Who do I call?

Sewer problems arrive without a label. A drain backs up, and the question that decides the next hour is which kind of firm answers this — a plumber, a drain-cleaning company, a sewer contractor, a restoration firm, or the authority that runs the public system. They are different trades with different equipment and different call-out fees, and ringing the wrong one first is the most expensive mistake available at that point.

Pick the line below that is closest to what is happening. You will get the trade to ring first, how urgent it is, what to do in the meantime, what not to do, and what the symptom does not settle. Nothing is sent anywhere, and you are not asked for anything to see the answer.

What this page cannot establish

this cannot diagnose a fault, because no set of questions substitutes for somebody looking at the line
it cannot tell you who is responsible for any length of pipe — that is set locally, and only the authority for your address can state its position
it cannot say what any work should cost, or rank the firms that do it
the professional it names is where to start, not the only trade that could be involved

What is happening?

Pick the line closest to what you are seeing. Nothing you choose is sent anywhere, and you are not asked for any details to see the answer.

What would change the answer

what you can see or hear right now, which is the only input this uses
whether more than one fixture is affected, which is what separates a fixture problem from a main-line one
whether anything similar has happened before, and whether clearing it lasted

What to do next

One choice, then the answer. Nothing you pick is sent anywhere and you are not asked for any details to see it.

If your situation is different

You want to work through it in more depth: The ten-question decision engine
You already know the symptom and want to read about it: Symptoms
You are holding a quote and want to check its scope: Compare proposals

If you want a second read

You can describe what you have been told and have a person read it. They will say which question is still unanswered, or say that they cannot help — there is no contractor network behind this site, nothing is routed anywhere, and no request reaches a company.

Ask someone to look at what you have been told

Symptoms
Each symptom at length, once you know which one you are looking at.
Who owns the lateral
Where the boundary usually falls, for the answers that say the council may be involved.
Camera inspection
What an inspection actually produces, when the answer is that somebody should look.
Decision engine
The longer version, for when one symptom does not describe it.