Approval Process
“He gains everyone’s approval who mixes the pleasant with the useful.” –Horace (Roman Poet)
The following is a brief outline of the approval process. Additional detail regarding the process is outlined in the description of Services Offered.
- Define the Need
- Determine the Scope of Work
- Develop the Design
- Submit to the Regulatory Agency
- Address Comments
- Receive Project Approval
- Construction
- Inspect and Test New Components
- Develop any “as-built” Drawings or Reports, if needed
- Issue a Completion of Construction Report
- Receive Final Approval from the Regulatory Agency
Perhaps the most important step in this process is defining the need. Sometimes the need is obvious (For example, do you have a Bilateral Compliance Agreement with the Washington State Department of Health to install Corrosion Control on your system?).
Other times the need may be more subtle. For example, the “need” for an additional source, may actually be a need to identify and repair an unknown leak.
The next Step is to define the Scope of Work. The regulatory agency is usually involved at this point. We recommend that you carefully evaluate if the regulatory minimum is the best (or even least expensive) option. Often times a little extra analysis can add a great deal of value to a project. Conversely, a great deal of time can also be wasted on unnecessary analysis.
Once the Scope of Work has been defined, the rest of the process usually follows the regular course of events listed above.
Sometimes the timeline of a project is critical. The owners of the water system may decide to begin construction as soon as they receive a copy of the design, before it has been approved. While this is not prohibited by law, the owners need to realize that if any changes come about as a result of the regulator’s review, they will need to be responsible for those changes. In general, there are very few, if any changes when working with simple projects. Nevertheless, we recommend the owner waits until they recieve project approval from the regulatory agency before breaking ground. The law does require that all work be inspected, tested, and approved by the certifying engineer before being put into service.