Septic in Cochise County: Who Does Each Step

We have already written about the soil evaluation, the setbacks and caliche. This post is about the people. A septic system in Cochise County is not one trade; it passes through an evaluator, a designer, the county, an installer and, years later, a pumper, and most landowners do not know which of those they are hiring at any given moment.

The short answer is that two of the five are often the same business, one of them is the government, and the installer is the one whose licence you need to check.

The sequence and the credential for each step

Steps 1 and 2: the evaluator who is also the designer

The county is specific about who may evaluate soil, and the list is above. Note what is not on it: an excavator with a backhoe. The machine that digs the three test pits can belong to anyone; the person who classifies what is in them and signs the report has to hold one of those credentials. In practice the evaluator writes the design too, and both local businesses we could verify for this step advertise it that way.

A-1 Port-A-Pots & Septic, Benson. Family owned, operating since 2006, serving Cochise, Pima and Santa Cruz counties per its chamber listing and its own site. Lists soil evaluations, sewage system design, septic tank pumping, real estate inspections by NAWT-certified inspectors, and portable toilets. 520-586-2115. It publishes an ROC number on its site; as with every business here, check it at azroc.my.site.com rather than taking it from a web page.

McCoys Septic Services LLC, Hereford. Its BBB profile lists septic system design alongside installation and describes the business as state certified in soil analysis and system design. In business since 2017. 520-456-9243.

If you hire the evaluator and the installer separately, make sure the installer gets the design and the evaluation report, not a summary. The design is what the county inspects against.

Step 3: the county, under ADEQ's rules

Septic permitting in Arizona is a state program under Title 18, Chapter 9 of the Administrative Code, which ADEQ delegates to county health or environmental agencies. In Cochise County that is Environmental Health. The forms and the inspector are the county's; the rules are ADEQ's. The rule sets a sequence worth knowing because it tells you what you should be holding at each point:

1. You, or your designer on your behalf, file a Notice of Intent to Discharge with the evaluation and design attached.
2. The county reviews it and, if the design conforms, issues a Construction Authorization. The rule is blunt: "A person shall not begin facility construction until the Director issues a Construction Authorization."
3. Construction must be completed within two years of that authorization. Miss it and the Notice of Intent expires; a new one with a new fee is needed to continue.
4. When it is built, the installer submits the as-built documents with a Request for Discharge Authorization. The county may inspect.
5. The county issues a Discharge Authorization. You may not use the system before that.

The inspection line is 520-432-9441. Have the parcel number and the date you need; for next-day inspections, call before 4 pm.

Step 4: the installer, and the licence that matters

This is the hire people get wrong, usually by assuming anyone with an excavator can put in a septic system. They can dig the hole. Whether they can lawfully contract to install the system is a Registrar of Contractors question.

The classification written for this work is CR-41 Septic Tanks and Systems, which "allows the licensee to excavate, install and repair pipe, back fill, and compact soil" for septic tanks, aerobic digesters and leaching fields. The licence most dirt contractors hold, CR-2 Excavating, Grading and Oil Surfacing, covers digging, trenching, grading, compacting and filling; it does not name septic systems. Some excavators hold both; some hold a general residential licence that covers it. Ask which classification they are installing under, then look it up. Our post on checking an ROC licence walks through the search.

The businesses below advertise septic installation or are licensed excavators who commonly do the dirt side of it. Each was confirmed from its own site, the Benson chamber directory or its BBB profile. We have not checked their licences for you and this is not a ranking.

• B. East Grading Services, Benson. Its site lists septic systems and sewer line repair alongside excavation, grading and site prep, and its Benson chamber listing adds septic tank installation and repair or replacement of existing systems. 520-221-1157.
• McCoys Septic Services LLC, Hereford. BBB profile lists new system installation, replacement systems, leach field installation, risers, filters and line repairs. 520-456-9243.
• Lil Don's Diggin LLC, Benson. BBB-accredited excavating contractor, 22 years in business per its profile. 520-221-0461.
• Hawk Excavations LLC, Huachuca City. BBB profile lists trenching, grading and levelling, compaction, footings, utility exposure, and mini excavator and skid steer work. Three years in business. 520-249-0185.

For the last two, the BBB profiles describe excavating, not septic specifically. If you want one of them to install the system rather than dig for a licensed installer, ask whether they hold CR-41 or another classification that covers it.

Step 6: the years after

Pumping. The county recommends pumping every 3 to 5 years, because solids that carry over into the leach field shorten its life. A-1 and McCoys both list pumping. Pumping is not an ROC classification; the state rule refers to licensed septage haulers, so that is what to ask a pumper.

Selling. The state rule requires a transfer-of-ownership inspection within six months before a sale, by an inspector holding a recognised training certificate and one of several listed credentials, including registered engineers and sanitarians, licensed septage haulers and certain ROC licensees. The seller gives the buyer the report plus the permit and maintenance records. The buyer files a Notice of Transfer within 15 calendar days after closing; for systems built after 1 January 2001 that goes to the county. A-1 and McCoys both advertise real estate inspections.

What we could not confirm

• Goodman Enterprises. We were asked about this installer and found no website, chamber listing or BBB profile under that name in Cochise County. Left out for that reason only.
• Any business's current ROC status. Licences lapse, which is why we do not print numbers. Search the name at azroc.my.site.com on the day you sign.
• Fees. The county's septic page does not print its permit fee. Call Environmental Health on 520-586-8206.
• Whether the county imposes installer requirements beyond the state rule. Ask when you apply.

If you would rather have one licensed local contractor coordinate the evaluator, the permit and the installation, tell us the parcel and the job and one will call you to quote it.