Contract with a pumping contractor: when you need one and what it must contain

What the national regulations require

• The owner of a septic tank or holding tank regularly hands over the wastewater and sediment to a pumping contractor at their own expense.
• After each pumping, the owner keeps a document confirming the transaction for at least two years.
• The owner agrees the time with the pumping contractor in advance and gives the vacuum tanker clear access to the system.
• The pumping contractor registers with the municipality and must have a contract with the operator of a wastewater reception point. The municipality publishes a list of pumping contractors.

Does the pumping contractor have to be registered with the municipality?

Yes. National regulations require pumping contractors to register with the municipality, and many municipalities in the Riga region state explicitly that the service may only be provided by a registered pumping contractor. This is the case in the Ķekava, Ādaži, Olaine and Ropaži municipalities and in Jūrmala. In the Ādaži and Olaine municipalities, the owner is also obliged to use a pumping contractor registered with the municipality.

In Riga, the municipality keeps a register of pumping contractors. The Mārupe Municipality website states that septic pumping may only be carried out by companies registered with the municipality, and publishes a list of them. Before you place an order, ask the pumping contractor whether they are registered with your municipality, and check this in the list published by the municipality.

What a contract with a pumping contractor should contain

• the details of both parties and the pumping contractor's registration with the municipality;
• the service address and, preferably, the cadastral number;
• the type of system (septic tank, holding tank or BIO plant) and its volume;
• the emptying frequency or schedule, which must not be less frequent than the municipal minimum;
• the price per visit or per cubic metre and the travel charge;
• how to request pumping outside the schedule;
• the reception point where the wastewater is delivered;
• that a document with the address, date, volume and contractor details is issued after each visit;
• access conditions: the access road, the hose length to the lid;
• the term of the contract and how to end it.

The pumping certificate

A pumping certificate is not a special form. Any transaction document will do (an invoice, a receipt, a certificate of completed work or a delivery note), as long as it contains the four things required by the Cabinet regulations:

• the address where the service was provided;
• the amount of wastewater collected;
• the date of the service;
• the pumping contractor's details.

In Riga, the pumping contractor must prepare such a document and give it to the owner. In Ķekava Municipality, transaction documents must be shown to a municipal representative. Keep them for at least two years: that is how long both the national regulations and, for example, the Ādaži and Olaine municipal regulations require.

Where and when to submit the certificate

For the owner of a BIO plant, national regulations additionally require a copy of the maintenance document to be submitted to the keeper of the register within a month after each maintenance visit. For how to register the system itself, read registering a decentralised sewage system.

A contract with a schedule or ordering when needed

A contract with a schedule suits holding tanks that need emptying often, and people who don't want to keep track of the dates. The Olaine and Salaspils municipal regulations mention a contract with a pumping contractor as one way of proving that the service has been received.

Ordering when needed suits a septic tank that is pumped once or twice a year. In that case, keep track yourself: write down the dates and keep the documents in one place. For how often it needs emptying, see how often to pump a septic tank.

How we arrange and document a pumping job

1. Request Give the address, the type of system and its volume, the access to the lid and whether you'd like a regular schedule.
2. Agreeing a time We contact you, give you the price and agree on a time.
3. Pumping We pump out the septic tank or holding tank and deliver the contents to a wastewater reception point.
4. Document You receive a document with the address, the date, the volume in cubic metres and the contractor's details - exactly what the regulations require.