By the end of 2012 over 14 million households not on mains sewerage are expected to have a septic tank inspection to determine whether or not your septic tank conforms to current norms. If you apply for full planning permission (Permis de Construire) you will be asked to install a complete new foul drainage system (dispositif d'assainissement) which complies with the above Normes, as part of the granting of planning permission. Most departments have set up specific departments to deal with all drainage matters. In some areas both paperwork checks and on-site checks are made by the SPANC (Service Public d' Assainissement non Collectif).
So how do you go about getting permission and who does the work?
In all cases your initial point of contact is your local Mairie. Here you ask for a form which is called a Demande d'Installation d'un dispositif d'assainissement non collectif. The completed dossier is returned to your Mairie who, after adding their own advice, forward it to the relevant Environmental authority.
Approval can take between two and twelve weeks depending on area and degree of complication (longer if, for example, permission has to be sought from the DDE (Direction Departemental d'Equipment) for a trench across a highway or an outlet drain into their roadside ditch).
SPANC will dictate what size of tank you must have, based on the number of bedrooms and usage, and what type and size of soakaway drainage system must be used based on tank size and type of soil you have. The fosse installation should be an early job in a renovation programme as it creates quite some disturbance and mess. Think about access for large machinery and quarry wagons with deliveries; plan what will happen with the large amounts of surplus spoil - is there somewhere on site it could be levelled out, or will it have to go off site at extra cost? Also, if a pool is planned, work out the amount of space available - you don't want the drains where you might put a pool later!
The installation should be carried out by someone conversant with the current Normes, as an inspection of the work is carried out by a technician prior to completion and, in case of non-compliance, a certificate of completion will not be issued until the work has been corrected. Your dossier of approval will eventually be returned to you via your Mairie.
Contact us to discuss your septic tank project or email cc-construction@orange.fr
