Title 5 Inspections
DEP-certified inspections for home sales, refinancing, additions, or owner-initiated upgrades. Filed with your local Board of Health within 30 days, every time.
Book inspection →Three generations of excavation expertise serving Southeastern Massachusetts. Whether you're selling a home and need a Title 5 inspection, replacing a failed septic system, or breaking ground on new construction — T Silvia Excavation is the local team that gets it done on time and to code.
Most Massachusetts excavation outfits do one thing well. We do the full chain: inspect what's there, design what's next, and install it ourselves.
DEP-certified inspections for home sales, refinancing, additions, or owner-initiated upgrades. Filed with your local Board of Health within 30 days, every time.
Book inspection →Conventional, I/A (Innovative/Alternative), and tight-tank systems. We handle the soil eval, design coordination, BOH permits, and full installation.
Get a quote →Foundation excavation, grading, drainage, and utility trenching for new construction and additions. Working with builders across Southeastern MA.
Discuss your project →Sewer connections, French drains, sump systems, and stormwater management. From the property line to the house, we handle the whole run.
Schedule a site visit →Each Massachusetts town's Board of Health has its own quirks: what they accept, when they review, what variances they'll grant. We've worked with all of them. Here's where we're scheduled most weeks:
Don't see your town? Call us — we travel for the right project, and we likely already know the local BOH.
T Silvia Excavation was founded in Swansea in 1987 with one truck, one backhoe, and a commitment to leaving every job site better than we found it. Three generations later, we still operate out of the same town, with the same name on the truck — and with the kind of long-term local relationships that mean we're picking up the phone for a repeat customer ten years after the first job.
Our Title 5 inspectors are DEP-certified and current on continuing education. Our installation crews are licensed and bonded. And because we self-perform every step from inspection through replacement, there's no finger-pointing between contractors when something needs to be made right.
Most homeowners have never done this before. Here's exactly what happens from the moment you book until the report is in your closing attorney's hands.
Pick a date and time online or call us. We'll coordinate the pumping company on your behalf — they need to be on-site for the inspection.
Two to three hours, weather-permitting. We locate and inspect the tank, distribution box, and leach field; verify setbacks; measure groundwater. Photos and measurements throughout.
You'll know the outcome — Pass / Conditional Pass / Fail — before we leave the driveway. Formal report follows by email within 48 hours.
Filed with your town's Board of Health well before the 30-day deadline. Copies sent to your agent, attorney, and buyer's side automatically.
Most jobs fall into one of these brackets. Final quote depends on system size, access, and travel.
Title 5 is the Massachusetts state environmental code (310 CMR 15.000) governing private septic systems. An inspection is required when you sell a home, refinance, add bedrooms, subdivide, or if there's evidence of failure. A DEP-certified inspector evaluates the tank, distribution box, leach field, and setbacks, then issues a Pass / Conditional Pass / Fail finding that's filed with your local Board of Health.
2 years from the inspection date — or 3 years if you've kept the tank pumping records up to date.
No. We just need access to the system components and the dwelling (briefly, to confirm bedroom count). Many of our inspections happen with the homeowner at work or on vacation. We'll coordinate access with your agent or attorney.
You have 2 years to repair or replace, sooner if there's an imminent health hazard. T Silvia Excavation can handle the whole replacement in-house — soil eval, engineered design, BOH permitting, and installation. We can also help you apply for the state betterment loan (low-interest, 20-year repayment via property taxes) and the Massachusetts income tax credit (up to ~$18,000 spread over 6 years).
Our standard inspection is $650–850, including the tank pump-out, full inspection, written report, and BOH filing. Final price depends on travel and system access. No surprise add-ons.
Yes — buyer-side Title 5 inspections are common. Even when the seller has provided a passing inspection, many buyers want their own independent review. We'll coordinate with the seller or their agent for site access.
We work primarily in Swansea, Somerset, Fall River, Westport, Dartmouth, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Dighton, Berkley, Freetown, Acushnet, and Lakeville. We'll travel beyond that for the right project — call us to discuss.
State law gives us 30 days. We file within 5 business days for most towns, faster when there's a closing tied to it. The 30-day deadline isn't something you should ever have to worry about with us.
Most calls get a response within one business hour. If you're closing soon, mention the closing date and we'll work backwards to fit you in.
Most requests get a call back within one business hour. If you don't hear from us by end of business day, call us at (508) 965-5758.