HELP!!!
I have a detached 1200 sqft residential garage built in a Vinton/Roanoke VA (~ year 2000)located in zoning of General Business. I am allowed to get a change of use permit for a commercial garage but have hit the last and only snag. The locality requested verification of a oil separator. I don't have a floor drain at all. I have a wash sink and a bathroom sink and tub only in the garage. The code says these don't need a Separator. The local code says I cannot use a variance for a change of use (it appears?). Where in the VA plumbing code will it let me use a change of use or exception for this. It is a raised wood floor with a 3-4 foot crawl space under it/dirt, floor is reinforced for car weights. The county already approved building structure but local water authority has to sign of on oil separator.The local authority mentioned a retrofit type installation but...cost to much and ....Introducing a drain increases the risk of oil or other contaminants into the sewage. We will use catch pans, stay dry sand, and industrial oil absorption mats....if we even miss the catch pan.

YOu have a problem. A wood floor is NOT compatible with a floor drain and oil separator. The floor has to slope to the drain, but the separator can be outdoors with the drain piped to it. Catch pans, etc., ONLY work if they are used and the sanitation department cannot ensure that they will ALWAYS be used since they are a manual system.