Part 3

Residential Fire Sprinklers & On-site Sewage Systems:

A Consultation on Proposed Changes to Ontario’s Building Code

PART 3

Background Information on On-site Sewage Systems and Ontario’s Building Code

There are an estimated 1.2 million on-site sewage systems in Ontario. When properly designed, installed and maintained in accordance with the Building Code, on-site sewage systems contribute to safe drinking water and protect the environment.

In 1998, the Building Code was amended to establish standards for new and renovated on-site sewage systems for houses and small buildings where the systems are contained on one lot and have a daily design sewage flow of not more than 10,000 litres per day. Other larger and more complex systems are regulated under the Ontario Water Resources Act administered by the Ministry of the Environment.

The Building Code regulates the construction, installation, repair, alteration and extension of on-site sewage systems. The Code classifies sewage systems as follows:

Class 1 — a chemical toilet, an incinerating toilet, a recirculating toilet, a self-contained portable toilet and all forms of privy including a portable privy, an earth pit privy, a pail privy, a privy vault and a composting toilet system;
Class 2 — a greywater system;
Class 3 — a cesspool;
Class 4 — a leaching bed system; and
Class 5 — a system that requires or uses a holding tank for the retention of hauled sewage at the site where it is produced prior to its collection by a hauled sewage system.

The Building Code also contains operation and maintenance requirements for on-site sewage systems. In particular, the Code requires that all on-site sewage systems be operated and maintained to prevent breakout of effluent to the surface, leakage from any component of the system, or leakage into ground water or surface water. Moreover, sewage systems must be operated in accordance with the basis on which their construction was approved and the manufacturer’s requirements.

There is great variety within the Class 4 category, which represents the most common type of small, on-site sewage system in Ontario. However, most Class 4 systems include a septic tank and leaching bed, and rely on gravity to move effluent through its components.

Some Class 4 systems contain additional components such as pumps, filters and secondary and tertiary treatment units. Under the Building Code, a Class 4 system that incorporates a tertiary treatment unit may be designed with a specific type of trench-based absorption system known as a shallow buried trench. In addition, other Class 4 systems utilizing certain tertiary treatment units may be designed with a bed-type absorption system known as an “area bed”.

Standards for “area bed” systems, however, are not set out in the Building Code, but their use has been authorized by the Building Materials Evaluation Commission (BMEC).

The BMEC is a regulatory body authorized under the Building Code Act, 1992, whose mandate is to evaluate new and innovative construction materials, systems and designs for use in construction in Ontario. Since 1998 the BMEC has issued eight separate “area bed” authorizations for use in construction in Ontario. (Authorizations of the BMEC are available on the Building Code website at www.ontario.ca/buildingcode.)

Under the Building Code Act, 1992 and Building Code enforcement of the on-site sewage provisions of the Act and Code is carried out by principal authorities (municipalities, health units and conservation authorities).
What Changes are Proposed for On-Site Sewage Systems?

This consultation paper proposes two types of Building Code amendments related to on-site sewage systems:

Administrative requirements for maintenance inspections (re-inspections) of on-site sewage systems; and
Technical requirements for area beds.

1) Administrative Requirements for Maintenance Inspections

In response to the events in Walkerton of 2000, the Government of Ontario appointed a public inquiry, which resulted in Justice Dennis O’Connor’s report in 2002. The report concluded that drinking water should be protected at its source through a coordinated planning process. Among other matters, improperly installed and poorly maintained septic systems were identified as a potential threat to drinking water.

In response to Justice O’Connor’s report, the government introduced the Clean Water Act, 2006, which was proclaimed in force on July 3, 2007. This legislation permits communities to protect their municipal drinking water supplies by creating multi-stakeholder committees that are required to develop collaborative, locally driven, science-based protection plans. These committees will identify potential risks to local water sources and identify actions to be taken to reduce or eliminate these risks.

The Clean Water Act, 2006 included complimentary amendments to the Building Code Act, 1992, concerning maintenance inspection programs for on-site sewage systems.

These amendments authorize regulations to establish programs to enforce the Building Code’s standards for the maintenance and operation of existing sewage systems, and to require that these programs be enforced by principal authorities.

It is proposed that required maintenance inspection programs would apply to sewage systems located in prescribed areas. These areas are anticipated to be a subset of the "vulnerable areas" identified in an assessment report included in a source protection plan subject to posting on the environmental registry in accordance with section 30 of Clean Water Act, 2006. The method of delineating these areas will be set out in future technical rules under the Clean Water Act, 2006.
Questions related to the Clean Water Act, 2006 and source protection plans can be directed to:

“Ask the Expert” at source.protection@ontario.ca
Source Protection Programs Branch
Ministry of the Environment
8th Floor, 2 St Clair Ave W
Toronto, ON, M4V1L5

The amendments to the Building Code Act, 1992 also authorize principal authorities to establish “discretionary” maintenance inspection programs for existing sewage systems. These programs would be subject to provisions under the Building Code.

The amendments to the Building Code Act, 1992 authorize principal authorities to pass by-laws, regulations or resolutions governing both types of programs.

The amendments to the Building Code Act, 1992 also provide for the Building Code to authorize principal authorities to accept a certificate (“third party certificate”), as an alternative to conducting an inspection, confirming that a sewage system has been inspected and found to comply with the applicable Building Code standards.

This consultation paper proposes that changes be made to the Building Code to establish the following details related to required and discretionary maintenance inspection programs:

Classes of sewage systems affected;
Areas affected;
Qualifications of inspectors;
The frequency of inspections; and
Requirements related to third party certificates.

The purpose of the proposed standards for maintenance inspections is to assess compliance with Section 8.9, Operation and Maintenance, of the Building Code in respect of existing on-site sewage systems. These proposed administrative amendments are intended to assure compliance with Section 8.9 in order to better support the Code’s health and safety and environmental integrity objectives.

This consultation paper proposes a maintenance inspection methodology for possible inclusion as an Appendix Note to the Building Code. This methodology could be considered by principal authorities when designing maintenance inspection programs for on-site sewage systems.

Transition

The Building Code requirements related to discretionary maintenance inspection programs are proposed to come into force on January 1, 2009.

The required programs will not be in force until a source protection plan for a given area is approved by the Minister of the Environment. The plans are required under O. Regulation 285/07 made under the Clean Water Act, 2006, and are anticipated to be submitted to the Minister of the Environment by 2012.

2) Technical Requirements for Area Beds

The Ministry is also seeking comments on proposed technical changes to Part 8 of Division B in respect of the design and construction of area bed on-site sewage systems.

Area beds are a soil absorption system used in conjunction with an on-site sewage system that includes a tertiary treatment unit listed in the supplementary standards (SB-5) to the Building Code. Area beds are designed to further treat and disperse effluent within the soil. They are comprised of a stone layer situated on top of a sand layer and may be installed in or on soil.

The Building Code does not presently contain specific requirements relating to the design and construction of area bed systems. The Ministry is proposing to establish area bed requirements in the Building Code.

Specifically, the proposed construction requirements for area beds include:

Their size or footprint;
Sizing the stone and sand layers and when a "mantle" of imported fill is necessary;
Their thickness and the type of sand used;
Means of ensuring proper distribution of effluent; and
Maintenance and testing.

Transition

The proposed Building Code requirements related to area bed systems are proposed to come into force upon filing.

Part 2 - Residential Fire Sprinklers Part 4 - Comment Submission