Build the Property’s Onsite-Sewerage File

Gather owner documents

Collect plans, filings, maintenance plans, service and pumping receipts, inspection reports, repair records and transaction documents.

Route authority searches

Use the property address and current provincial, health-authority and local-government routes; record source and checked date.

Draw a safe component map

Mark only known or safely visible tank, treatment, alarm, pump and dispersal references plus buildings, access and wells.

Create a service timeline

Record date, provider role, purpose, components visited, work performed, observations, recommendations and document received.

Track property changes

Add renovations, occupancy changes, landscaping, drainage, paving, wells or additions that may affect future questions.

Make unknowns explicit

Do not treat a missing record as proof. List components, locations, condition, capacity and filing status that require qualified confirmation.

Build a document provenance table

Index every filing, plan, permit, service invoice, pump record and owner sketch by date, author and system version. Mark conflicts and uncertain documents so an old plan is not mistaken for proof of the current installed arrangement.

• Preserve original scans
• Distinguish proposed from as-built
• Record property identifier used

Create a no-entry component map

From records and safe surface observations, mark the likely tank, treatment, pump, distribution and dispersal areas without opening lids or probing soil. Use an unknown symbol wherever location or component type has not been confirmed.

• Include wells and watercourses
• Show buildings and vehicle routes
• Do not drive over system areas

Reconcile records through qualified review

Prepare a list of missing locations, alterations, occupancy changes and maintenance gaps for the appropriate authorized person or service professional. Record the method used to confirm components and update the property file with dated findings.

• Do not infer capacity from tank size
• Link photographs to map points
• Retain corrected record drawings

Publish a reconciled property-system file

Create an index separating proposed plans, accepted filings, as-built information, service documents, invoices, owner sketches and new qualified findings. Island Health says owners may request sewerage records, with records more likely to exist for systems installed or altered from 2005 onward; no returned record does not prove that a system is absent or compliant. North Cowichan directs owners seeking a site plan to Island Health and notes that some new homes, mobile homes and bedroom additions may require Island Health documentation where municipal sewer is unavailable. Use one component map with evidence codes for confirmed, probable and unknown locations, then add buildings, wells, watercourses, slopes and vehicle routes. Record alterations and occupancy changes with sources. If documents conflict, preserve each version and its date rather than choosing the most convenient drawing. An Authorized Person can help locate or reconcile a system when records are incomplete. Keep the legal parcel identifier and civic address together on requests so records from similarly named roads are not mixed. Date photographs and tie them to map points, but never treat a surface feature as confirmed equipment without supporting evidence. The file should support safer access and better questions while avoiding claims about capacity, condition, setbacks or compliance that documents and current qualified review have not established.

• Use property identifiers consistently
• Preserve original record dates
• Code location confidence
• Protect system areas from traffic
• Update maps after verified work