Certificates of Compliance

(1) No person shall discharge sewage to a new, upgraded or expanded system without first obtaining a Certificate of Compliance from the Approving Authority in accordance with 310 CMR 15.021(2) through (5). Certificates of Compliance shall be in a form approved by the Department. The Approving Authority shall provide the owner or operator a copy of the Department's operation and maintenance guide, or inform him or her where a copy can be obtained. (2) Subsurface components of a system shall not be backfilled or otherwise concealed from view until a final inspection has been conducted by the Approving Authority and permission has been granted by the Approving Authority to backfill the system. The Designer shall inspect the construction after the initial excavation, prior to backfilling, and during backfilling. In addition, the final inspection of the system shall be conducted by the Approving Authority, the system installer and the Designer prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Compliance pursuant to 310 CMR 15.021(3). Any component of the system which has been covered without such permission shall be uncovered upon the request of the Approving Authority or the Department. (3) Upon availability, the designer shall file an electronic registration for the system with the Department or an agent authorized by the Department, prior to signing the Certificate of Compliance in accordance with 310 CMR 15.021(4). Documentation of the registration must be provided to the Approving Authority and the system owner. (4) Within 30 days of the final inspection of the system and prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Compliance, the Disposal System Installer and the Designer shall certify in writing on a form approved by the Department that the system has been constructed in compliance with 310 CMR 15.000, the approved design plans and all local requirements, and that any changes to the design plans have been reflected on as-built plans which have been submitted to the Approving Authority by the Designer prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Compliance. The as-built plans shall be prepared in accordance with 310 CMR 15.220 and, at a minimum, shall reflect any changes to the approved design plans and show the exact location and elevation of all system components. As-built plans are required to be submitted to the Approving Authority only when changes have been made to the approved plans. If no changes have been made to the approved plans, the approved plan showing the distances from a known structure to the system components shall be submitted to the Approving Authority in place of an as-built plan. Prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Compliance for a system, the Approving Authority shall make sufficient inspections of the system in accordance with 310 CMR 15.021(2) to determine that the work has been completed in compliance with the requirements of 310 CMR 15.000, the Disposal System Construction Permit, the approved design plans, and any local requirements. (5) A Certificate of Compliance does not constitute a statement that the system will function as designed nor shall it in any way limit the powers or responsibilities of the local Approving Authority or the Department to enforce any requirement, or to take any other action to protect public health, safety, welfare or the environment. (6) The Approving Authority shall give to the building inspector or other official of the municipality responsible for the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy pursuant to 780 CMR 100 a copy of the Certificate of Compliance. No person shall apply for a Certificate of Occupancy to inhabit or use new construction until a Certificate of Compliance has been issued by the Approving Authority.