Septic Installation and Replacement FAQ

We refer septic system installation, septic system replacement and leaching bed repair in Muskoka and Simcoe County to independent local contractors. We do not refer septic pumping, tank cleaning, inspections or clogged drains.

Yes. A permit from your municipality’s building department is required to construct, alter, repair or install a sewage system, and a final inspection is done before the system is used. Each community page on this site explains what its building department says.

The municipal building department issues them in the communities we cover, apart from very large systems, which the province handles. Muskoka Lakes, Huntsville, Bracebridge and Gravenhurst use their own building departments, as do Orillia, Severn, Oro-Medonte, Ramara, Barrie and Midland.

Municipal septic guides reproduce the Ontario Building Code’s table of minimum clearances. For the distribution piping of a leaching bed, that means 15 metres from a lake, river, pond or stream, 15 metres from a drilled well with watertight casing at least 6 metres deep (30 metres from any other well), 5 metres from a building and 3 metres from a property line. A raised bed needs extra clearance. Local zoning and conservation authority rules can be stricter, and the Code is updated from time to time, so your designer will confirm the current figures for your lot.

The soil, the depth to bedrock or the water table, whether the bed has to be raised on imported fill, whether an advanced treatment unit is needed, access for equipment, and permit and design fees. We do not publish a price range because it varies too much between lots. A contractor can quote your property after seeing it.

Sewage backing up into the house after a pump-out, wet or foul-smelling ground over the leaching bed, unusually lush grass over the bed, and a municipal inspection report listing failures with a deadline. See septic system replacement.

It can trigger a review. Several municipalities ask for an evaluation of the existing system when a project adds bedrooms, fixtures or floor area, or changes the use of a building. Ask your building department before you finalize plans.

No. It is a referral service of Ontario Lead Networks Inc. We do not perform septic work. Independent contractors do the work, and we may receive compensation when you are connected with one. You deal directly with the contractor and should confirm their qualifications and insurance yourself.

No. Those are different trades, and a local pumping company or inspector is the right call. This site is for installing, replacing or repairing the system itself.