Tennessee SWPPP inspection requirements

Twice a week, after every half-inch storm, by a certified inspector, on the right form. Here is exactly what the Construction General Permit requires, and where most sites slip up.

Inspections are where most Tennessee stormwater violations actually happen. The plan can be perfect, but if the site is not inspected on schedule, documented correctly, and fixed when something is wrong, that is what an inspector writes up. Here is exactly what the Construction General Permit requires, in plain terms.

How often you have to inspect

The default schedule under permit TNR100000 is twice per calendar week, at least 72 hours apart, and within 24 hours of the end of any rain event of 0.5 inch or more. There is a reduced schedule in two situations: where an area has been temporarily stabilized, and during frozen or winter conditions when runoff is unlikely because the ground is snow or ice covered, inspections can drop to once per month until conditions thaw. Document the basis whenever you use the reduced schedule.

Who is allowed to inspect

Inspections must be performed by a qualified person who holds the TNEPSC Fundamentals of Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control (Level I) certification, or an accepted equivalent such as a Tennessee registered engineer, a landscape architect, or a Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control. This is the same certified person Metro Nashville and other local programs expect to see at a pre-construction meeting.

What you have to look at

Each inspection covers the whole discharge picture, not just the silt fence out front:

• All disturbed areas that have not reached final stabilization
• Material and soil storage areas exposed to precipitation
• Structural control measures (basins, traps, barriers)
• Locations where vehicles enter and exit the site, checking for track-out onto roads
• Each outfall, to look for evidence of sediment or pollutants leaving the site

Documenting on form CN-1173

Tennessee inspections are recorded on the TDEC Construction Stormwater Inspection Certification (CN-1173) form, one per inspection. It captures the date, weather and whether a qualifying rain event occurred, the condition of your controls, any deficiencies and corrective actions, and a certification statement signed by both the certified inspector and the permittee. TDEC allows an equivalent alternative form only with written approval from the Division, so most sites simply use CN-1173. Every SWPPP that SWPPP Builder generates includes this form and your inspection schedule so your crew is not improvising in the field.

Fixing what you find

When an inspection turns up an inadequate or damaged control, you have to repair, replace, or modify it before the next rain event if possible, and in no case more than 7 days after the need is identified. The corrective action and the date it was completed go on the inspection record.

Keeping your records

Inspection records stay on site and available, and you retain them for three years after your Notice of Termination is acknowledged. TDEC can request them, and the permit expects you to provide them within 10 days of a request. Missing or late inspection records are one of the most common findings, so treat the paperwork as part of the job, not an afterthought.

Get a SWPPP that comes with the inspection form built in

SWPPP Builder generates a field-ready Tennessee SWPPP built to the state Construction General Permit in about an hour. Pricing is flat and posted up front: $349 for a standard non-engineered contractor SWPPP, $99 for a single-family homebuilder plan (built on TDEC form CN-1249), and $499 when your site needs engineered or pre-approved plans. That is a fraction of the $1,500 to $5,000 a consultant typically charges, and you keep the file in your account to reuse and update as the job changes.