Design Waivers

Waivers (formerly known as variances) are deviations from administrative rules. Waivers from the Iowa Wastewater Facility Design Standards (IWFDS) can be petitioned along with engineering justification supporting the petition. IWFDS waiver petitions are based on requirements of the Iowa Administrative Rules 567 IAC 60, 561 IAC 10 and Iowa Code section 455B.181.

To request a waiver from the IWFDS, please use the following form: 

The Department has created electronic records of the previously processed waivers and made them available on this webpage to provide technical assistance to stakeholders by allowing them to evaluate the project waiver circumstances and reference past approvals as precedence to support their waiver petition. The following table provides access to the past waiver petitions processed by the Department arranged by the specific chapter of the IWFDS.

For questions regarding the waivers, please contact Wastewater Engineering Section at 515-725-8430. 

Past WES Waiver/Variance Petitions (Old Chapters)