How we chose
We started from the more than thirty drainage and groundwork firms Google Maps shows across Telford. Scheme badges were sourced from the issuing registers, each firm's own website and platforms such as Checkatrade and Trustpilot. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Ten firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score, qualifications count next, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the firm to the job first. A drainage contractor owns blockages, camera surveys, jetting, repairs and septic tanks; a surfacing contractor owns driveways, patios and tarmac; a landscaper mixes planting with hard surfaces; and a civil engineering contractor runs housing and infrastructure programmes. Say which of these you need in your first enquiry, with photos of the manholes, the standing water or the worn-out drive, the postcode, and whether anything is urgent.
Check the registers that matter for this trade before you book. Type the company name into the DrainSafe search, which lists drainage contractors by place and category, from camera surveys to lining and repairs [1]. Jetting association, commercial safety scheme and platform badges on a website are the firm's own statements, so ask for the current certificate details with your quote rather than taking a logo at face value. Where spoil or tank contents leave your site, check the carrier on the Environment Agency register and confirm the tier covers construction and demolition waste [2]. A limited company should match its Companies House record on name, number and address.
Settle permissions before anyone digs. A new or replacement driveway of any size avoids planning permission where it uses permeable surfacing, or where rainwater runs to a lawn or border; past five square metres, an impermeable surface with nowhere for the water to go needs permission [8]. Where the drive meets the road, Telford and Wrekin Council needs a dropped kerb application, and it will not inspect until planning permission is granted, with around six metres of hardstanding behind the footway [10]. New drains and septic systems need building approval, and septic discharges must meet the general binding rules [9].
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same written scope, so you compare like with like. Each quote should separate labour, materials and VAT, name the exact work, from rodding or jetting through excavation, bedding, levels and reinstatement, with access arrangements, spoil removal, start and finish dates, and payment stages. A deposit for materials is normal, while full payment before completion is not. Treat an outlier far above or below the rest as a question rather than a bargain, and ask what is included or excluded.
For septic tanks, add three questions to every enquiry: when was the tank last emptied, where does the effluent discharge to, and who carries the waste away. Emptying typically runs to a few hundred pounds and must leave with a licensed carrier [5]. A septic tank must not discharge to a watercourse, and replacing or upgrading a system means building approval and the binding rules from the start [9]. If a survey finds a failed drainage field, price the replacement field, not just the pump-out.
At the end, collect the paperwork before you pay the balance: the invoice showing labour, materials and VAT, the CCTV footage and written report where a survey was done, the guarantee terms with length and exclusions, and the waste paperwork where spoil or tank contents left the site. Walk the finished levels with a hose or a bucket of water where you can, and photograph connections before backfilling hides them. If a defect appears later, write promptly with dates and photos; Citizens Advice sets out the consumer steps where a trader will not put it right [11].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford ranges run like this: clearing a blocked drain around £85 by rodding or nearer £185 by jetting, with an average call-out near £60 and emergency attendance nearer £180 [3]. A basic camera survey sits between £85 and £235, and a full survey with footage and report between £200 and £350 [4]. Emptying a standard septic tank typically costs between £175 and £312, with around £225 the usual figure [5].
Surfacing runs to bigger tickets: a block paved driveway averages £90 to £130 per square metre, or around £5,500 for a double driveway, with clay and natural stone dearer than concrete blocks [6]. Patios range widely by material, from budget slabs near £70 to £100 per square metre toward several hundred for flagstone, with a 25 square metre patio near £3,250 and labour near £280 a day [7]. Telford usually sits below London and South East prices.
Access moves the price most: buried defects that need excavation can add £100 to £300 a dig, clay ground and high water tables complicate soakaways and drainage fields, and long hose runs, tanker distance and emergency timing all add to septic and unblocking bills [4] [5]. Material choice drives surfacing: stone and clay pavers, thicker sub-bases for cars rather than feet, steps, drainage channels and taking old spoil away each lift the total [6] [7].
Ask whether VAT sits on top of every figure, since published guides exclude it or state it separately [6] [7]. Firms in this round publish almost no example rates of their own, so treat any single fixed price for a large job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer. Get the scope in writing before work starts, with the staged prices for clearance, survey and repair agreed separately, and keep every quote, invoice and report together.
Red flags
Quotes excavation, relining or a new driveway without visiting or asking for photos, levels and access.
Cannot name which approval scheme it belongs to or give membership details you can check on the scheme register [1].
Plans to shift spoil or tank contents with no registered carrier and no waste paperwork [2] [5].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms.
Lays an impermeable front drive with nowhere for rainwater to go and no mention of planning permission [8].
Starts a dropped-kerb job with no council application and no planning position settled [10].
Gives one fixed price for a large surfacing or drainage job with no breakdown of labour, materials and VAT.
Will not put the scope, price, start date and guarantee terms in writing before lifting a tool.
The bottom line
For most Telford homes, start with Arcox Landscaping: one contractor for the whole brief, stated scheme approvals and a registered waste carrier on record, and help that stretches from domestic gardens to commercial sites. Its quotes run through a consultation with no rates published, so agree the itemised price in writing before anything is booked. If your job is drains-only, Wrekin Drain Services is the local specialist pick, and GES Solutions suits anyone who wants independently accredited surfacing.
Match the firm to the job, then get two or three itemised quotes on the same written scope: Metro Rod where round-the-clock cover across the county matters, Tri Pave where a deep directory record decides it, McPhillips where the brief runs to programme scale. Ask who checks the finished levels, what the guarantee covers and where your spoil goes, and keep every quote, invoice and report together.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.