Connecting to water and sewerage

• We only issue technical specifications for connections to properties or areas within our service area.
• We will issue the technical specifications for your property within two weeks of receiving your application. The technical specifications issued are valid for one year.
• If you have not finalised your design within one year, you can apply for an extension to the technical specifications via our self-service portal by filling in an application form. You can find it here.

To order a design for water supply and sewer pipes, contact a designer who:

• follows the technical specifications issued during the design process;
• ensures that the solution complies with our technical requirements (EST).

You can order a design from a company that has the relevant expertise and whose activities, as listed in the Register of Economic Activities, include the preparation of construction designs for public water supply and sewerage systems, including pumping stations, treatment plants, and other related facilities.

The connection design must be prepared (or checked) and digitally signed by a qualified designer holding a valid professional certificate. The minimum level of qualification required for a designer is a Diploma Engineer in Water Supply and Sewerage, at EstQF Level 7.

Liitumisprojekti peab koostama (või kontrollima) ja digiallkirjastama projekteerija, kellel on vastav pädevus ja kehtiv kutsetunnistus. Minimaalselt nõutav projekteerija kutsetase on diplomeeritud veevarustuse- ja kanalisatsiooniinsener, tase 7.

Check if the qualification is registered in the Awarded Occupational Qualifications list on the Estonian Qualifications Authority’s website.

A servitude document gives us the right to use your property to maintain pipes, if necessary.

The design work includes preparing a servitude drawing and an application for establishing a servitude for pipes to be owned or operated by Tallinna Vesi.

The connection contract can only be signed once the servitude agreement has been signed.

Please e-mail the following materials at servituut@tvesi.ee.

• Application for servitude (EST)

• A servitude drawing in DGN, DWG or PDF format, in the national coordinate system at a scale of 1:500 to 1:1000. When formatting, place the drawing in A4 format, leaving 4 cm of blank space at the top and bottom, as shown in the sample drawing.
• An extract from the summary table of approvals, opinions and views included in the design (in the case of non-reformed state land).

It usually takes four weeks from the date of the application to establish a servitude. You do not need to submit anything in addition.

Establishing a servitude is free of charge.

After you have sent your application for servitude, submit the design to the local authority via the Building Register to apply for a building permit.

Once you have obtained a building permit, submit your water and/or sewer pipe design to us for an opinion via the Building Register portal. We will reply within 10 working days.

You should then check the additional requirements we have set out in the opinion on the design.

Submit the following documents to us:

• a completed application form for a construction tender, which you can find here;
• an operational building design for water supply and sewer pipes, digitally signed by the designer and including a title page, an explanatory note, a layout, profile/trench cross-sections, and a layout provided in DWG format;
• a design for surface reinstatement, digitally signed by the designer and including a title page, an explanatory note, a layout, cross-sections, and a table of work volumes;
• a valid building permit for the construction of pipes;
• if you are responsible for surface reinstatement, please provide us with a letter (EST) confirming this.

E-mail all documents at tvesi@tvesi.ee.

• If your design crosses or runs along the protection zone of another utility network (e.g. electricity, gas or communications infrastructure), you will need to get approval from that utility network operator. A protection zone is an area of land, airspace or body of water that surrounds a particular network, where restrictions on its use apply for safety reasons.
• Separate approvals must be submitted for each utility network operator and these must be digitally signed by representatives of the utility network operator (e.g. Elektrilevi, AS Gaasivõrk, Telia, etc.).
• You can also entrust the process of obtaining approvals to the company constructing your connection point, if you wish. If you do so, please let us know by sending us a simple, free-form email.
• For more information on protection zones and the necessary approvals, please visit the website of the Land and Spacial Development Board.

• The construction of the connection point and the necessary public water supply and sewer pipes will be carried out by the contractor selected through tendering procedure.
• We will organise the tender for the construction of the pipes and connection points, as these will form part of Tallinna Vesi's public water supply and sewerage system, for which we are responsible.
• The tender for the construction of the connection points will be carried out among the 15 pre-qualified and competent construction companies listed in the Public Procurement Register here (in Estonian).
• The tendering process normally takes 10 days.
• Tallinna Vesi is always the client for the construction and owner supervision of the connection point.

• Once the winner of the tender has been selected, we will prepare a connection contract with annexes and send it to you for signature.
• Please note that construction must not start before the connection contract is signed.
• The connection contract will be sent to you once the construction tender has been confirmed.

The connection fee includes the connection fee itself, as well as any potential development costs.

• The connection fee covers the actual cost of constructing the public water and/or sewer pipes (incl. connection points) for the property.

If you connect to a pipe for which the connection costs have been fully paid and for which no other connections were expected at the time of construction, we will refund part of the connection fee (i.e. the development costs) to those who connected earlier.

We calculate the additional part of the connection fee on the basis of the costs incurred and the methodology for calculating the connection fee, and take into account the wear and tear on the public water supply and sewerage system.

Potential development costs are calculated using the Competition Authority's methodology, as outlined here (EST).

• If you own a property that is to be connected to the public water supply and sewerage system, and if that property is residential land, the City of Tallinn will partially refund your connection fee.
• If you are eligible for a refund, please e-mail your application and the required supporting documents at uvk@tallinnlv.ee.
• Further information on how to apply for a refund can be found on the Tallinn City’s website.

You can read about the refund scheme for connection fees here (EST).

• The contractor has 200 calendar days to construct the connection point after the connection fee is paid (unless agreed otherwise).
• Construction usually takes much less time, but the 200-day deadline is necessary to allow time for the use permit to be authorised once the work is finished.
• Once the connection point has been completed, authorisation to use the constructed public water and sewer pipes must be obtained.
• In your application for a construction tender for a connection point, you can choose whether to submit an application for a use permit yourself or to have the contractor who is constructing the connection point submit it on your behalf.
• We recommend leaving the application for a use permit/permits to the contractor.

• The construction of pipes on the property and the construction of connection points can be started at the same time. To use the temporary water supply and/or sewerage service during the construction period, please submit an application, which you can find here.
• If you need a contractor to construct pipes on your property, you can contact one of our Dynamic Purchasing System partners, who also carry out construction work on properties. View the list here (in Estonian).
• However, you do not need to use our Dynamic Purchasing System partners for construction work on your property.

Once construction of the pipes on your property is complete, please contact us again by calling 626 2200 or e-mailing at tvesi@tvesi.ee to arrange an appointment to install the water meter and inspect the site.

To sign a permanent service contract, you need to submit an application via our self-service portal.

To arrange an inspection of your pipes and the preparation of a boundary drawing, please e-mail the following documents at tvesi@tvesi.ee.

1) A pressure test report

This report details the hydraulic pressure test conducted on a section of drinking water pipe, from the property's water metering point to the point of connection to the public water supply system (the outside stop valve).

2) A document on covered work

A document on covered work, detailing the connection/renovation work carried out on the property, including clear photos of the main junctions and manholes, such as:

• the point at which the property's (storm) sewer pipe connects to the demarcation (inspection) chamber,
• the point at which the property’s water pipe connects to the connection point (gate valve),
• the chambers and manholes on the property,
• the points at which the pipes installed are entering and exiting the building.

3) A photo of the completed water metering unit

4) The as-built drawing(s) of the installed pipes on the property

• In addition, e-mail the as-built drawing(s) of the water and (storm) sewer pipes installed on your property at tj@tvesi.ee.

Our technical advisor will inspect the water metering unit on the property and install a water meter.

Following the visit, we will prepare the necessary documents: an inspection report and a boundary drawing. These will be annexed to the permanent service contract. We will then prepare the permanent service contract and send it to you for signature.