The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA) issues availability certificates to certify that water, sanitary and storm sewer services are available to the applicant. The certificate expires six months from the issue date if the applicant has not obtained a building permit by that time.

To obtain a building permit for new buildings, additions, renovations, or new connections to water mains or sewers, a Water and Sewer availability Certificate is required. The District of Columbia Building Code (District of Columbia Municipal Regulations, DCMR Title 12, 1992) requires submission of the availability certificate with the plumbing plans (Page 12-26, Section 111.5.2.2). The availability certificate specifies the street address, and the square and lot number(s) for which the certificate is issued; and the street location where the water main and sewer are available.

Water mains and sanitary sewers are available if they exist 100 feet from the front of the lot for residential homes and 250 feet for all other types of buildings, on which the structure is to be constructed. If water and sanitary sewer is not available, DCWASA will extend them upon request (see procedures for extensions). Storm sewers are considered available if a residential lot is within 100 feet of the storm sewer, 250 feet for commercial properties, measured along the centerline of a street or public way abutting the lot. DCWASA extends storm sewers to serve proposed catch basins and not to serve structures. It is the responsibility of the property owner to extend the storm sewer.

Currently, the capacity of the water main and sewer(s) where the connections will be made must be evaluated before issuing the availability certificate. The process of issuing availability certificates is used by DCWASA and the District of Columbia's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) as a check in the building permit process to assure that the applicant has obtained approval from the Authority.

1. When a request for a Water and Sewer Availability Certificate is made to the Documents and Permits Section (DPS) the drawings are reviewed to assure that they contain the following information:
   1. Site plan to scale showing public water main, water service and meter location, public sewer, sewer lateral, clean out at property line and invert elevation of sewer lateral at the point of connection and clean out.
   2. Original water meter approval stamp from the DCWASA Department of Meter Measurement and Billing on site plan.
   3. Original storm water management approval stamp from the Department of Health.

   In addition to the drawings, the following is also required:

   1. Copy of pages 1 and 2 of building permit application.
   2. Wastewater discharge questionnaire.
2. DPS reviews the water and sewer counter maps and as-built records to assure that the information provided on the drawings is correct.
3. If the project for which the availability is requested is for other than a normal building, the DPS forwards the documents to the Water and Sewer Systems Section (WSSS) for hydraulic analysis to verify if the existing water main and sewer(s) can support the development. The developer may need to furnish additional flow data for the development.
4. If the WSSS determines that the water main(s) and sewer(s) are adequate to serve the proposed development, the DPS issues the Water and Sewer Availability Certificate. If the WSSS determines that they are not adequate, the DPS writes a letter to the applicant explaining the reasons why the Water and Sewer Availability Certificate is not being issued.