Certificates of registration of septic tanks
Under section 70B of the Water Services Act 2007 (as inserted by of the Water Services (Amendment) Act 2012), the owner of a premises connected to a domestic waste water treatment system (DWWTS) (which includes septic tanks) must register the system with the water services authority, and the certificate of registration remains valid for five years from the date of its issue.
On expiry of the certificate of registration, owners of premises must apply to renew it 鈥 as provided under section 70B(6) of the act.
Registration of DWWTS has been handled by the Local Government Management Agency on behalf of all water services authorities through the website .
Under section 70D of the 2007 act, a person who sells a premises connected to a DWWTS must furnish, on completion of the sale, a valid certificate of registration to the purchaser, and the purchaser must notify the change of ownership to the relevant water services authority.
The registration process commenced in 2012 and therefore certificates of registration have begun to expire during 2017.
Section 62 of the Water Services Bill 2017, when enacted, amends section 70B of the 2007 act:
- To provide that certificates of registration do not expire after five years, and
- By deleting the requirement to renew a certificate.
While the Water Services Bill 2017 was pending enactment, the following notice appeared on the protectourwater.ie website: 鈥淧lease note: If you have already registered, you do not need to re-register. The requirement to re-register every five years is being removed from the legislation and your existing certificate remains valid.鈥
Therefore it appears that, pending and following the enactment of the Water Services Bill 2017, expired certificates of registration are to be treated as still valid, and the obligation under section 70D on the owner of a premises connected to a DWWTS to furnish a valid certificate of registration to a purchaser is met by furnishing a certificate that, on its face, has expired.
Purchasers will still need to notify of any change of ownership.