Greater Victoria, BC
Water in the basement is usually cheaper to fix than the internet suggests
Greater Victoria Drainage is an independent site about perimeter drains in Greater Victoria. It names the causes that cost a weekend before the one that costs an excavation, quotes the Building Code and your municipality rather than an opinion, and says plainly where the honest answer is “only a camera can tell you”.
Start with the question you actually have
- Water showed up. Is it even the drains?Five causes of water in a Greater Victoria basement or crawl space, cheapest first, and how to tell which one you have before paying for anything.
- My crawl space is wet. Same problem?Standing water is not normal; evenly damp ground often is. One is water arriving and one is water leaving the soil — and only one is fixed by a pipe.
- Blocked, broken, or just old?What separates a blocked drain from a collapsed one in a Greater Victoria house, what the age of your house tells you, and why only a camera settles it.
- Weeping tile, French drain — same thing?Four names get used for two different systems. The BC Code keeps them in separate subsections, and an Appeal Board ruling says they must not be joined.
- Scope, flush, repair or replace?What each of the four actually buys a Greater Victoria homeowner, when flushing is money wasted, and the order that keeps you from paying for the wrong one.
- Outside the wall, or inside the basement?One company wants to dig up the garden, the other wants to cut the slab. What the BC Code requires, and what the Appeal Board decided about doing it inside.
- Do I actually need a sump pump?The BC Code asks for a pump only where gravity drainage is not practical. On most Greater Victoria lots it is. What that means when someone quotes you a sump.
- Where does my drain water go?Your roof water and your footing drain are two different systems, and in BC that is not an opinion — it is a ruling. Where each one is supposed to end up.
- What does it cost here?What drainage work costs in Greater Victoria, who published each figure, why the Vancouver ranges do not match, and what moves the price on your house.
- What do I ask before I sign?A checklist drawn from the BC Building Code and Victoria's own inspection rule, so you can read a drainage quote against something other than the price.
- Do I need a permit, and who can do the work?All thirteen municipalities, from their own bylaws and forms: what needs a permit, who may do which part, and which three inspect the drain before it is buried.
The questions nobody local answers
Narrow questions where the answer is decided by BC law or BC money — not by an opinion about drains.
- Is a failed perimeter drain covered by insurance in BC?Not as standard. Sewer backup, overland water and groundwater are three separate add-ons, and the drain itself is never the insured item.
- Is there PST on a perimeter drain replacement in BC?As a rule, no. The contractor pays PST on the pipe and gravel when they buy it. A PST line added to your invoice is the exception, and it has conditions.
- Who pays for perimeter drain repairs in a strata?The strata. A below-grade perimeter drain on the outside of the foundation is common property, and section 72 does not let that duty be handed to the owner.
- Can anyone install a perimeter drain, or does it need a licensed plumber?The drain around your footings can be installed by anyone. The connection at the street generally cannot. Saanich is the municipality that says so in writing.
- Will anyone inspect my perimeter drain before it is buried?In three of the thirteen Greater Victoria municipalities, yes. Everywhere else the trench can be filled without anyone independent ever seeing the work.
- Are there grants or rebates for perimeter drain work in BC?No. The provincial credit people ask about is an accessibility credit, and the one municipal program with rainwater in its name pays for the opposite job.
- Should there be water in my basement floor drain?That standing water is the trap seal keeping sewer gas out. Water coming up out of the drain is a different problem — and not your perimeter drain.
- Does every house have a perimeter drain?No. The Code requires drainage, not a pipe — clean crushed rock is an accepted alternative, and even that applies only unless shown unnecessary.
- Does a perimeter drain need a slope?The Code specifies the pipe's size, depth, bedding, stone cover and where it may discharge. A minimum fall is not among them, and the reason matters.
A few of the facts behind these pages
Every figure below is quoted from the source shown or is our labelled estimate. Verified dates are the day we last checked the source; a figure whose check is overdue is withheld rather than shown.
- Does a house have to have a foundation drain?
- Yes — unless it can be shown to be unnecessary, the bottom of every exterior foundation wall must be drained, either by drainage tile or pipe around the outside of the foundation or by a layer of clean crushed rock
- Applies to new construction and to work that replaces the drainage · A granular drainage layer is an accepted alternative to pipe
- Province of British Columbia (BC Codes) · quoted · verified 2026-09-22
- Where a foundation drain is allowed to discharge
- To a sewer, a drainage ditch or a dry well
- A dry well may be used only where the natural groundwater level is below the bottom of the dry well, and must be at least 5 m from the foundation (Sentences 9.14.5.3.(1) and (2))
- Province of British Columbia (BC Codes) · quoted · verified 2026-09-22
- Camera inspection (drain scope) in Greater Victoria
- From $295
- The lowest published figure we can cite; a longer run or a difficult access point costs more · Ask whether you receive the video and a written report
- RainTek Drainage & Waterproofing (Victoria) · quoted · verified 2026-09-22
- Saanich: who is allowed to do which part of the work
- Anyone may install perimeter foundation drainage, but storm laterals, sanitary sewer lines, rainwater leader systems and water lines may only be done by a certified plumber, a supervised indentured apprentice, or the registered owner-occupant with approved drawings
- The drain itself and the pipe that carries its water away are governed differently — a quote can be legitimate for one and not the other
- District of Saanich · quoted · verified 2026-09-22