Building

over or close
to a public
sewer

www.developerservices.co.uk

0800 009 3921

Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm

1
If youre planning a new building,
a conservatory, a garage or any
other extension to your home,
its important you let us know.
We need to make sure your work
doesnt accidentally affect a
sewer, or limit our access if we
have to repair it.
Once were happy with your proposals, well issue a
build over agreement. You need to apply for one if
youre building:
Within three metres of a pipe serving more than
one property known as a public sewer
Within one metre of the point where a pipe serving
only your property crosses your boundary where it
becomes a public lateral drain
We offer two types of build over agreement,
depending on the type of work youre planning
and the history and position of the pipe youre
building near.
The two types of build over
agreement
If youre building over or near a domestic sewer with
a diameter of 160mm or less, you can potentially
apply for a self-certified build over agreement.
We may grant this if youre able to confirm that your
plans pose little risk to the pipe.
This free service is only available online, and requires
you to complete a questionnaire developerservices.
co.uk/buildover.
If your answers dont meet our requirements, well
redirect you to apply for a full build over agreement,
for which youd need to pay. Youll need to apply
for this full agreement if youre unsure of any of the
answers, or if you want to build over or near a sewer
with a diameter above 160mm.
2 3
Why is it important to get Who is responsible for The cost of a full build over application depends
on the size of sewer and whether your property is
a build over agreement? drains and sewers? domestic or commercial.
The agreement is our seal of approval for any building The start of the drain is the responsibility of the
work youre planning over or near a sewer we own. property owner until it crosses the boundary into land Diameter Property type Cost
Were responsible for all public sewers and public
owned by someone else. At that point it becomes a
lateral drains in our region. We need to be certain your
public lateral drain. Class 1
Up to and including
Domestic 343 or
299 when
building work doesnt restrict our ability to maintain Once a second property connects into the public 160mm (6) applying and
and repair these pipes. And we also need to be certain lateral drain, it becomes a public sewer. paying online
that the extra weight of your new building doesnt Up to and including Commercial or 687
Were responsible for all public sewers and lateral
damage the pipe. 160mm (6) new build
drains in our region.
Without a build over agreement, your local councils Class 2 Any 687
The diagrams on page 2 show typical examples of
building control department might not sign off your Over 160mm (6) to
the different types of drain and sewer. 375mm (15) inclusive
building regulations completion certificate and
without this, you may have problems when trying to Class 3 Any 1,300*
sell your property. Different sewer sizes Over 375mm (15)
We have legal powers, under Sections 159 to 171 of
inclusive
We group sewers into three sizes, which determine
the Water Industry Act 1991, giving us the right to the type of application you can make and the
maintain, repair, replace and renew public sewers. amount of survey work required. *There is also a legal fee involved in entering into
If any building work limits this, we could seek an an agreement for sewers over 375mm in diameter,
injunction to remove the building and potentially Class 1
which is usually around 550. If you apply online you
recover damages. If the sewer youre building over or near is up to and
can pay using a credit or debit card.
including 160mm in diameter, you may be eligible
for a self-certified agreement or may require a full There are alternative costs if you are a disabled
agreement. applicant. Please read the section of the application
form headed Working out the cost.
Class 2
You need to apply for a full build over agreement if
the sewer youre building over or near is from over
What does the fee cover?
160mm to 375mm in diameter. Well carry out a For Class 1 sewers, the fee covers:
pre-construction CCTV survey to check whether any
repairs are needed. We also carry out a second survey Processing your application
when your building is complete, to make sure the Technical reviews of your plans
sewer hasnt been damaged. Discussing and agreeing any design change proposals
Class 3 Liaising with your building control officer
Private drain
You also need to apply for a full build over agreement Issuing your agreement
Public sewer
Public lateral drain for sewers over 375mm in diameter. In this case, we
Registering the agreement to build over or near the
Boundary may need to enter the sewer to carry out our pre- and
public sewer on our records
post-construction surveys rather than using a camera.
For Class 2 sewers, it funds all of the above, plus two
surveys of the length of affected sewer (pre- and
How much does the post-construction).
application cost?
For Class 3 sewers, the fee again covers all of the
A self-certified build over agreement is free but can above but the two surveys are likely to take a lot more
only be applied for if youre building over or near a time and be much more expensive.
domestic sewer up to 160mm in diameter, Youll also
need to meet all of our criteria, explained on page 5.
Private drain
Public sewer
Public lateral
Boundary
Locating a sewer and where Self-certified build I t must not change in I f youre building across the
diameter, direction, material full width of your garden, the
your property connects to it over agreements or gradient beneath or near sewer can still be accessed
You need to locate any sewers to find out how close Alternatively, if theres a mapped public sewer on Well only provide a self- your planned building. If it via a neighbours garden.
youre building to them, and to work out who owns your land, you can check its location by: certified build over agreement does, well potentially give full For further details, see page 7.
them. Sewers often run beneath back gardens, if your proposals meet all of the consent if you or your builder
Visiting your local authority offices to inspect their Your building will have
particularly in urban areas. You may want to contact following criteria: replaces or realigns the pipe
sewer maps traditional strip or trench
a drainage specialist for help. before starting work. This will
Contacting our Property Searches team via  ou can comply with our
Y ensure the pipe runs straight fill foundations. If it uses
The first step is to look for a manhole. Please take thameswater-propertysearches.co.uk or on full terms and conditions between any access points another form of foundation
care if you open it covers are heavy and you may 0845 070 9148 (9am to 5pm on weekdays) developerservices.co.uk/ located outside your building. design, such as pad, piling, raft
need help. buildover. or cantilever, well potentially
Please note that nearly half of public sewers in our  here must be no problems
T give full consent only after a
If you open the manhole and find the pipes form region dont appear on our records. This is because  oure building a single or
Y youre aware of with the detailed assessment of your
a junction as shown in the middle and right-hand they were privately owned until 2011, when a legal double storey residential sewer, like blockages, foundations.
photos below, your property is part of a shared change transferred them to our ownership. So we extension, conservatory, flooding or smells. If there
run of pipework to which other properties are sometimes need you to tell us where the sewers on You must achieve the
garage or annex, attached to are, well potentially give full
connected. your property are. minimum clearances shown
an existing property. consent when theyve been
If the pipe is in an L shape, you may be able to resolved, or can be, and so long in the diagram on pages
If you need to trace a sewer or drain yourself, weve
visually plot where it is running. For example, the  he sewer must be no more
T as there are no other issues 6 and 7. If you cant, well
described some commonly-used methods below.
pipe might leave your house before crossing other than 160mm in diameter. with the local sewers. potentially give full consent
gardens. Or it could be the last point before the Whatever its size, well after a detailed assessment
sewer connects into the pipe running under the potentially give full consent  here are no easements or
T of your foundations. If youre
road outside the property. if you protect the pipe before covenants relating to the unable to provide 300mm
starting work. Let us know if sewer. These documents of cover between the sewer
you need guidance. are often kept with a and the underside of the new
propertys deeds, and its your floor, well potentially give
I t must be in good condition. responsibility to check if there full consent if the pipe can be
You can check by exposing the are any before completing our diverted outside the building.
length of pipe youll be building self-certification questionnaire.
over, or by getting a drainage If an easement or covenant
CCTV contractor to survey the exists, well potentially give full
inside of it. If there are defects, consent if you submit it with
well potentially give full your application.
consent if you or your builder
replaces the pipework.  ccess points such as
A
If there are no visible manholes, Once youve carefully opened a You could try putting dye into manholes, inspection
try visually plotting the likely manhole, you can often work out your toilet and flushing it, and/ I t must be no more than two chambers or rodding eyes will If youre not sure
course of the sewer by studying the direction of flow by turning or doing the same from a metres below ground. If its be outside your new building about any of the
nearby manholes. Carefully dig on a tap or flushing a toilet in neighbouring property with a deeper, well potentially give and at least 500mm away. above points,
a trial hole or trench to locate your property, then seeing which different colour dye. This can full consent if your plans show If not, you can potentially gain you could seek advice
the pipe. way the water runs. You might show where the properties that your work places minimal consent by changing the shape from your architect,
need a torch to help you see. This connect into the sewer, as well as extra load or none at all on of your building to comply builder or your local
should help you work out where the direction of flow. the pipe. with this. Or well potentially councils building control
your property connects in relation give full consent if you can department. If youre still
I t must be made of clay or
to others. reposition the access point to a unclear, or these points
plastic. If its made of concrete,
suitable agreed standard. dont accurately describe
pitch fibre, brick or asbestos
cement, well potentially give your situation, you should
If you need further advice, you can email drawings or full consent if you protect or, in apply for a full build over
photos to us at developer.services@thameswater.co.uk. some cases, replace the pipe agreement.
before starting work.
4 5
Example requirements for
a self-certified build over
agreement
These drawings show some of our key requirements
in order for your proposed building work to qualify
for a self-certified build over agreement.
Weve shown a conservatory in our diagram, but the
conditions apply to any of the structures described
in our checklist and terms and conditions.
The illustration on this page shows minimum
clearances and some of our other key requirements
if youre building close to a sewer. In each case:
1 Diameter of pipe must be n
o
larger than 160mm
2 Granular surround must be no less
than 150mm around the pipe
5 4
Foundations
The example above shows some of our key
requirements if a sewer passes through a wall
youre building. When answering our self-
certification, please note that any sewer outside
the building automatically achieves the minimum
300m clearance required between the underside
of the floor slab and the top of the sewer.
Pipe to be at least 500mm away
4
from parallel foundations
5 Pipe to be at least 150mm above the
bottom of the f oundations when
buildingwithin 1 metre
6 7
The example below shows minimum clearances Maintaining access to sewers
and some of our other key requirements if youre A conservatory here has been
building over a sewer.
running under gardens 1
built in the garden of the middle
If youre planning to build over a sewer across the property, meaning there is no
full width of your garden, we wont allow a self- access to the manhole in this garden.
3 No loadings placed on top of the certified build over agreement unless the sewer In this instance, we wont allow a self-
pipe from the proposed dwellings - can still be accessed via a neighbours garden. This certified build over agreement. Youd
for example, a lintel has been used is shown in diagram 1 below. need to contact us to discuss options for
in this case a potential full build over agreement,
If your neighbours have also built across the width for which there is a charge.
of their gardens, this would prevent us accessing
the sewer across three or more adjacent properties. 2 The footprint of the conservatory
here has been altered so that theres
To avoid this, you can potentially receive self-
3 still access to the manhole. We will
certified consent by changing the shape and/or
2 potentially allow a self-certified build
position of your proposed building, as shown in over agreement in this case.
diagram 2 below. This would allow us to access the
1
sewer if we need to maintain or repair it.
1
Manholes
8
2
6
1
2
7
6 Pipe to be at least 500mm away
from parallel foundations
7 Pipe to be at least 150mm above the
bottom of the foundations
8 Top of pipe to be at least 300mm from
underside of floor slab
Drawings to include with your
full build over application
Weve included here examples of the drawings Drawings required for all Building near a sewer Building over a sewer
you need to include when making a full build over
application.
applications Proposed extension and drainage layout Proposed extension and drainage layout
Existing building and drainage layout
We require you to submit a cross section drawing
if youre building over or within 1.5 metres of the Existing manhole removed and replaced with Y junction
Existing
Existing connection
connection Existing connection
Existing connection
sewer, as we need to see how the foundations will Existing connection
be constructed. You must show the foundation in Rodding
Rodding eyeeye Rodding eyeeyeeye
Rodding
Rodding Rodding eye
relation to the sewer, marking the clearance and
Sewer
Sewer Sewer
Sewer
Sewer
providing the detail of any bridging over. depth
depth Kitchen depth
depth
depth Kitchen Hall Hall
Kitchen HallHall HallHall
1.2m
1.2m 1.2m1.2m
1.2m New
If youre unsure whether youre building within three Kitchen
Kitchen external Kitchen
Existing manhole removed and replaced with Y junction
Existing connection
Existing connection Existing connection
Existing connection
Dining
Dining manhole or Dining
metres of a sewer, you should send us a ground floor Dining Living
Existing connection
Dining LivingLiving inspection Living
Dining eyeeyeLiving
plan, with the location of the sewer clearly plotted. Rodding
Rodding Rodding eye
Rodding eyeeyeLiving
Rodding chamber Rodding eye

Please also include any manholes or inspection Sewer

Sewer
Sewer Sewer
Sewer
chambers, and show the direction of flow. depth
depth Kitchen HallHall depthdepth
depth KitchenAdjacent property
Hall Hall Hall
Kitchen
Adjacent
Adjacent property
property (123(123 Example
Example Road)
Road) Hall
(123 Example Road) Adjacent property (123 Example Road)
1.2m
1.2m 1.2m1.2m Adjacent
Adjacent property
property (123(123 Example
Example Road)
Road) New
1.2m
Kitchen
Kitchen external Kitchen
Postal applications This must show the sewer, manholes
Dining Living and flow This must Dining
Dining
show
Dining the sewer, any
Living manholes and manhole or
inspection
Dining
This must show the sewer, anyLiving
manholes and flow
Dining Living Living
Living
direction in relation to the existing structure. flow direction in relation to the proposed chamber direction in relation to the proposed structure.
You can apply online or by post. Postal applications
structure. Suitable external access to the sewer must be
should be sent to:
maintained.
Adjacent property (123 Example Adjacent property (123(123
Example Road)
Thames Water Developer Services Adjacent property (123 121 Road)
Example
121 Road) Adjacent property
Adjacent property Example
121
(123 Road)
Example Road) Adjacent property (123 Example Road)

Clearwater Court Site location plan Cross section Example Road NewNew foundation
foundation Cross section Lintel New foundation
Example
Example Road
Road Floor
Floor Existing Floor
Vastern Road Existing
Existing
foundation
foundation foundation
Reading 0.5m0.5m
0.5m 0.5m
RG1 8DB PipePipe Pipe

121121 121
You can send us a cheque payable to Thames Water Loading
Loading
Typical
Typical
required
required
clearance
clearance Typical clearance required Loading
areaarea See page 11 area
Utilities Ltd with your application form. Please write Example Road Example RoadFloor New See See page
page
foundation
New 11 11
foundation Lintel Floor
New foundation
Example Road Existing Floor Existing
the site address on the back of the cheque. Or you Existing
foundation
foundation
foundation
can opt to pay by credit or debit card, and well 0.5m
0.5m
0.5m 0.5m

contact you to make payment over the phone. PipePipe Pipe

Typical clearance
Typical clearance Typical clearance required Loading
Loading
Loading required
area
area
required See page 11 area
SeeSee
page 11 11
page

Once we receive the application we
will review the plans to ensure that
the proposed works fully comply with
our specifications and that the works will
not damage our sewer.
This must show the location of the property
(shown here in yellow) in relation to neighbouring
properties.
If youre building within 1.5 metres of the sewer, If youre building over the sewer, youll need to
youll need to include a section drawing like this, include a section drawing like this, showing your
showing your foundation design in relation to foundation design in relation to the pipe.
the pipe.
Youll also need to bridge the sewer with a
concrete lintel at the point where the sewer
passes through the foundation walls.

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Full build over agreements
If you dont qualify for a self-certified build over
agreement or are unsure whether or not you qualify,
well work with you so that you can achieve full
consent for your building work.
Well guide you through the process and suggest any
changes you might need to make to your proposals.
When cant I build over a sewer?
There are some cases in which we wont allow you to
build over a sewer. These include:
Rising mains
These are pressurised sewers which pump foul
sewage or rainwater. The cost of diverting the sewer
and upgrading the pumps is likely to run into tens of
thousands of pounds, so will probably be outside your
planned budget if youre carrying out domestic or
small commercial developments.
Manholes
We dont allow internal manholes, even if they have
double sealed covers, because theres an increased
risk of internal flooding and odour problems. Youll
need to remove the manhole and lay a new section
of connecting pipe across this section. You should
reconstruct the manhole outside your extension,
either on the line of the sewer or offset and
connected by a Y junction. (See drawing on page 8.)
Well work with you to suggest suitable options for
relocating manholes, where possible.
Strategic sewers
Strategic sewers are the most significant in our
wastewater network, and we wont allow some of
them to be built over.
You shouldnt start work before getting our consent.
If we need to agree amendments to your design,
its difficult to do so if youve begun work, and could
cause you additional costs or delays.
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Minor sewer diversions
We may allow your contractor to divert a sewer
with a diameter of 160mm or less, subject to the
following:
A pre-construction CCTV survey
A post-construction inspection and CCTV survey
You can request these by completing a full build over
application, showing your proposed diversion in your
plans.
The cost to divert a minor sewer is 687. We also
require a refundable bond of 2,000, which we return
once youve completed the work to our requirements.
Options on a new detached
development
In most cases, we wont permit you to build over a
sewer on a new detached development. Well instead
require a sewer diversion, at your cost. The diversion
process depends on the size of the pipe. Please call us
on 0800 009 3921 for more information.
If your proposals could affect a public sewer, you
should first consider the following options:
Avoid the sewer by modifying your plans so that
the buildings are at least three metres from the
sewer. This is often the easiest and cheapest
option.
If you cant do this, well usually require you to
divert the sewer. In many cases, well allow your
contractor to do the work. Please call us on
the above number if you want to discuss this
option.
7.  If the sewer is up to 1.5m deep, you must not
Specifications for full build over agreements
These specifications apply to sewers up to 160mm
in diameter:
1. All works must comply with the requirements of
Sewers for Adoption, 7th edition, in conjunction
with Protocol on Design and Construction of
Adoption of Sewers in England and Wales.
2. No additional loads are to be transmitted to the
sewer by the proposed works.
3. This consent is subject to any conditions that
may be imposed through the planning or
building regulation/control process.
4. It is your responsibility to check and verify the
position and depth of the public sewer prior to
works on site.
5. If the bottom of the sewer is 1.1m or less below
ground level, the foundations should be at least
100mm from the side of the sewer, as shown
on pages 10 & 11 of Sewers for Adoption, 7th
edition.
5.1 Where the sewer is between 1.1m and 2m
below ground level, new foundations should
be at least 600mm from the sewer, or at
least 1m if the sewer is more than 2m below
ground level.
5.2 When using piled foundations, the proposed
foundations must be at least 1.5m from the
public sewer. Only continuous flight augured
piles are acceptable. We dont allow driven
piles to be used within 15m of a sewer.
6. Manholes on a public sewer must not be built
over or located inside proposed structures, even
if they have new double sealed bolt down covers.
build a structure in contact with, or over, any part
of the adjacent manholes.
7.1 Where the sewer is more than 1.5m deep,
you must not build a structure within 1m of
a manhole.
8. All connections to the sewer should be at a
manhole or via a pre-formed junction. We
wont allow saddle connections to sewers with a
diameter below 375mm.
 8.1 Connections into manholes must be made
with soffits level and must enter with the
flow.
9. We wont allow more than four build over
agreements in a row on a length of public sewer
without an external manhole being available for
suitable operation access.
10. New manholes must be in line with Sewers for
Adoption, 7th edition.
11. We wont object if the householder or building
control department requests a survey, but
these must be carried out at the householders
expense.
12. Sewers of this type occasionally have minor
defects, such as misaligned joints (often since
new) or hairline cracking, but are still accepted by
us as being in a serviceable condition.
13. We generally dont accept plastic pipes and
fittings on public sewers. We may permit plastic
pipes to be used where the existing sewer is
already constructed from plastic however, it
must have a jetting resistance of 4,000psi, unless
the new sewer is jetted and then surveyed by
CCTV to prove no damage has occurred.
14. Foundations being constructed within 1.5m of a
sewer must be at least as deep as the bottom of
the sewer.
11
 Contact us
Further information:
www.developerservices.co.uk
Email us at:
developer.services@thameswater.co.uk

0800 009 3921

Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm

Thames Water Developer Services

Clearwater Court
Vastern Road
Reading
RG1 8DB

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