Frank Fisher wrote:

How do I go about doing this? I'm putting a new bathroom in, and the
soil pipe is too far from the old one to redirect - I know there is a
sewer running just below the garden (it's on the council charts) and
my guttering drain already flows to this. Can I route my guttering
elsewhere, hook into that drain (with some kind of seal around it) and
forget the issue,


ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Guttering probablu goes to soakaway..its unlikley to go to fould water
sewer, even in very old prop3erties. Even if it doies and the BCO
catches ou, you run teh risk that as you are making a 'matyerial
alteration' its up to you to divert the gutter water away from the foul
sewer and install a huge soakaway etc.

or do I need to dig down to the sewer and install
some kind of conenction there?


Yes. You will need an inpsection chamber inserting at the join. This is
not trivial, and needs to be done to building control regulatons of
fall, access, pressure testing and general construction.

You will also neeed an air admittance valve at the near end of the soil
stack.

If you are lucky, and a mini digger will fit in the garden, the whole
thing will only be a few hundred to install. If it needs hand digging,
or thigs go wrong (they nearly always do with old pipes) it could easily
cost a grand and it always leaves a fair mess behind that needs
re-seeding with grass at a minimum, and often complete new driveways etc
if ou have to hack them up.

Don't be tempted to try and do it on the cheap. Get a reputable
groundwork firm to quote, and pick on that looks big enough to sue. A
one man band will vanish if the job goes sour.

The house/sewers are old - early
victorian. Or, is there a fixed charge for water companies to carry
out this work for me?


Its not their problem. You need to work out who owns the bit of pipe you
are connecting to, but its your responsibility to connect to it IIRC.



Any ideas?