Your pipes have enough problems. Coding shouldn’t be one of them.
AI Defect Coding That Takes the Repetitive Work Off Your Team
AiDetect handles the repetitive work of defect coding, so your field crews and office staff can focus on inspection collection, maintenance, rehabilitation and planning. No new cameras, hardware or inspection software required, and coding stays consistent across your entire system.
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AI defect coding, explained
What is AI defect coding for sewer inspections?
AI defect coding uses a trained model to review CCTV inspection video and apply a NASSCO PACP code, distance and severity to each defect it finds. With AiDetect, NASSCO-certified experts review any low-confidence observations before results are released, and your team checks them against the video before export. Our model is trained on 15 years of underground inspection data from systems across North America.
Most agencies and contractors still code by hand, frame by frame. That work usually falls to an operator who should be collecting inspections, or an experienced staff member who should be planning rehab. And with operator turnover rising across the industry, coding quality shifts every time a new hire joins a crew. AiDetect does the coding and keeps accuracy and consistency steady across field crews, so your people spend their time on work that needs experience and human judgment: inspection collection, maintenance, rehabilitation and planning.
Why now
Retiring staff, operator turnover and a shrinking hiring pool
Many agencies are losing experienced operators and coders faster than they can replace them. Every new operator brings a learning curve, and coding quality usually varies from crew to crew until they catch up. AI coding keeps accuracy and consistency steady across field crews, no matter who is on the truck, and lets the staff you have focus on value-based work instead of frame-by-frame coding.
1mile
Footage a manual coder reviews in about a day. A 1,200-mile system needs 1,200 coder-days just to look at the network once.
33%
Of water utility workers could retire within a decade, according to the American Water Works Association (AWWA).
15years
Of inspection data from systems across North America used to train AiDetect. It has seen it all, and consistent, accurate coding is the result.
Who AiDetect is built for
Wastewater agencies and the contractors who support them
Public works leadership
Defensible condition data behind the capital plans you take to council, without changing the systems your teams use today.
- Consistent, defensible condition data
- Experienced staff move from frame-by-frame coding to maintenance, rehabilitation and planning
- Backlogs shrink as more footage gets coded
Engineering
Project planning is only as good as the condition data behind it, and your uncoded backlog holds the insight your next project needs.
- Backlog coded without pulling engineering staff off planning and design work
- Consistent coding across crews and contractors, so condition data is comparable across the whole system
- Results come back as a NASSCO PACP exchange database that loads into your inspection software
Field supervisors
Field crews of all sizes and experience levels can inspect more and focus on maintenance and rehab.
- Operators spend time collecting inspections, not on repetitive coding
- Crew time moves to other value work like maintenance and rehabilitation
- Quality stays steady through crew turnover, and the inspection backlog stops growing
CCTV contractors
Your crews collect video inspection. AiDetect codes. Your client gets a deliverable compatible with their current inspection software.
- More footage delivered without adding coders
- Operators stay focused on collecting inspections, not coding in the truck
- Consistent coding across crews means less rework with clients. Keep your current cameras and software.
How AiDetect works
Four steps from raw footage to a coded PACP database
You don’t have to replace your current inspection software. AiDetect sits between the footage your crews collect and the database you load back in.
1 Upload
Drop in your PACP database and video
Send a NASSCO PACP exchange database with the inspection videos attached per pipe segment. Headers are read automatically.
2 AI defect coding
Every defect gets a code, distance and severity
AiDetect reviews the footage and applies a PACP code, distance and severity to every defect it finds, the same way every run. NASSCO-certified experts review the low-confidence items before results are released to your team.
3 Review
See every inspection in one dashboard
Your dashboard shows every inspection’s status, AI results and flag counts. Filter by project or status, search by asset or operator, then open any inspection and check observations against the video.
4 Export
Load the results into the software you already use
Download a valid PACP v7 exchange database with complete headers, packaged with the inspection video and ready to load into the inspection software you or your clients already use. Export one inspection at a time, or select multiple completed inspections from the dashboard and batch export them together.
Why AiDetect
What AiDetect changes for your program
AiDetect codes the footage, so your staff doesn’t have to
The repetitive, frame-by-frame work moves to AiDetect, for field crews and office staff alike. Every defect comes back with a PACP code, distance and severity.
Crews stay on inspections, senior staff stay on rehab planning
Crews focus on inspection collection and maintenance. Experienced staff focus on rehabilitation and planning instead of watching every foot of video.
Keep your camera and software, and review before export
Use any camera and any inspection software that exports a PACP v7 exchange database with .mp4 video. NASSCO-certified experts review the low-confidence items, and your team reviews results before final export.
Every pipe coded the same way, no matter who ran the camera
The same footage gets the same codes every run, whichever operator collected it. When experienced operators leave and new ones rotate in, coding accuracy holds steady instead of resetting with every new hire.
AI earns its place in a sewer inspection workflow only when your team can see what it found, verify findings against the video, and stand behind the result in front of a regulator, an engineer or a city council.
AI replaces the repetitive task, while your team keeps the final say.
Your setup, your call
Keep your cameras, hardware and software.
Change who does the coding.
What stays the same
- Your cameras, hardware and crews
- Your inspection software
- Your NASSCO PACP coding standard
- Your team’s final say on every result
What changes
- Coding starts from an AI first pass instead of a blank screen
- Coding is consistent across your entire system, regardless of an operator’s efficiency, experience or training
- Crews and staff place focus on inspections, maintenance, rehabilitation and planning instead of repetitive coding
- More footage gets coded, so backlogs shrink
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about AI defect coding for sewer inspections
What agencies and contractors ask most when they evaluate AI coding for CCTV inspections, answered by the team behind AiDetect.
What is AI defect coding for sewer inspections?
AI defect coding uses a trained computer vision model to review sewer CCTV inspection video and apply a NASSCO PACP code, distance and severity to each defect it finds, such as roots, cracks, grease or infiltration. It replaces the frame-by-frame manual coding that operators and office staff usually do by hand. AiDetect from ITpipes is an AI defect coding solution trained on 15 years of underground inspection data from systems across North America.
How does AI code sewer CCTV inspection video?
The AI model watches the inspection video, detects defects and features along the pipe, and records each one with a PACP code, distance and clock position. With AiDetect from ITpipes, you upload a NASSCO PACP exchange database with the videos attached, the AI codes every defect, NASSCO-certified experts review any low-confidence observations, and your team checks the results against the video before exporting a PACP exchange database.
Is AI defect coding accurate?
AI defect coding accuracy is measured with precision (how many flagged defects are real) and recall (how many real defects the AI found) against a reviewed sample of footage. Ask any vendor how their accuracy was measured, not just for a single percentage. AiDetect from ITpipes pairs AI coding with human review: NASSCO-certified experts check low-confidence items, and your team keeps the final say before export. A pilot on your own footage is the best way to see results.
Can AI replace sewer inspection coders?
AI takes over the repetitive part of coding, but people stay in the loop. AI produces the first pass on every inspection, and trained reviewers verify the results. With AiDetect from ITpipes, operators spend their time collecting inspections and experienced staff focus on maintenance, rehabilitation and planning instead of watching every foot of video.
Can AI code inspections from any CCTV camera or inspection software?
It depends on the solution. Some AI coding tools require you to use their own inspection software. AiDetect from ITpipes works with footage from any camera and any inspection software that exports a NASSCO PACP v7 exchange database with .mp4 video, and it returns a PACP v7 exchange database you can load back into the software you already run.
Do I need to change my inspection software to use AI coding?
Not with AiDetect from ITpipes. You keep your cameras, hardware and inspection software. AiDetect imports and exports NASSCO PACP exchange databases, so coded results go straight back into the system your team or your clients already use.
How can AI coding support sewer inspection teams?
AI coding supports sewer inspection teams by taking over the repetitive, frame-by-frame work of defect coding. Operators spend more of the shift collecting inspections, and experienced staff focus on maintenance, rehabilitation and planning instead of watching every foot of video. It also keeps quality steady as teams change. Every operator codes a little differently, and new hires take time to learn PACP coding. AiDetect from ITpipes applies the same coding to every inspection, so accuracy and consistency hold as operators come and go, more footage gets coded and backlogs shrink.
Can CCTV contractors use AI defect coding on client projects?
Yes. Contractors upload inspections from their own trucks to ITpipes’ AiDetect, and they receive a PACP exchange database with coded inspections, a deliverable they can send for upload into their client’s inspection software platform. Crews stay focused on collecting inspections, and coding stays consistent across trucks, which means less rework with clients. Coded deliverables reach clients sooner, so contractors can close out projects and bill clients faster.
What should I look for in an AI defect coding solution?
Look for clear human review of AI results, accuracy measured with precision and recall, the size and source of the training data, support for the NASSCO PACP version you use, and whether results come back in a format your existing inspection software can load. AiDetect from ITpipes is trained on 15 years of North American inspection data, uses NASSCO-certified experts to review low-confidence items, and delivers a PACP v7 exchange database.
Who makes AiDetect?
AiDetect is built by ITpipes, a pipe inspection software company serving wastewater utilities, municipalities and CCTV contractors across North America. AiDetect is trained on 15 years of underground inspection data from systems across North America.
Take AiDetect further
Build AI into your whole workflow, from the truck to the office
With AiDetect paired with ITpipes CoreVision, the workflow is fully connected. Upload inspections directly from CoreVision to AiDetect, and coded results are delivered back into CoreVision, with no import or export. From there, CoreVision’s dynamic reporting lets you query your condition data, and its integrations with Esri GIS and asset management systems put AI-coded inspections to work in capital planning.
Your pipes have enough problems. Let’s take coding off the list.
Spend minutes learning how AiDetect can save your team days.