When are T5 inspections required?

In general:

• When properties are sold, divided or combined.
• When there is a change in use or an expansion of a facility.
• When MassDEP or the local Board of Health requires an inspection.
• Title 5 requires inspections for large systems, shared systems, and condominiums on a periodic basis.

Systems located in cities and towns with MassDEP-approved inspection programs are required to comply with local inspection requirements.

There are exceptions and nuances to the general requirements listed here. For example, no inspection is required if the owner has signed an enforceable agreement with the Board of Health to upgrade the system, connect to a sanitary sewer, or connect to a shared system within two years.

"Title 5 does not require a system inspection if the transfer is of residential real property, and is between the following relationships: (1) between current spouses; (2) between parents and their children; (3) between full siblings; and (4) where the grantor transfers the real property to be held in a revocable or irrevocable trust, where at least one of the designated beneficiaries is of the first degree of relationship to the grantor". [REF: MGL Ch21A s. 13]