Well Regulation - Well Construction Licensing (technical bulletin)

This technical bulletin is one in a series of 11 on well issues created for a person who is considering a new water supply well or who currently owns a water supply well. The purpose of this technical bulletin is to summarize the information on well construction licensing found in the Water Supply Wells – Requirements and Best Management Practices manual published by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

Well construction licensing requirements are found in Regulation 903 (Wells Regulation), as amended, made under the Ontario Water Resources Act. The regulation and the Act set the minimum requirements for experience, knowledge, and familiarity with well construction in Ontario. Constructing wells using trained individuals helps reduce the risk of contaminating water supplies and groundwater resources.

Licensing for businesses

The Ontario Water Resources Act specifies that any person that engages in the business of well construction must have a valid well contractor licence unless exempt under the Wells Regulation. Engaging in the well construction business includes making money or receiving other forms of compensation.

A well contractor licence permits the licence holder to operate a well construction business. Well contractor licences are issued to applicants whose experience and financial responsibility meet the Ministry of the Environment’s requirements. Well contractors are responsible for holding the required insurance and for ensuring that all persons in their employ comply with the Ontario Water Resources Act and the Wells Regulation. A well contractor licence does not allow the person to physically construct a well. See the Licensing for Individuals section below for further details.

Licensing for individuals

The Ontario Water Resources Act specifies that any person who works at the construction of a well must have a valid well technician licence of a prescribed class unless otherwise exempt under the Wells Regulation or the Ontario Water Resources Act.

There are five classes of well technician licence. Each class allows a person to perform different construction activities on a well. Four of the five classes (1, 2, 4 and 5) of licence represent common well construction activities that use significantly different equipment or methods.

A fifth class of well technician licence, Class 3, allows the Director under the Act to issue a licence for specific methods of well construction or specialized equipment.

Table 1 lists the activities a person can perform with a particular class of well technician licence or in some cases where no licence is required.

Exemptions from well technician licence

Certain well construction activities are exempt from licensing requirements (see Table 1).

An individual land owner, or his/her family members can work on any well situated on his/her own property without a well technician licence. Also, other individuals can construct a well without a well technician licence for the individual land owner as long as no form of compensation is made.

Many businesses, municipalities, government agencies and provincial ministries have wells located on lands they own. An employee (or agent) of one of these must hold a proper well technician licence to construct a well on his/her employer’s property unless the activity is exempt (see Table 1). The licensed well technician must either work for a licensed well contractor or be an employee of a ministry of the Crown.

If employees or agents are performing well construction activities that require a licence, then the business, municipality or government agency must also hold a valid well contractor licence. A ministry of the Crown is not required to hold a well contractor licence.

When constructing or abandoning a well, an individual land owner exempt from licensing must still meet all of the other requirements in the Wells Regulation. These include all of the minimum well construction, well abandonment and reporting requirements.

Although the Ontario Water Resources Act and the Wells Regulation allow residential well owners to construct or abandon their own wells without a licence, the equipment, materials and expertise needed to comply with the requirements under the Wells Regulation generally exceed the average well owner’s abilities and resources. Well owners need to understand how to measure water levels and well depths and be able to calculate volumes of well water, chemical mixtures and material mixtures.

Risks associated with improper well construction include endangering the health and safety of family members, impairing the well supply and groundwater and being open to enforcement action.

It is highly recommended that a skilled well technician with a valid well technician licence of the correct class, or classes, and who holds a valid well contractor licence or works for a licensed well contractor, be retained to construct or abandon any well.

Professional engineer, professional geoscientist, or Certified Engineering Technician (CET) individuals

A person who works for a licensed well contractor does not require a well technician licence for Class 5 activities (see Table 1) if the person:

• holds a licence, limited licence or temporary licence under the Professional Engineers Act,
• holds a certificate of registration under the Professional Geoscientists Act, 2000 and is a practicing member, temporary member or limited member of the Association of Professional Geoscientists of Ontario, or
• is registered under Subsection 8(2) of the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists Act, 1998, being chapter Pr7, and is an ordinary member of the Association continued under that Act.

Abandonment (plugging and sealing) of a well

Unless exempt by the Wells Regulation, when a well is abandoned, the person abandoning a well (often the well owner) must do the following:

• retain the services of a licensed well contractor, and
• ensure that the contract with the licensed well contractor requires a well technician licensed to construct the type of well being abandoned is used to abandon the well.

The person abandoning the well (often the well owner) is exempt from the above requirement if the person who works at the abandonment of the water supply well is:

• the owner of the land or is a member of the owner’s household,
• working without remuneration (i.e. not receiving any form of compensation) for another person on land owned by the other person or by a member of the other person’s household, or
• a person who holds a Class 1 well technician licence (i.e. drilling).

Test holes and dewatering wells

Test holes and dewatering wells, as defined by the Wells Regulation, have somewhat different licensing requirements and exemptions. For further information on the licensing requirements for test holes and dewatering wells, see the Wells Regulation.

Additional information sources

This technical bulletin on well issues is one in a series of 11 created for owners of water supply wells which are available on the Water Supply wells: technical bulletin page.

Further information on well construction licensing for water supply wells can be found in Chapter 3: Well Construction Licensing – Obtaining, Maintaining & Exemptions of the Water Supply Wells – Requirements and Best Management Practices manual.

A copy of the Water Supply Wells – Requirements and Best Management Practices manual can be obtained from the Water Supply Wells page on Ontario’s website.

A copy of the Regulation 903 (Wells Regulation), as amended, made under the Ontario Water Resources Act and other regulations can be obtained from the e-Laws website.

The publications are also available by calling the Publications Information Centre at 1-800-565-4923 or 416-325-4000.

For further information about wells, contact the Wells Help Desk at 1-888-396-WELL (9355) or the nearest Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change office listed in the blue pages of the telephone directory.