Building your own house on an undeveloped property is an exciting process. It takes a lot of hard work and planning — but once you’re finished, you’ll have a perfect new home, designed just for you.

Before you start to plan, though, there’s one important factor you need to take care of: your septic. Without a septic system, you can’t start building your dream home.

Here are three crucial steps to follow if you’re planning to build on a new property.

1. Get a soil test

Before you do anything else, you have to test the soil on your property to make sure you can safely install a septic system there.

Because a traditional septic system relies on a leach field to filter wastewater, the properties of your soil will make a difference. If your soil drains liquids too quickly, you could be risking dangerous groundwater pollution.

Have a professional septic engineer test the ground on your property before you start on your construction plans.

2. Design your septic system

Next, you need to determine what kind of septic system will work best for your property. Your household size, climate, property size, and local environmental regulations are important factors to consider.

Talk to a California septic company about your options. The best septic system for you will be specially designed to fit your property and climate.

3. Install your septic system

Septic installation might seem like a pain, but it’s a necessary step before you start building your new home.

California septic engineers will work to get the job done as efficiently as possible. It will take some time and patience on your part. However, once that brand new septic system is installed, it will last for as long as you own your home.

If you take care of those three steps, you’re ready to move onto the more exciting parts of your new construction!