Construction Specifications & Requirements
4.12 CONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES
4.12.1 The water and sewer line construction shall strictly follow RSA's Construction Standards. Also, the construction must be in compliance with the most recent editions of both the Virginia Waterworks Regulations and the Virginia Sewerage Regulations.
4.12.2 All construction plans and specifications must be approved by RSA before construction. The owner must notify RSA at least three (3) days in advance of the commencement of the construction.
Construction of any public utility facility under the jurisdiction of RSA, and all its appurtenances and accessories, shall be in strict conformance with the final approved set of plans and specifications.
In the event that an applicant wishes to deviate from the plans or specifications which have been approved by RSA for construction, or make changes or revisions therein, the applicant shall make such request to the General Manager in writing and state the reasons for his request before any construction commences. Revised plans, specifications, and other substantiating data, shall accompany the request in such manner, form, and quantity as was required for the original application.
The procedure for all parties concerned for processing any such request for deviation shall be the same as stipulated for the original application for the project.
4.12.3 The General Manager or his duly authorized agent shall inspect all aspects of the construction project from beginning to end. All materials to be used in construction must be inspected and approved before installation. During construction all work including the ditch line, all transmission mains, all service lines, and all main and service appurtenances must be inspected and approved by the RSA inspector before being covered. Also, any taps, disturbances, or use of any existing RSA facilities, must be approved and the inspector must be present when such activities occur. Any disregard of the above procedures or any unapproved action is strictly forbidden and punishable by the suspension of the project or legal action against the contractor and/or the owner or RSA’s refusal to accept the construction into the Authority’s system.
The RSA inspector has the right not to accept any work or materials which are unsatisfactory to RSA and deviates from its approved standards, plans, and specifications. If the developer disagrees with the inspector he must file a written request explaining his reasons to the General for resolution.
4.12.4 Within seven (7) days after the construction has been inspected and approved by the RSA inspector, the contractor shall perform the disinfection test and the pressure test on the mains, services, and all appurtenances as required. The disinfection test, as specified in the AWWA Manual C601, involves adding an approved chlorine additive to the main while the line is filled with water. The chlorinated lines shall sit for a twenty‑four (24) hour period after which time a chlorine residual of at least 25 mg/L must be obtained by the RSA inspector before the line will pass the disinfection test. The pressure test follows the approved method as described in the AWWA Manual C600, Section 13, for water lines, and the Virginia Sewer Regulations, Section 21, for sewer lines. Also, for water lines, two bacteriological samples must be taken after the passed disinfection test ‑‑ one directly after the test and one twenty‑four (24) hours later. These samples shall be analyzed by the State Health Department before the water lines are passed.
4.12.5 INSPECTION FEES
The fee for review, inspection, and water use of water & sewer construction projects shall be assessed and billed to the owner as follows:
A) Review of plans and specifications at a rate of $0.50 per foot of main which is payable after plans are approved.
B) Inspection fees at a rate of $1.50 per linear foot of water main, water service line, sewer mains, and sewer service laterals installations. Prior approval must be granted from RSA before any work is done on weekends or after 5 p.m. on weekdays. Such additional work will be subject to an additional fee of $50 per hour. An additional fee of $25 per hour (minimum of $50) will be charged for inspection of repair to deficient work during the warranty period, such as water main and service taps or tie-ins, sewer taps or tie-ins, main pump station installation, and road crossings, and other special installation work.
C) Water used in the testing process will be billed at a rate of $7.00 per 1,000 gallons or residential rate if higher.
D) Inspection fees at a flat rate of $150 for grinder pump installation including the station and all electrical work, but excluding any force main or lateral work (for laterals, see section B). Prior approval must be granted from RSA before any work is done on weekends or after 5 p.m. on weekdays. Such additional work will be subject to an additional fee of $50 per hour. An additional flat fee of $50 per incident will be charged for any modifications to the grinder station, electrical system, alarm panel, or service lateral.
E) In cases where the Authority shall contract for any of these above, the owner shall be billed actual cost plus 12% if more than these set fees.
F) A minimum $50 fee for miscellaneous inspection not covered by another inspection fee policy.
4.12.6a AS‑BUILT PLANS
After completion of construction of the public utility facilities from approved plans on any project herein before classified in 4.10.2 or 4.10.3, the developer or owner responsible for the construction shall prepare as‑built plans, based on accurate field obtained information, to show actual conditions of the finished construction.
The as‑built plans shall include revisions and permanently indicated changes on the original tracings or master sheets from which were made the plans and/or specifications approved by the General Manager for construction. Two sets of prints of the as‑built plans shall be submitted to the General Manager for his review and any additional notations, one set of which shall be returned to the owner with written approval by the General Manager. The owner shall then provide the General Manager with one set of mylar transparencies of the as‑built plans and all pertinent drawings submitted or requested, together with two sets of prints of the revised as‑built drawings.
As‑built plans shall show, but may not be limited to, the following:
4.12.6b WATER LINE CONSTRUCTION
A) Scale accurate location of the line and all installed fittings such as elbows, tees, crosses and reducers, and all cradle encasement, or special construction.
B) Exact measurement to show positive location of all house services, valve boxes, blind or blank‑flanged fittings and plugged terminals of lines.
C) The measurements taken for these positive locations shall be taken from at least two reasonable adjacent and available, fixed and permanent objects such as fire hydrants, centers of sanitary or storm sewer manhole casting covers, corner or lines extended of buildings, power poles, etc.
D) In lieu of recording the positive locations indicated above, on the plans, the General Manager may accept such locations shown by neat, legible and separate no‑scale sketches with all measurements thereon, when all such sketches or diagrams are recorded in a progressive sequence and clearly identified in a hard cover, permanently bound field type notebook.
4.12.6c SEWER LINE CONSTRUCTION
A) Scale accurate location of manhole invert and top casting elevations and numerical notation of the exact elevations of same as determined by field survey after construction. Elevations shall be in datum of the Authority.
B) Scale accurate indication of lengths and grades of lines between manholes and numerical notation of the exact lengths and grades, as determined after construction.
C) Scale accurate location of concrete cradle, encasement or special construction.
D) Location of house services by measurement from the manhole immediately downgrade.
4.12.7 At the completion of construction of any project of public utility facilities or any project herein before classified in 4.10.2 or 4.10.3, the developer or owner responsible for the construction shall notify the General Manager, in writing, that the work has been completed. Together with the notification of completion, there shall be submitted to the General Manager all as‑built plans, specifications and such other data and addenda relative thereto which is required herein before in 4.12.
On receipt of the notification and as‑built requirements, the General Manager shall make a final comprehensive inspection of the constructed facilities, examining in detail for conformance of the work with approved plans and specification, alignment of sewer lines, infiltration leakage, workmanship, operation of equipment, and other factors to the satisfaction of the General Manager and best interest of the Authority.
It shall be required that a responsible representative of the developer or owner accompany the General Manager on the final inspection. The developer or owner shall furnish whatever labor is necessary for conducting the final inspection.
Deficiencies which are found to exist during the inspection shall be pointed out to the developer or owner's representative. Subsequent to the inspection, the developer or owner shall be furnished, in writing, a summary of the deficiencies found and corrections of which are required.
4.14 ACCEPTANCE OF NEW CONSTRUCTION
4.14.1 The General Manager shall accept new constructed water and sanitary sewer service facilities...on satisfaction of the following:
A) That all requirements of the foregoing 4.12 have been fulfilled in the opinion of the General Manager.
B) That all matters relative to specific contracts between the developer or owner and the Authority are in order.
C) That payment has been made by the developer or owner for all fees relative to application and inspections.
D) That a Civil Engineer registered in the Commonwealth of Virginia certifies that the work has been completed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications.
E) That the owner shall provide the Authority with a Deed of Conveyance satisfactory to the General Manager and provide a set of as‑built plans that are recordable by the respective Clerk of the Court, and bear the cost of same.
F) That the owner or engineers of the project shall provide an affidavit of the cost of the facilities being conveyed.
G) That the owner has satisfied all conditions of any relative permits by the Virginia Department of Highways and provides a letter from the Department acknowledging the same.
H) That the owner provides a satisfactory letter of warranty.
I) That explicit understanding exists between developer or owner and the General Manager that the developer or owner shall be responsible for and obligated to correct any deficiencies in construction for a period of one year from the date of final inspection of the facilities by the Authority. This condition shall be stipulated in the written form of acceptance issued by the General Manager.
J) Formal Board approval for those facilities serving fifteen (15) or more equivalent residential units.
K) No service shall be approved or connected until all the above items have been completed.
4.14.2 Acceptance of the new constructed facilities, when approved by the General Manager, shall be made in writing to the developer or owner responsible for the construction. The issuance of the written form of acceptance of any such facilities shall constitute an irrevocable agreement between the developer or Owner responsible for construction and the General Manager that the Board, acting for the Authority and any of its officers, agents, servants or employees shall be saved harmless by the developer or owner from liability and responsibility of any nature and kind for costs of, or payments on, labor, equipment, or material used in construction of the accepted facilities or on account of any patented or unpatented invention, process, article or appliance manufacture for or used in construction of, or for the intended operation of the accepted facilities.