Sewer Requisitions & Adoptions

All sewer main requisition applications should be made by applying via our GetConnected portal.

Before you apply, please read our sewer main requisition guidance which will take you through the process and what is required. The application fee is £5,436.00 (Incl. 20% VAT).

If you are applying for existing premises, you will need to include:

• Details of drainage easements over adjacent land or with neighbouring property owners.
• Details of the existing drainage system.
• An on-site drainage plan.
• A site location plan (1:1250 scale preferred) with the development to be drained outlined in green.
• Ensure roads, adjacent buildings and the private pipe run to the Southern Water network are clearly shown.
• Confirm if your sewer connection will be pumped and if so, please state the company designing & constructing your proposed pumping station and the pump rate.
• Provide a reference number if you have completed a capacity check with Southern Water in the last 12 months.

Download the sewer main requisition guidance

If you are applying for a new development, you will need to include:

• Details of drainage easements over adjacent land.
• An on-site drainage plan if available.
• A site location plan (1:1250 scale preferred) with the development to be drained outlined in green.
• Correspondence with the Environment Agency.
• Drawings and discharge calculations for the proposed on-site drainage. Where on-site drainage has not yet been designed, please indicate on a plan the proposed location, invert level and pipe diameter of the point of outfall.
• Letter of authorisation from the owner (if applicable).
• A copy of any conditions attached to the Planning Approval which affect the drainage of the site.
• Soil or borehole information (if available).
• Ensure roads, adjacent buildings and the private pipe run to the Southern Water network are clearly shown.

Once your application has been made, our team will review the information submitted and we will respond within 5 days to confirm the documentation is complete or ask for more information if required.

Within 12 weeks we will assess the initial feasibility, create an outline design and then send you a preliminary budget estimate offer for the works to be carried out, this will include:

• A budget estimate offer letter, detailing the estimated cost of the scheme and the required detailed design fee.
• Associated design drawings.
• A report detailing the scope of works.

The budget estimate offer is valid for three months, after which you will need to request a requote detailing any changes to the site so we can update your quotation as required. If our charges have changed, we will also update the quotation to reflect this.

Once you have received our budget estimate and are ready to proceed, you will need to do the following:

• Log into your online GetConnected Account.
• You will have three options on your dashboard to accept our offer, query our offer or withdraw your application. Please select one option.
• If you select ‘accept’ please then provide payment for the Design Fee.

Once you have ‘accepted’ our offer and made payment, we will pass the site to our Project Delivery engineering team who will assign a Project Manager as a point of contact for the next steps in the process.

After accepting the budget estimate and paying the Design Fee, our engineering team will complete the detailed design work and we will provide you with an S98 agreement and offer which will include the construction fee required.

You will need to sign the sewer requisition agreement and return this to us along with the payment of the construction fee.

Once we have received your signed agreement and payment, we will schedule the works and confirm a start date on site. Our engineering team will then complete the onsite work and make a connection to our network.

After the final connection has been made we will check to make sure our original budget estimate and actual costs for the works match. If there are any differences we will either issue you a refund or request a further payment.

When your sewer requisition is complete, you can apply for individual sewer connections if required.

When you begin planning your development, our engineers will work with you to agree your:

• site drainage strategy
• points of connection to the wastewater network
• discharge rates.

Before you complete the application form, please read the wastewater pre-planning guidance. Please also check the water and wastewater asset maps for your site – if you’d like to buy a sewer or water plan from us, please see our sewer and water maps page.

Download the wastewater pre-planning guidance

If you’re constructing a large/complex development, you may wish to complete a pre-design assessment. More details can be found under Stage 1b below.

Please note that a pre-design assessment is mandatory where you are designing a wastewater treatment works for construction and adoption; this is due to the complex nature of the design requirements. Through having a pre-design assessment our team of engineers can review your plans with you and ensure that your proposals are satisfactory for adoption prior to your application.

We would also recommend a pre-design assessment for sites where sustainable drainage is planned for construction and adoption. This will allow us the opportunity to work through your plans with you and provide some initial guidance.

For more information, and to complete a Pre-Planning application, please visit our planning your development page.

For large/complex sites one of our engineers can discuss with you the early stages of your design and proposals for maintaining a sewerage system.

This communication can be requested at any point before the submission of a sewer adoptions application (S104) through a pre-design strategic assessment application.

Whether a site is large or complex can be determined by whether it has:

• Multiple phases
• Multiple landowners/customers
• Multiple points of connection
• Pumped discharges
• A storage component
• A Wastewater Treatment Works
• Sustainable Drainage System

However, the above list isn’t exhaustive. So you may request a pre-design strategic assessment based on your understanding of a complex element of the development that you want to discuss with us before submitting a sewer adoption application. As advised in Stage 1a, a pre-design assessment is mandatory where you are designing a wastewater treatment works for construction and adoption. 

Please complete the pre-design strategic assessment application form and email it to [email protected]. Before you fill in the application form, please read the wastewater pre-design strategic assessment guidance.

Download the pre-design strategic assessment application form

Please read the wastewater pre-design strategic assessment guidance – if you’d like to buy a sewer or water plan from us, please see our sewer and water maps page.

Download the wastewater pre-design strategic assessment guidance

The Design and Construction Guidance (DCG) is covered under Appendix C of the Sewer Sector Guidance document, which replaced Sewer for Adoption (SFA). The DCG details the new design and construction standards for adoptable foul and surface water systems.

If you want to apply for the adoption of a new sewerage system, you’ll need to apply via our GetConnected portal. The application fee is £720.00 (incl. VAT).

If your design includes offering a pumping station for adoption, you’ll need to refer to our ‘pumping station local practice’ for our design requirements – this is available in our current Pumping Station: Local Practice Guidance. A pumping station will be covered under the same adoption agreement as gravity sewers.

View the Pumping Station: Local Practice Guidance

Once we’ve received your completed application – along with the required minimum information – our engineers will complete a technical assessment of your submission and you’ll hear from us within 28 calendar days.

When you’ve received your technical acceptance for your sewerage system design from us, you’ll need to enter into an adoption agreement for us to formally adopt the sewers.

To enter into an adoption agreement, you can either ask us to produce one and provide all the required documents – or you can prepare your own legal agreement (this Model Sewer Adoption Agreement may provide a helpful starting point).

We understand construction may need to start before the adoption agreement has been signed by all parties. Once technical acceptance has been given and you have paid the adoption fees, you can complete an early start request to avoid delays to this work.

Download early start request form

Once you've completed your request, you can click the email address at the end of the form – the file will automatically set up an email for you to send to us. 

Should you receive conditional technical acceptance and you wish to start the construction of the asset/s subject to that acceptance prior to the scheme receiving full technical acceptance, then you can submit an early start request to us at that stage. 

Before you begin constructing the new sewerage system, you’ll need to complete a pre-start inspection request. Once we’ve received this and all fees have been paid, one of our inspectors will organise a pre-start site meeting for your new development.

Download the pre-start inspection request form

While construction of your sewerage system is underway, we’ll carry out inspections to check it complies with the adoption agreement. If we find any defects – such as improper work, materials or variations – we’ll will notify the site contact.

Once the site is over 50% occupied and construction of the sewerage system is finished – including any pumping stations – our inspector will confirm that the system has been inspected, including by CCTV, and all remedial works are complete. Once this has happened, the site can proceed to the maintenance stage.

Once construction of the sewers – along with any outstanding remedial work – has been completed, you’ll need to request a sewer adoption maintenance inspection and provide:

• The ‘As Built’ drawings
• The health and safety file
• Any other outstanding requirements

Please send the request with the above information to [email protected] including the sewerage reference number for your application and site location in the email subject line. Please also mark it for the attention of the Assistant Adoption Manager who has undertaken the inspections of the site to ensure the request is picked up as soon as possible.

We’ll arrange a maintenance inspection to confirm the works are suitable to be placed on ‘12 months maintenance’ and we’ll issue a provisional certificate.

Three months before the end of your maintenance period is due, you should check the sewerage system and make sure no maintenance issues are outstanding, then contact your Assistant Adoption Manager. They’ll organise a final inspection of the adoptable system and will advise if any remedial work is required.

Once we’re satisfied all remedial works have been carried out, our engineer will issue the final certificate of completion. The legal vesting of the sewers will happen soon after.