Rain-wet residential street with a stucco character house between a bungalow and a boxy two-storey house, cloud low on the mountains behind

City of Vancouver Your perimeter drain may still empty into the sewer.

Drainage Pro is a drainage contractor in Vancouver, based in North Vancouver. We start with a camera, then repair or replace perimeter drains, work on your side of the sewer connection and waterproof foundations. In older parts of the city a house may drain to a combined sewer, a sanitary line or a rock pit. We find out which first.

Book an inspection Call or text (604) 210-3892

Red Seal plumber runs every job
Camera down the line before anyone digs
Full perimeter drainage replacements backed for up to 10 years

What actually fails in Vancouver

Four ways Vancouver drainage fails, and what the camera shows for each.

Drains tied into the sewer. The City names roof and foundation drains that are improperly connected to a property's sanitary sewer line as a source of extra water in the sewer. When that pipe fills in a storm, water can come back the wrong way. On camera, the drain line followed from a cleanout runs into the house sewer or a combined lateral instead of a separate storm connection.
A silted rock pit. Many Vancouver homes from the 1920s through the 1940s were built with a rock pit because there was no storm main to connect to, and many were never tied into the storm lines that came later. Once silt fills the rock, the pit stops taking water. On camera, water stands in the line back from the pit and silt lies on the pipe floor near it.
Soil washing into the pipe. Fine sand and silt enter through an open or offset joint and settle along the pipe floor until the line can no longer carry a storm's flow. On camera, soil trickles in at the joint and silt builds up behind it.
Buried under later work. Patios, parking pads and additions can be built over a drain. The pipe may be fine, but reaching it is the problem. On camera, the line runs under a slab or an addition, and there may be no cleanout left to reach it from.

Sewer separation, and the half of it that is yours

A combined sewer carries rainwater and sewage in one pipe, and a heavy storm can overwhelm it. A separated system splits them: catch basins, foundation drains and roof leaders go to the storm sewer, and sewage goes to the treatment plant. The City is replacing combined systems with separated ones, working toward the Province of BC's goal of ending sewage overflows by 2050.

As the City separates the street, properties need separated systems too. The City says private connections are typically separated as properties redevelop or carry out major renovations, and it lists a few other cases, so ask it about your address.

Your part is the line on your property, up to the City's connection. Whoever does the work gets the City permit first, and the City inspects when it is done. The City sets this out in renewing and upgrading your sewer connection. We put a camera in your line first, so sewer line repair on your side of the connection is scoped from what is actually there.

Crew member checking the slope of new drainage pipe in an open trench beside a Vancouver house, with a mini excavator behind

Does your house drain to the storm sewer, the sanitary sewer or a rock pit?

Where the water goes decides the job. A perimeter drain tied into the storm sewer needs a different repair from one draining to a rock pit or into the sanitary line, and nothing at the surface tells you which you have. A camera inspection follows the line from a cleanout and shows where it ends up.

Three other things move the scope: whether the pipe has collapsed or is only silted, whether the run can be reached or sits under a patio or an addition, and how much room the lot leaves to dig.

If you are buying an older Vancouver house, the same question is worth asking in a pre-purchase drainage inspection, before you commit.

Technician feeding a drain camera cable into a ground-level cleanout beside a house, with the reel and monitor on the lawn

Covered by our Built Better Warranty.

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Signs your Vancouver drainage is already failing

Any one of these can have a simple explanation. Two or three together, in a house whose drains have never been replaced, usually mean the pipe is the problem.

A sewer smell in the basement that only shows up during heavy rain
A straight dip or trough in the lawn running along one side of the house
The floor drain or laundry standpipe backing up when the street is running with water
White chalky bloom or damp shadows on the inside of the basement wall
A downspout that gurgles or surges back out at the base in a downpour
Patio slabs, a walkway or a parking pad settling unevenly near the foundation
A musty smell in the suite through the wet season
Standing water in a narrow side yard that never fully dries out

A wet wall or a damp suite can also come from the wall itself, and basement leak detection traces it to its source. A single slow drain can be a blockage rather than a failed pipe, and drain cleaning deals with that.

Vancouver Specials and narrow lots

The Vancouver Special is a house type with its lower floor at or near ground level, so it has no conventional basement. If that floor has been finished as living space, water at the footing reaches a bedroom or a suite instead of a storage room, and a failing perimeter drain matters more.

On a narrow lot the house sits close to its neighbours, so a trench may have to route around a shared fence, a lane or a neighbouring foundation. Access can set the scope as much as the pipe does. Perimeter drain replacement follows the camera, because we diagnose before we excavate. New to the terms? Here is what a perimeter drain is.
Permits for drain and connection work

Installing, changing or upgrading any part of a plumbing system in Vancouver needs a plumbing permit. Clearing a stoppage or repairing a leak does not. The City inspects permitted work before it finalizes the permit.

A new connection to City sewer and water needs a sewer and water connection permit. For a single detached house, with or without a laneway house and suite, or for a duplex, that is one combined application.

We arrange permits and inspections where required, and we confirm with the City which permit applies to your job. Trees have their own rule. Removing a private tree 20 cm or more across at 1.4 m above the ground needs a separate City permit.
Precipitation through the wet season

We use the Environment and Climate Change Canada 1981–2010 normals from VANCOUVER INT'L A, the airport station in Richmond, 8.9 km from City Hall. It is a regional guide, not a reading for your street. Precipitation there totals 1,189 mm a year, counting snow as water. The wettest month is November (188.89 mm) and the driest is July (35.58 mm). October through March each top 100 mm, while June through September stay at 54 mm or under.

A failing drain shows itself when the ground is wet. If you have seen any of the signs above, book an inspection with Drainage Pro, or call or text (604) 210-3892.

On the ground

Neighbourhoods we work in

These are the parts of Vancouver our crew is in most often. If yours is not listed, it does not mean we do not go there — call with the address.

Kitsilano
Dunbar
Point Grey
Kerrisdale
Mount Pleasant
Hastings-Sunrise
Grandview-Woodland
Fraserview
Marpole
Renfrew
Oakridge

Permits and municipal rules

Drainage work in the City of Vancouver may need a permit before we dig and an inspection before the trench is closed. The municipal pages below set out what applies.

City of Vancouver plumbing permit
vancouver.ca
City of Vancouver sewer and water connection permits
vancouver.ca
City of Vancouver: separating sewage from rainwater
vancouver.ca
City of Vancouver: renewing and upgrading your sewer connection
vancouver.ca

Local facts

The conditions that decide how a Vancouver drainage job is scoped, with the source for each one.

The Environment and Climate Change Canada station VANCOUVER INT'L A, at the airport in Richmond and 8.9 km from City Hall, recorded a 1981–2010 normal of 1,189 mm of total precipitation a year, with November the wettest month at 188.89 mm and July the driest at 35.58 mm.: Source: api.weather.gc.ca
In a combined sewer, rainwater runoff and sewage share a single pipe, and heavy rain can exceed that pipe's capacity. In a separated system, catch basins, foundation drains and roof leaders feed the storm sewer.: Source: vancouver.ca
The City is working toward the Province of BC's goal to eliminate sewage overflows by 2050, and private sewer connections are typically separated as properties redevelop or carry out major renovations.: Source: vancouver.ca
The owner maintains the sewer lines on the property, up to where they meet the City's connection. The contractor contacts the City for permits before work starts, and the City inspects after.: Source: vancouver.ca
Roof and foundation drains that are improperly connected to a property's sanitary sewer line add extra water to the sewer, which can lead to sewer overflows into homes.: Source: vancouver.ca
A permit is needed to install, change or upgrade any part of a plumbing system, but not to clear stoppages in pipes or drains or to repair leaks. All work must be inspected before the permit is finalized.: Source: vancouver.ca
Low-density residential sites, a single detached house with an optional laneway house and suite or a duplex, apply for one combined sewer and water connection permit.: Source: vancouver.ca
Removing a tree on private property with a diameter of 20 cm or more, measured 1.4 m above the ground, needs a City permit.: Source: vancouver.ca

What we do here

What we handle in Vancouver

One crew and one contract, from the first camera inspection to the reinstated ground.

Inspect

Diagnose the problem

Pre-purchase drainage inspection

Camera footage of the buried drains around a house you want to buy, a grading review and a written report to help you decide on subjects.

Drain camera inspection

HD video of what is inside your drain and sewer lines, with faults located from the surface, so repairs start from evidence.

Basement leak detection

A stain on the wall is rarely where the water got in. We trace the route first, so the repair is aimed at the cause.

Strata drainage assessment

Condition-rated drainage reports for strata councils and property managers, with footage or a site observation behind every rating.

Repair

Fix the cause

Perimeter drainage repair

Spot repair, one side or full renewal, scoped from camera footage of your drain tile and the age of the pipe around it.

Sewer line repair

Camera-located sewer lateral repair and replacement, from the house to the property line.

Drain cleaning and hydro jetting

Drain cleaning for sewer lines and hydro jetting for perimeter drains, with the camera showing what is blocking the line and whether cleaning will hold.

Sump & sewage pumps

Storm sumps and sewage ejectors load-tested, then serviced or replaced before they fail, with battery backup and alarms where they count.

Protect

Waterproof and restore

Foundation waterproofing

A membrane on the outside face of the foundation wall, protected by drainage board and put on while the trench is open.

Basement waterproofing

A written assessment of where the water gets in, then crystalline waterproofing from inside where the outside of the wall cannot be reached.

Foundation crack repair

Leaking cracks sealed by injection through the wall, once we know why they opened and whether they are still moving.

Structural foundation repair

Settling, bowing or heaving foundations, assessed with an engineer and repaired to the engineer's design.

Maintain

Prevent future failures

Strata maintenance programs

Common property drainage on a schedule council can budget for, scoped from measured condition and recorded year after year.

Annual drain camera inspections

Your drain runs filmed every year and set beside last year's footage, so slow change shows up while it is still a finding, not a failure.

Catch basin cleaning

We empty the sump, check the outlet and record each basin, for houses and strata parking areas, ahead of the wet months.

Vacuum truck services

Suction from the surface for full sumps, flooded pits and silted lines, with the material taken away rather than flushed downstream.

Drainage questions from Vancouver homeowners

The City is separating the sewer in my area. What is my part?

You maintain the sewer lines on your property, up to where they meet the City's connection. The City says private connections are typically separated when a property is redeveloped or majorly renovated. In a separated system, foundation drains and roof leaders connect to the storm sewer. We camera your line first so the scope on your side is based on what is there.

Is my perimeter drain connected to the sanitary sewer?

It may be. The City names roof and foundation drains that are improperly connected to a property's sanitary sewer line as a source of extra water in the sewer, and says it can lead to overflows into homes. A camera inspection shows where your drain line ends up. A sewer smell in the basement during heavy rain, or a floor drain that backs up when the street is running with water, are reasons to check.

My Vancouver house was built before the Second World War. What drainage does it have?

Many Vancouver homes from the 1920s through the 1940s were built with a rock pit instead of a storm connection, and many were never tied into the storm lines that came later. A pit that has silted up stops taking water. Rather than guess, we put a camera in the line to see whether the pit still does anything.

What permits does drain or sewer connection work need in Vancouver?

The City requires a plumbing permit to install, change or upgrade any part of a plumbing system, and a sewer and water connection permit to connect to City sewers. A single detached house, with an optional laneway house and suite, or a duplex applies for one combined residential permit. The City inspects before the permit is finalized. We confirm with the City which permit applies to your job.

Does clearing a slow drain need a City permit?

No. The City does not require a permit to clear stoppages in pipes or drains, or to repair leaks. Installing, changing or upgrading any part of a plumbing system does need one. If a slow drain keeps coming back, a camera inspection will show whether the cause is a blockage or a failing pipe.

Published September 6, 2026 Updated October 2, 2026

We find the cause before we quote the fix

Tell us the address and what you're seeing — a backup, a wet wall, a smell, a sinking lawn. We'll tell you what the next step is and what it costs, before anyone digs. Not sure yet? Ask us a question first.

Book an inspection Ask us a question first

Or call or text (604) 210-3892