I recently received a fine from SPANC for a non compliant fosse and heard from a neighbor that if I have a date or am process for getting a new one then I don’t have to pay this. Does anyone know anything about this?
Personally, I would rather talk this through with someone at the Mairie and/or SPANC than rely on a neighbour…
Paperwork received from SPANC should outline the situation and advise you how to proceed…
and you say you have received “a fine”… (this is surely a last resort on their part).
Have they written to you previously about this… or were you already aware that the Fosse needed work ???
If you have truly no idea that the Fosse was needing attention… one has to ask… is this “fine” for real or a scam… there are so many doing the rounds…
EDIT: Sorry, @Barrie … I should have said Welcome… but better late than never… 
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is it really a fine or just an annual charge levied in respect of/in lieu of fosse inspection?
As @stella suggests, go talk to your Mairie with the paperwork. SPANC are authorised by law to raise invoices in respect of certain aspects and you should not ignore them.
Our fosse was inspected on installation (new build) and the first time they levied an unexpected annual charge, we emailed the Maire and asked the question. He confirmed the legitimacy of it and quoted the relevant legislation.
IIRC, the annual charge for a non compliant fosse is more than it is for a compliant one but there is a charge all the same.
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Certainly best not to simply ignore it… check with the Mairie/SPANC as @graham and I suggest.
(Nobody wants the Huissier knocking on the door, chasing unpaid bills/whatevers…)
best of luck
@Barrie I can’t now find the email from our Mairie but it did quote the relevant law authorising SPANC to raise the charge. I think the bills we now have quote the authority under which the charge is raised so you can refer to it.
Welcome to SF by the way.
SPANC recently wrote to us informing us that our local water company would be coming to carry out an inspection on our fosse for which we would be charged 110euros(that,s nice).Have now received a letter stating that a new fosse needs to be installed within 4 years(no information on how to go about it or jf there is any help available with the cost).I presume that as long as you have started the process within the timescale there is not a lot they can do,but if you haven,t,they can probably start dishing out fines(how much the fines would be is anyone,s guess)
Fines can be up to 75,000 € and prison sentences dished out too… depending on what the problem is with the Fosse and what sort of pollution/whatever it is causing…
but there is some help for the Owner… it all depends.
In what way does your Fosse not conforme?
How long have you owned the property…?
(both questions are relevent… and might help us to help you, if you don’t mind answering…)
IIRC (in our Commune) the regular annual charge I mentioned above was to avoid the high single charge you have now been informed about.
Don’t get me wrong - I am not a fan of SPANC; they seem to have a licence to print money these days and are a law to themselves but that said, we have found them to be responsive to questions and quite helpful when approached.
As with the OP in this topic, you should take the time to visit your Maire and engage there on this subject. It’s what they do!
We’ve owned the property since 2005 and the current fosse is just a hole in the back of the house. Close neighbors on either side, all non compliant. But we figured we would get it done and have a Devi’s and waiting for a start date in the spring.
speak to SPANC. They will recommend approved installers to you and advise on the type/size best suited to your property.
You may not necessarily get the best and most appropriate advice from an installer who has a vested interest but SPANC are independent and thus reliable. They will be the ones signing it off after all.
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Ah… so this non-conformity should not be a surprise to you.
We bought our property years before you did… and the condition of the Fosse was declared within all the bumpf included for the Sale/Purchase.
We had to undertake to get it sorted within a timeframe.
As @graham suggests speak with SPANC and your Mairie.
Only last year, a friend was needing a new Fosse. His Mairie suggested a local person XYZ who was knowledgeable/trustworthy and SPANC was happy that XYZ was named as the contractor…
Also, I’m wondering if a word with your Mairie might be fruitful. You talk about neighbours equally non-conforming… depending on where you live, the Mairie might be thinking of installing collective-sewage treatment…
It’s certainly worth thinking about… asking about…
Of course, if you’re not actually living in the property… that might change things… and perhaps another delay could be settled until/if you do decide to live there or Sell it… just thinking aloud…
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We have recently been through the entire process of the selection and installation of a new sewage system, and last week had the final (successful) sign off/inspection on behalf of SPANC. We were replacing a non conforming traditional fosse system with a MicroStation.
What really struck me was how central the (I assume) obligatory Étude is to the whole process…SPANC and their technical partners here deferred absolutely to any and all the recommendations set out in the etude. SPANC also declined to recommend any system, or brand/make, again deferring entirely to the advice in the etude.
For us the etude unlocked the appropriate type of system to put in, (several types were deemed unsuitable due to the soil type and also space constraints). The etude specialist also provided a list of (government) pre approved systems that were appropriate for our circumstances.
Of course how SPANC operates could very much differ from region to region. I was though surprised by how “hands off” they were during the entire process. (This is being fairly charitable. In our case they were really quite useless and added no value whatsoever to the process!).
You may find this reference helpful:
We had a visit from SPANC just before Christmas.
In 2016 when we purchased the house, the Fosse was passed with ‘observations’ - the inspection points (regards) were not visible for the soak away part of the system, they were under some grass that had grown over them. December 2022 we received a letter informing us of a pending fine (that could continue to increase up to 400%) if we did not comply. We found the hand written report from 2016 and it mentioned regards, we took pics and emailed them. They responded and made an appointment to come and inspect. The guy was friendly, helpful, advised about the grease trap and passed the inspection saying he was only there to confirm the regards were now visible and could be checked.
We explained that we did not understand we were required to respond in 2016 - he replied that they don’t make it clear and not to worry 
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It therefore seems a good idea for folk/new-owners to ask SPANC what is expected of them… if they’ve NOT got a complete bill-of-health for the fosse… either at Sale Time or after an Inspection…
What exactly are the advisories/hiccups??
What must I do and within what timescale?
Many thanks for all the wonderful replies that if nothing else (though plenty more) provide food for thought. I’ll add a few more.
I actually lived in France twenty years ago and have seen many changes. Back then there was even an announcement that by somwething like 2005 all houses would be on mains or compliant. Obviously that was never going to happen. In fact, my experience has been that: regulation enforcement and interest can vary wildly from region to region, real interest in complience has only and vastly and only increased since about 2010, responses vary as to how to deal with SPANC who.which are very pooor communicators.
Our fosse is a non conforming traditional fosse that works very well,we do look after it and have it emptied and maintained regularly.From what i can gather the problem is that it is not the new type that they want you to have,we have owned the house since 2007.Would be grateful for any correct information on how you start the process or what the étude is and how you go about getting one.Also,can,t see any info on how SPANC can help you with advice or financial aid,thanks.
You bought the house in 2007 and will surely have Fosse information in the paperwork somewhere… ??? Try and locate the document …
Sounds to me that you need to identify exactly what it is that doesn’t conform.
Many properties have old fosses, which do work well… and if they’re not polluting their surroundings and/or waterways… very often it’s no problem.
Sometimes there is a requirement to insert a grease trap… regards, vents… or whatever…
try and find out what’s what, and come back to us…
I completely agree with @Stella 's sensible suggestion above.
For completeness, purely in answer to your question about starting the process, what is an Étude etc, IF and only if it turns out that you did need to fully replace your fosse, the process may well be as follows (as it was for us.)…
SPANC were contacted by us, and dug out the paperwork from an inspection they carried out when our house was put on the market by the previous owners. They noted that our traditional fosse which, whilst ‘working’, would never fully comply with current regulations, and mere remediation/tweaks etc probably wouldn’t suffice.
They supplied us with a list of local technical consultants who could produce an Étude (ie report) that would outline the systems options, given soil/location/size of garden etc and recommend which type of system would be suitable. The etude was reasonably clear (for 550€!) and we chose one option, a microstation. SPANC then looked at the report, said, ok, now get on with it, find yourself a contractor to install the MicroStation and tell us just before installation so we can come and inspect it. We absolutely had to follow the technical recommendations in the etude, they made very clear.
Needless to say they failed to show up at any point to inspect it, despite ample notice, deferred any and all technical questions we had back to the etude author, and only actually inspected it last week, 7 months (!) after installation. SPANC sent along their technical partners, a private firm, to inspect and report back. Since the microstation is a pre- approved system, the inspection was short and pro forma, and something of a formality.
The above may be completely academic if your fosse paperwork, when located, suggests only minor remediation is needed to your fosse, eg installation of inspection points (regards) etc. Hope this helps.
@George1 can I add to your post that I think SPANC are in a difficult position with regard to being seen favouring one installer over another since this could of course lead to claims of corruption etc.
As to “failing to turn up for inspections” I think this too has much dependence on the confidence they have in the chosen installer in respect of whom, over time, they will have gained much experience.
That they inspected many months later after the work was completed attests to that confidence and was probably just a “ticking box” exercise to finalise the paperwork for the required public record.
As I said earlier in the topic, I’m not especially a fan of SPANC but credit where it is due