Title 5 Inspections
If you are selling your house or changing its usage (i.e. putting an addition on) and you have a septic system, you need a Title Five (Title 5) Certification.
Podgurski’s contracting partners will provide this certification after a septic inspection deems that the system doesn’t meet failure criteria as outlined in Title 5 CMR 310 15.000. The purpose of Title 5 of the Massachusetts Environmental Code is to provide for the protection of public health, safety, welfare, and the environment by requiring the proper siting, construction upgrade, and maintenance of on-site sewage disposal systems and appropriate means for the transport and disposal of septage.
Preparing for your Title 5 Septic Inspection
In general, you should have:
- Water usage records for the last two years (where available)
- Septic pumping records
- As-built drawings from the town hall
- Some inspectors require you to locate and uncover system components (tank manholes, distribution boxes, etc.); others include this service: make sure you ask!
- Cesspool owners must schedule a septic pump out at the time of inspection
- Do not have the tank pumped within two weeks of your inspection
NEIWPCC List of Approved Inspectors
- On-site wastewater disposal systems include conventional septic systems, cesspools, and innovative/alternative systems.
- They are individual systems that treat small wastewater flows, usually under 10,000 gallons per day. Over 30% of homes in Massachusetts use on-site wastewater systems, as well as small businesses and institutions in un-sewered areas.
Massachusetts Septic Systems & Title 5
- On-site systems that are not properly sited or maintained contribute pathogens and nutrients to groundwater and surface water, endangering drinking water supplies, shellfish beds, and surface water bodies.
- Title 5 of the State Environmental Code, 310 CMR 15.000, protects you, your family, and your neighbors from these public health threats. MassDEP, local Boards of Health, and system owners all share the responsibility for the proper siting, construction, upgrade, and maintenance of on-site systems.