As you say the old adage applies and if it did not almost any breach of
the
law could be without penalty. Having said that your solicitor should
perhaps
have asked the vendor if they did have all the necessary permissions.

This is what I too 'assume' to be the case. He's an excellent
solicitor and came very highly recommended, he did an excellent job
when we moved house, so I can't imagine that he would have missed this
IF it was/was likely to be an issue.

My
installation is for a household of two people and the soakaway is in the
adjoining orchard, with permission of the owner, and when I asked the EA
they were adamant that a consent was required even though I replaced an
existing, 60 year old, septic tank, with a small treatment plant that has
significantly lower level of pollutant output.

How strange! Annoying too!

Whilst applying for the
consent will cost money, it will be much less than the fine if you get
caught without one. The company you employ to do the work should deal with
the EA and BC consents. Unless there are particular problems with the site
it should be quite straightforward. The main things they are concerned
with
are preventing pollution of water sources and that the soakaway is of
sufficient size for the property and the likely number of inhabitants now
and in the future. Also remember that even if you don't need EA consnent
the
BC will need to be satisfied that the propsed installation will meet the
required standards.

Many thanks, noted. I appreciate all your advice in this matter. I'll
have a chat with my solicitor.

Good luck. If the deeds, or Land Registry entry, made no mention of the
septic tank he may not even be aware there was one particularly if most of
his clients are in urban areas. My house had been conveyed by the same firm
of solicitors three times and on each occasion they missed a particular
point. The brown stuff hit the revolving metalwork when it was pointed out
to them. As I said trust nobody..........................

Peter Crosland