Massachusetts WPA Form 8A is the one-page request you file with your local Conservation Commission (or the MassDEP regional office, in limited cases) to obtain a Certificate of Compliance under the Wetlands Protection Act. Filing it triggers a site inspection and, if the work matches your approved plans, produces a Certificate of Compliance on WPA Form 8B that you then record at the Registry of Deeds to clear the Order of Conditions from your title.1Mass.gov. WPA Form 8B – Certificate of Compliance The issuing authority has 21 days from receipt of your request to either issue or deny the certificate.2Cornell Law. 310 CMR 10.05 – Procedures
When Form 8A Is the Right Form
The form itself gives you three checkboxes, and you pick the one that matches your situation:3Andover, Massachusetts. Request for Certificate of Compliance – WPA Form 8A
- Work fully completed. The project described in your Order of Conditions is done and you want the commission to confirm all conditions were met.
- Partial completion. A distinct portion is finished, common in phased developments where you want to release individual lots while the rest of the project continues under the same Order.2Cornell Law. 310 CMR 10.05 – Procedures
- Order lapsed, work never started. The Order of Conditions expired and you never broke ground, but the order is still recorded against your deed. Filing Form 8A lets you clean the title.
An Order of Conditions is valid for three years from issuance unless a special condition specifies otherwise. Even after expiration, the order stays on your property record until you obtain and record a Certificate of Compliance. Form 8A is the only way to formally close it out.
What to Gather Before You Start
Download the form from the MassDEP Wetlands Permitting Forms page in Word or PDF.4Mass.gov. Wetlands Permitting Forms Before filling it in, pull together:
- Your DEP File Number, assigned when the original Notice of Intent was filed. It links your request to the permit record.
- Registry of Deeds recording information for the Order of Conditions: county, book, and page. For registered land, use the certificate number instead.
- An as-built plan showing the project as actually constructed, including structures, grading, elevations, and resource area boundaries.
- A professional certification letter, if the original Order of Conditions approved plans stamped by a registered professional engineer, architect, landscape architect, or land surveyor. The letter must come from that type of professional, certify “substantial compliance” with the approved plans, and describe any deviations.2Cornell Law. 310 CMR 10.05 – Procedures
The certification letter catches people off guard. It applies only when the original order approved stamped professional plans, but that covers most projects. The regulation uses “substantial compliance,” so the letter doesn’t have to say the work is identical to the plans, but it does need to spell out every deviation. Vagueness invites a denial.
If you’re filing because the order lapsed and no work was done, you don’t need an as-built plan or a professional’s letter. You’re just asking the commission to confirm nothing happened.
Filling Out Each Section
Form 8A is a single page.3Andover, Massachusetts. Request for Certificate of Compliance – WPA Form 8A Start with your contact information: name, mailing address, and phone. If you’re not the original applicant (say, you bought the property after the permit issued), put your own information here, then give the original applicant’s name and the date of the Order of Conditions in the next field.
In the project site section, fill in the street address, city or town, and the assessors map/plat number and parcel/lot number. These appear on your property tax bill or the town’s online assessor database. Then enter the Registry of Deeds recording information for the Order of Conditions itself: county, book, and page.
Check the box for your situation: full completion, partial completion, or lapsed order with no work started. If partial, be specific. “Phase 1, Lots 1 through 6” is useful. “Some of the work” is not.
Answer whether the Order of Conditions approved any professionally stamped plans. If yes, attach the professional’s certification letter and the as-built plan. Sign and date.
Where to Send It
Where the form goes depends on who issued the final Order of Conditions:3Andover, Massachusetts. Request for Certificate of Compliance – WPA Form 8A
- If your local Conservation Commission issued the Order of Conditions, submit the form and attachments directly to that commission.
- If MassDEP issued a Superseding Order of Conditions or an adjudicatory hearing decision, submit to the MassDEP regional office covering your community. You can look up the office on the MassDEP regional offices page.5Mass.gov. MassDEP Regional Offices by Community
Send it by certified mail with return receipt. The 21-day clock starts when the commission receives the form, and certified mail gives you proof of that date. There is no electronic filing option for Form 8A through MassDEP’s online portals; the form is available only for download and physical submission.4Mass.gov. Wetlands Permitting Forms
Ask your local Conservation Commission about municipal filing fees. These vary by town and are separate from the state process. Some towns charge nothing; others assess fees based on the complexity of the original project.
What Happens After You File
The issuing authority has 21 days to issue or deny the certificate.2Cornell Law. 310 CMR 10.05 – Procedures Within that window, a site inspection takes place with you or your agent present. Commission members or conservation staff compare what they see against the approved plans, your as-built drawing, and the conditions of the original order.
If the inspection goes well, the commission votes at a public meeting to issue the Certificate of Compliance on Form 8B. A majority of the commission must sign it.2Cornell Law. 310 CMR 10.05 – Procedures A partial certificate will specify which portions of the work it covers and note any ongoing conditions, such as monitoring or maintenance obligations, that survive it.
If the work doesn’t match the approved plans, the commission must issue a written denial within the same 21-day window and specify the reasons. Common grounds are unauthorized deviations from approved grading, encroachment into resource areas beyond what the plans allowed, and failure to install required erosion controls or replication plantings.
Note that the 21-day timeline assumes the commission has a meeting scheduled within that period. Most commissions meet twice a month, so plan around the meeting calendar rather than the raw regulatory clock.
Recording Form 8B at the Registry of Deeds
Getting Form 8B in hand isn’t the finish line. You have to record the Certificate of Compliance at the Registry of Deeds, or with the Land Court for registered land, to officially clear the Order of Conditions from title.2Cornell Law. 310 CMR 10.05 – Procedures The recording fee at a Massachusetts Registry of Deeds is $105.6Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Registry of Deeds Fee Schedule
After recording, send proof back to the issuing authority. Form 8B has a section at the end for that. If you don’t record it, the regulation lets the issuing authority record it for you, but that isn’t something to count on. Until the certificate is recorded, the Order of Conditions still shows up on any title search and can hold up a sale or refinance.
If Your Request Is Denied
A denial letter will list the specific conditions that weren’t met. The straightforward path is to fix the issues (regrade, replant the buffer, remove the unauthorized structure) and file a new Form 8A once the site is in compliance.
Formal appeal options are narrower than for other wetlands decisions. MassDEP does not entertain appeals of local Certificate of Compliance decisions through the superseding order process it uses for Orders of Conditions. The available remedy for an improper denial or a commission’s failure to act within 21 days is a court action seeking a writ of mandamus to compel the commission to issue the certificate.
Why It Matters to Close the Order
An Order of Conditions left open is recorded at the Registry and shows up on every title search. Buyers, lenders, and title insurance companies treat it as an unresolved environmental encumbrance, which can delay or kill a closing. This is true even when the order has lapsed and the site was never disturbed. The encumbrance sits on the title until you go through the Form 8A process.
If work was done without a Certificate of Compliance, the stakes are higher. Massachusetts conservation commissions can bring enforcement actions against a current owner for wetlands violations committed by a prior owner, so long as the action is brought within three years of the current owner’s acquisition. Filing Form 8A well before you list, sell, or refinance is the way to avoid running the 21-day clock and the meeting calendar against a closing date.