How do I check the septic system on a BC home I'm buying?

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Ask the regional health authority for the system's file ($50 a search) and the seller for the maintenance plan and pump-out records, then have an authorized person inspect it before subjects come off. A septic system is the owner's to keep working: once you buy, the duty is yours. The papers say how it was built and kept; an inspection says how it is now. Neither is in a home inspection, and neither is open data, so both are asked for, one property at a time. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. What the health authority holds: Since May 31, 2005, an authorized person files a system's plans, the soil and what it serves with the regional health authority before building it (Sewerage System Regulation s. 8), and within 30 days of finishing it files a letter certifying it, with an as-built plan and the maintenance plan (s. 9). A system built before then was under a health permit to construct and to operate, which the file may hold instead. A small repair needs no new filing; a significant alteration or repair does (s. 8 (1)). Asking for the file: Interior, Fraser, Northern and Island Health each take a records request for a property, by its address and legal description, for $50 (Fraser Health charges nothing if it finds nothing). Each says the file may not be found or may not hold an accurate drawing of the system: older systems often have no record, and one built or repaired without filing has none. Interior Health asks whether the property has been subdivided, as the legal description will have changed. In Vancouver Coastal Health's area, ask its health protection office. What the owner keeps: The authorized person gives the owner a copy of the plans, the maintenance plan and the letter of certification (s. 9 (1) (a)). The owner must keep the system maintained to that plan and keep records of the maintenance (s. 10). A holding tank needs a health officer's permit and its own maintenance plan and records (ss. 4, 5). Who may inspect it: Only an authorized person may maintain a Type 1 or Type 2 system: a registered onsite wastewater practitioner (a ROWP, registered with ASTTBC) or a professional trained in onsite systems, such as an engineer (ss. 1, 6, 7); a Type 3 system or one for more than 9,100 litres a day needs a professional (s. 6 (3)). For a sale, ask them to find and open the tank, pump it, check the baffles and any pump and alarm, and look over the field for wet ground or surfacing effluent (our reading). A home inspection usually leaves the septic out: see home inspections. A system that fails: Sewage on the ground or into water is a health hazard (s. 2.1), and the owner must see that the house's sewage goes to a sewer, a holding tank or a system built and kept to the regulation (s. 3). A health officer can order the owner to connect to a sewer or a holding tank, or to repair or alter the system (s. 11), and operating a system with no letter of certification filed is an offence (s. 12 (e)). What it means for a buyer: Make the offer subject to the septic, request the file early (Interior Health asks for 5 business days), and match what's filed against what's there: the number of bedrooms it was designed for, where the field is, and the 30 m from the well. A system with no file isn't unlawful because of that alone, but its size and age are unknown until it's inspected. Ask a ROWP what a replacement on this lot would need.

How do I check the septic system on a BC home I'm buying?

What the answer means

Before you buy: who to ask