Percolation Tests provides BRE365 soakaway percolation testing and foul infiltration testing across the West Midlands, working with self-builders, developers, and homeowners to satisfy planning conditions and building regulations. We are based in Wolverhampton, so the West Midlands is our home patch — most sites in the county are a short drive away.
Ground conditions in the West Midlands
The West Midlands is geologically mixed, and rarely as straightforward as it first appears. Much of the Birmingham plateau and the ground around Wolverhampton and Dudley sits on Triassic sandstone, which can drain freely and give good infiltration rates. Elsewhere the picture changes quickly: glacial till and boulder clay cap large areas, and the Black Country is underlain in places by Coal Measures mudstones that drain very poorly.
The bigger complication across much of the county is made ground. Two centuries of industry, quarrying, brickmaking and shallow coal working have left widespread fill of variable depth and composition, and former mine workings are recorded across the Black Country. Made ground can produce percolation results that vary sharply within the same plot, and it is a common reason for a soakaway design being queried at planning. This is precisely why a site-specific BRE365 test matters here rather than an assumed rate for the area.
What we test for
- BRE365 percolation testing for surface water soakaway design
- Foul effluent infiltration testing (Part H) for septic tanks and treatment plants
- Drainage strategy (SuDS) support for planning applications
Coverage across the West Midlands
We test regularly across Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Solihull, Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell and West Bromwich, along with Sutton Coldfield, Stourbridge, Halesowen and the greener fringes of the county towards Meriden and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire borders. Testing is available Monday to Friday to fit around build and self-build schedules.
Why get a percolation test
Planning authorities across the West Midlands — Birmingham City Council, City of Wolverhampton, Coventry, Solihull, Dudley, Walsall and Sandwell — routinely attach drainage conditions to permissions, particularly on infill plots, garden land and former industrial sites. A BRE365 percolation test gives you the evidence needed to discharge those conditions and to size your soakaway correctly. On brownfield and infill sites in particular, testing early is worth doing: finding out late that infiltration is not viable can force a redesign of the whole drainage strategy.
Get a quote
Contact us for a free, no-obligation quote for percolation or infiltration testing anywhere in the West Midlands. Call 01902 475653 or request a quote online.
Towns and areas we cover in the West Midlands
We also cover Solihull, Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell, West Bromwich, Sutton Coldfield, Stourbridge and Halesowen. Neighbouring counties are covered too — see Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Shropshire.
Recent work near the West Midlands
Percolation testing around the West Midlands
Each dot is a site we have tested. 37 within ten miles of the West Midlands, 143 within twenty-five.