64E-6.004. Application for System Construction Permit

(1) No person shall cause or allow construction of a system without first applying for and obtaining a construction permit. Form DH 4015 shall be used for recording permit application information.

(2) An application shall be completed in full, signed by the owner or the owner’s authorized representative, or a contractor licensed in accordance with Chapter 489, F.S., and shall be accompanied by all required exhibits and fees. If the owner of a property uses an authorized representative to obtain a new system construction permit, a signed statement from the owner of the property assigning authority for the representative to act on the owner’s behalf shall accompany the application. This statement shall include specific information allowing the representative to act on the owner’s behalf in all aspects of an application for an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system.

(3) The suitability of a lot, property, subdivision or building for the use of an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system shall be determined from an evaluation of lot size, anticipated sewage flow into the proposed system, the anticipated sewage waste strength, soil and water table conditions, soil drainage and site topography and other related criteria. Necessary site investigations and tests shall be performed at the expense of the owner by either an engineer with soils training who is licensed in the State of Florida pursuant to Chapter 471, F.S., by department personnel, registered septic tank contractors, master septic tank contractors, professional soil scientists certified and registered by the Florida Association of Environmental Soil Scientists, and persons certified under Section 381.0101, F.S. Registered septic tank contractors shall perform site evaluations for system repairs only. When determining that the necessary site investigations and tests be performed by an engineer licensed in the State of Florida, the county health department must consider the criteria listed in subsection 64E-6.004(4), F.A.C. Results of site investigations shall be entered on, or attached to, the construction permit application form for consideration by the county health department. Site evaluations shall occur not earlier than 180 days prior to the date the department receives the permit application. Site evaluations remain valid for the life of the permit. The application shall also include the following data:

(a) A plan or plat of the lot or total site ownership. The site plan shall be drawn to scale and shall be for the property where the system is to be installed.

1. The site plan shall show boundaries with dimensions and any of the following features that exist or that are proposed:

a. Structures;

b. Swimming pools;

c. Recorded easements;

d. Onsite sewage treatment and disposal system components;

e. Slope of the property;

f. Wells;

g. Potable and non-potable water lines and valves;

h. Drainage features;

i. Filled areas;

j. Excavated areas for onsite sewage systems;

k. Obstructed areas;

l. Surface water bodies; and

m. Location of the reference point for system elevation.

2. If the county health department is responsible for performing the site evaluation, the applicant or applicant’s authorized representative shall indicate the approximate location of wells, onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems, surface water bodies and other pertinent facilities or features on contiguous or adjacent property. If the features are within 75 feet of the applicant lot, the estimated distance to the feature must be shown but need not be drawn to scale.

3. If the county health department will not be performing the site evaluation, the applicant or authorized agent shall be responsible for the measurements to all features, including the pertinent features within 75 feet of the applicant lot. The location of any public drinking water well, as defined in paragraph 64E-6.002(44)(b), F.A.C., within 200 feet of the applicant’s lot shall also be shown, with the distance indicated from the system to the well.

4. If an individual lot is five acres or greater, the applicant may draw a minimum one acre parcel to scale showing all required features, or the minimum size drawing necessary to properly exhibit all required features, whichever is larger. The applicant must also show the location of that one acre or larger parcel inside the total site ownership.

5. All information that is necessary to determine the total sewage flow and proper setbacks on the site ownership shall be submitted with the application. The applicant lot shall be clearly identified. A copy of the legal description or survey must accompany the application for confirmation of property dimensions only.

(b) For residences, a floor plan drawn to scale or showing the total building area of the structure, at the applicants’ option, and showing the number of bedrooms and the building area of each dwelling unit. Non-residential establishments shall submit a floor plan drawn to scale showing the square footage of the establishment, all plumbing drains and fixture types, and any other features necessary to determine the composition and quantity of wastewater to be generated. Plumbing fixtures located at a non-residential establishment shall be included on the floor plan, but need not be drawn to scale.

(c) At least two soil profile descriptions within the proposed system soil absorption area to a minimum depth of 6 feet or to refusal, for which the minimum information provided is the upper and lower horizon boundaries, Munsell color of the horizon and its components and USDA soil texture; using USDA Soil Classification methodology as described in Chapter 3 of the Soil Survey Manual, United States Department of Agriculture, Handbook No. 18, October 1993, herein incorporated by reference. At a minimum, a soil profile shall be provided at the beginning and end of the proposed drainfield site. Where the replacement of severely limited soil is proposed, soil profiles shall be performed to a minimum depth of 6 feet or to the depth of the slightly or moderately limited soil layer lying below the replaced layer, whichever is greater. The evaluator shall document the locations of all soil profiles on the site plan.

(d) Water table elevations which exist at the time of the site evaluation and estimated water table elevation during the wettest season of the year. Water table elevations shall be established from a benchmark or other fixed point of reference located on the property or within reasonable proximity to it. The existing property elevation at the site of each soil profile must also be recorded relative to the benchmark or fixed point of reference.

(e) Subdivisions platted and recorded or unrecorded prior to January 1, 1972, will be considered on the basis of an evaluation of soil characteristics, water table elevations, history of flooding and records of service of existing installations in the same general area.

(f) A Coastal Construction Control Line Permit or an exemption notice from the Department of Environmental Protection if any component of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system or the shoulders or slopes of the system mound will be seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line, established under Section 161.053, F.S.  Should the location of the proposed onsite system relative to the control line not be able to be definitively determined based on the site plan and the online products available on the DEP website, the applicant shall provide a survey prepared by a certified professional surveyor and mapper showing the location of the control line on the subject property.

(4) All plans and forms submitted by a licensed engineer shall be dated, signed and sealed. Except as provided for in subsection 64E-6.003(2), F.A.C., the DOH county health department shall require the design engineer to certify that the installed system complies with the approved design and installation requirements. Under the following circumstances, the DOH county health department shall require for review and approval, the submission of detailed system construction plans prepared by an engineer who is licensed in the State of Florida:

(a) Systems serving establishments with proposed domestic sewage flow rates of 2500 or more gallons per day.

(b) Systems serving establishments with proposed commercial sewage flow rates of 1000 or more gallons per day.

(c) Systems where the total required drainfield area is 1500 square feet or greater.

(d) The applicant proposes to split the flow from any residence or establishment in a method other than that provided for by rule.

(e) The repair or modification of an engineer-designed system that meets these criteria for requiring an engineered design and that alters the original engineered design.

(f) All performance based treatment systems.

(g) All innovative systems.

(h) All sites where the seasonal high water table has or will be altered by physical or mechanical means.

(i) All sites requiring engineer designs as a condition of a variance or waiver approval.

(j) All drip irrigation systems.

(5) The applicant shall be the permit holder and shall be held responsible for all information supplied to the department. The signed application, site evaluation, and system design plans when required, serve as the basis by which the department determines the issuance of a construction permit. In the event of a change in any information given in the application which served as basis for issuing a construction permit, the permit holder will immediately file an amended application detailing such changed conditions. If the new conditions are determined to be in compliance with the standards in this chapter, the construction permit shall be amended. If the new conditions are determined to be in non-compliance with the standards of this chapter, the permit shall be revoked subject to the provisions of Chapter 120, F.S. A system construction permit application shall be valid for one year. If a permit has not been issued to the applicant within one year from the date of application, then the department shall review the construction permit application for accuracy at no charge prior to issuance of a permit. The applicant shall supply a statement that the information contained in the application has not changed, or shall amend the application. If a site visit is necessary as part of the review, then a re-evaluation fee shall be charged. If the rules under which the application was accepted have changed, and an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system construction permit has not been issued, a new permit application shall be required.

(6) Requests for variance shall be made on Form DH 4057, 08/09, Application for Variance from Chapter 64E-6, F.A.C., herein incorporated by reference.

(7) Where a property owner proposes to build or has built multiple residences or multiple businesses on a single lot, and the entire area of the lot is required to accommodate the designed sewage flow from the multiple residences or multiple businesses to the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system, the property owner must submit, prior to issuance of a construction permit, a written utility easement which has been executed and recorded in the public property records at the county courthouse. The utility easement must bind the property together so that the original lot size is retained for purposes of compliance with all the requirements of Chapter 64E-6, F.A.C., and must include provisions for maintaining the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system. For example, a duplex built on a single lot with a single onsite sewage treatment and disposal system serving both halves of the duplex must have a written utility easement executed and recorded in the public property records before an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system construction permit is issued. In order to obtain a repair permit, the property owner must submit a copy of the recorded utility easement demonstrating the retention of the original lot size for purposes of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system and a method for maintaining the system. For example, each half of a duplex built on a single lot with a single onsite sewage treatment and disposal system serving both halves of the duplex is sold to separate persons. If, when the onsite sewage treatment disposal system fails, and a written utility easement was not executed and recorded in the public property records before the sales, it must be done before an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system repair permit is issued.

(a) Where a property owner proposes to build or has built a single residence or a single business or multiple residences or businesses on multiple lots, and the residence’s or business’s authorized sewage flow requires the use of multiple lots, or parts thereof, for the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system, the property owner must submit, prior to issuance of a permit, a written utility easement executed and recorded in the public property records at the county courthouse. The utility easement must bind the required property together so that the original lots and their collective size, or part thereof, is retained for purposes of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system, and must include provisions for maintaining the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system. For example, a residence or business built on three lots with a sewage flow which is large enough to require the land from all three lots must have a written utility easement executed and recorded in the public property records before an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system construction permit may be issued. In order to obtain a repair permit, the property owner must submit a copy of the recorded utility easement demonstrating the retention of the original lots and their collective size for purposes of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system and a method for maintaining the system.

(b) Where a property owner, through inadvertent error or mistake, has built multiple residences or multiple businesses on a series of lots and each residence or business has its own onsite sewage treatment and disposal system or the sewage flow from the residence or business exceeds the allowable limits established for the area of land upon which the residence or business is located, the property owner must execute and record in the public property records, a written utility easement, for the remaining undeveloped lots in the subdivision, which informs the public of the amount of sewage flow which will be generated or the number of onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems which will be installed in that subdivision. It must also state that when the maximum amount of sewage flow or maximum number of onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems has been reached for the subdivision, no further development can occur until sewer is available.

(8) Innovative Systems or new product approval for onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems shall be initiated by submittal of an application for permit using Form DH 3143, Jan. 94, hereby incorporated by reference. DOH county health departments are authorized to issue installation permits upon receipt of the temporary permit. Form DH 3144, Jan 94, and Form DH 3145, Jan 94, hereby incorporated by reference, shall be used to record information that describes notification requirements between the temporary permit applicant, the DOH county health department, and the State Health Office. These forms are to be processed by the DOH county health departments.

(9) All materials incorporated herein may be obtained from the Bureau of Onsite Sewage Programs at www.MyFloridaEH.com or 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin A08, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1713.

Rulemaking Authority 381.0065(3)(a), 489.553(3) FS. Law Implemented 381.0065, 489.553 FS. History–New 12-22-82, Amended 2-5-85, Formerly 10D-6.44, Amended 3-17-92, 1-3-95, 5-14-96, 2-13-97, Formerly 10D-6.044, Amended 11-19-97, 3-22-00, 11-26-06, 6-25-09, 4-28-10.