(A) Required. No person shall sell, advertise for sale, give or transact a change in title or property ownership of real property with one or more buildings or structures, without first either obtaining a certificate of inflow and infiltration (I&I) compliance from the city or fully complying with division (E) below. No permanent occupancy for a new/remodeled structure will be issued without a certificate of I&I compliance unless an escrow agreement is in place with the city.
(B) Application and fees.
(1) Unless the property owner already has a certificate of I&I compliance for a property, the owner or owner’s representative is required to apply for a certificate and complete an inspection thereof before the property is offered for sale, gifted or transferred, and before the owner or owner’s representative enters into any contract for deed or other transaction changing the party responsible for the property. If the property owner already has a certificate of I&I compliance, but it is more than one year old, a sump pump inspection is still required for all properties containing sump pumps pursuant to this section.
(2) At the time of application, the applicant for either a certificate of I&I compliance or a sump pump inspection shall pay the appropriate application fee. The fees shall be set in the city’s fee schedule.
(C) Inspection. The applicant for a certificate of I&I compliance or sump pump inspection is responsible for providing an inspection of the property after making application and payment of fees. An inspection shall be made either by the city or by a licensed plumber to determine whether the property use is in accordance with city sanitary sewer service regulations, as provided in this chapter. The entire property and all buildings on the property shall be made available for inspection.
(D) Compliance and expiration.
(1) Upon inspection, when the property use is in accordance with city sanitary sewer services regulations, a new certificate of I&I compliance will be issued by the city.
(2) A certificate of I&I compliance is valid to be used for the transfer of property.
(3) The certificate of I&I compliance must be conspicuously displayed on the premises at all times when the property is being shown for sale and the owner is responsible for informing any potential buyers, gift recipients or other persons to whom it intends to transfer title as to its receipt of the certificate of I&I compliance.
(E) Correction notice. If an inspection discloses that use of a property is not in accordance with city sanitary sewer service regulations, a correction notice may be issued by the city permitting the transfer of property, providing:
(1) An agreement by the owner or owner’s representative has been executed with the city, whereby the owner or owner’s representative agrees to complete corrections to the property necessary to bring it within compliance of the city sanitary sewer service regulations within 60 days of the transfer of property; and
(2) (a) A security to ensure completion of any corrections to the property must be posted with the closing agent in the form of an escrow, or with the city when a closing agent is not involved, at the time of property transfer or closing. The security shall be in an amount at least equal to 125% of the retail value of the work necessary for compliance with this section. The escrow must be fully maintained until a certificate of I&I compliance is issued. A correction notice shall not be issued for more than 180 days following the first inspection of the property, but it may be extended for additional periods up to 180 days each by the City Administrator or his or her designee.
(b) The owner (or transferor) and any real estate agents involved in the transaction are responsible for disclosing the correction notice to the transferee and all other persons or entities involved in the transaction. The responsibility for repairing any non-conformance with the sanitary sewer service regulations runs with the land and not only rests with the owner or transferor, but is also an obligation of the transferee of the property. If repairs are not completed within one year of the first inspection, the inspection becomes invalid and the process starts again, which includes paying the applicable inspection fee.
(F) Repeated inspection. Upon inspection, when the property use is not legal in accordance with city’s sanitary sewer service regulations, the owner shall be entitled to a second inspection to be scheduled within 90 days of the original inspection. If, as a result of this inspection, the city inspector determines (or a licensed plumber certifies and the certified videotape is determined by the city to be compliant) that all violations of city sanitary sewer regulations have been corrected, the city shall immediately issue a certificate of I&I compliance.
(Ord. 967, passed 10-28-2019)