The CON29DW questions explained – sewers within 100 feet

Our series looking in depth at the CON29DW this month focuses on the proximity of public sewers to a property.

Question 2.5 of the CON29DW asks “Does the public sewer map indicate any public sewer within 30.48 metres (100 feet) of any buildings within the property?”

There’s a dual reason for this question appearing in the search. The first, and historically the most important reason is to enable the buyer to determine the length of existing private drain/sewer they are responsible for. If the nearest sewer was a considerable distance from a connected property, the owner could face a substantial repair bill (as well as issues accessing a pipe located under public land) should something go wrong.

Fortunately, following the 2011 sewer transfer, this is considerably less of an issue. This transfer saw the majority of private sewers and lateral drains in England and Wales transfer into public ownership, meaning the majority of these pipes are now the responsibility of water companies. The main exceptions to this were sewers laid after July 2011 (the cut-off date for the transfer) or ones excluded from the transfer for some reason (you can read further details of these here).

The other reason for its inclusion – as well as the seemingly arbitrary figure of 30.48 metres  (which equates to 100 feet) – applies to unconnected properties.

An illustration of a typical household septic system

If a property drains to a septic tank, the local authority has powers to force owners to connect to the public sewerage network if the current arrangements pose an environmental hazard, and there is a public sewer located within 30.48 metres . This will usually be at the owner’s expense, and costs can be considerable. Any new pipes laid as part of this process would not automatically be adopted by the water company, and would therefore be the property owner’s responsibility to maintain. This can be both difficult and costly if the pipe runs through land outside the property boundary, even more so if it passes under a public highway.

If the nearest public sewer is over 30.48 metres, the local authority cannot insist a connection is made, unless they agree to fund any further length of pipe themselves. Under these circumstances, homeowners would still remain responsible for the rest of the costs, as well as ongoing responsibility for the initial section of pipe. It’s also worth noting that, even without a nearby public sewer, local authorities still have the power to force homeowners to improve inadequate drainage arrangements – although most alternatives will be less costly than laying new pipework.

Something else for the owners of unconnected properties to consider – many septic tanks discharge a small amount of sewage into the environment. Under the government’s new general  binding rules (introduced in 2015), new discharges from a septic tank are not permitted if the tank is located near a public sewer. You can read more about these rules here.

For the majority of properties there will be a public sewer located nearby. In any circumstances where this is not the case, we’d always recommend further investigation. Connection to a nearby public sewer is the norm and whilst the alternatives need not set off alarm bells, they have potential to be both inconvenient and costly.