visit.
