My brother is building a new home on his property. His old one is literally falling down and won't last much longer. When he went to get a permit to put in a new septic tank (not allowed to use the old one), he was told he need to have some scientist perform some tests because the previous owner had dug out some of the bank beside the house. He paid over $500 dollars to have this done. The scientists told him they thought there would not be a problem but would not give an official OK. He is now being told he needs another scientist from Nashville to come in and do some tests. This will cost him another $500 to $1000 with no guarantee of results. My brother lives in southeast TN and is very poor. All he wants is a plan simple safe place for his family to live but he seems to be getting the run around. What can he do?
2007-07-26 09:22:46 · 3 answers · asked by befree 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The first "scientist" ripped him off. Your brother should go after him legally and recover his money. The first guy should have signed and stamped (with his state issued license) a report stating the condition of the bank and that there wouldn't be an issue with a new septic service on the property.
However, when my company does septic/sewer testing, it generally runs in the ballpark of about $5,000 per site.
So for $500, your brother probably got what he paid for.
Good luck.
2007-07-26 09:30:22 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Before a septic permit can be issued, the ground must pass a perk test. If it does not, a permit cannot be issued. Maybe a geologist is needed to figure out how and where to put the leech field to make the system work and avoid polluting ground water or nearby bodies of water.
2007-07-26 16:30:17 · answer #2 · answered by regerugged 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well... my family needed to remove an old septic tank from our old house, and we just did it without approval. Our old landlord did the same thing at the old house we rented before that. I don't know what the penalties for doing that are, or how easy it is not to get caught, but that's what happened in our situation anyway.
But, I will now give the obligatory I-am-not-advising-this disclaimer. This is just a personal anecdote. I am not advising you to do this.
2007-07-26 16:29:15 · answer #3 · answered by Underground Man 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋