Indiana runs contract operating through its Certified Operator in Responsible Charge rule, and a wastewater operator can end up on IDEM's own published for-hire list.
Being a contract operator means carrying responsible charge for systems you don't own, on rules that change at every state line. This page holds what this state actually requires, cited to the current rule text and dated. If you're earlier in the journey, start with the guides below.
Indiana's rules never use the term "contract operator." Instead they use Certified Operator in Responsible Charge, or CORC. That term covers both drinking water (327 IAC 8-12-3.6) and wastewater (327 IAC 5-23-7).
Drinking water plants get graded two ways: Distribution (DSS/DSM/DSL) and Treatment (WT1 through WT6). The grade depends on how many people the system serves and how complex the treatment is. A WT1 plant serves under 501 people and adds no chemicals. A WT5 plant serves over 10,000 people and draws from surface water or groundwater under the direct influence of surface water (GWUDI). Wastewater plants get graded Class I-SP through IV if they're municipal, or A-SO through D if they're industrial. A Class II operator can run anything from A-SO up through Class II, not just Class II plants alone.
Either way, one rule decides who can take the job: the operator's license grade has to match or beat the plant's classification (327 IAC 8-12-3 for drinking water, 327 IAC 5-23-8 for wastewater).
Source: Drinking Water Operator Certification Rule fact sheet, verified 2026-07-16; 327 IAC 5-23-8, verified 2026-07-17.
Indiana uses the CORC title on both drinking water and wastewater, but the paperwork works differently for each. On wastewater, the system's owner or governing board must tell IDEM's commissioner the CORC's name, and give written notice within 30 days of any CORC change (327 IAC 5-23-6). The owner can't hand that duty off to the operator.
On drinking water, there's no matching filing with the state. Instead, an operator taking charge of more than one system writes a signed letter to each plant's owner or governing board. The letter names every system the operator oversees and the hours worked at each one (327 IAC 8-12-3.6).
Source: 327 IAC 5-23-6, verified 2026-07-16; 327 IAC 8-12-3.6, verified 2026-07-16.
Indiana keeps the CORC concept identical across DW and WW in structure and name (both use 'Certified Operator in Responsible Charge / CORC') but administers the two programs under separate rule articles (327 IAC 8-12 for DW, 327 IAC 5-23 for WW) with materially different notification duties: WW imposes an explicit 30-day owner-to-commissioner notification duty on CORC changes that could not be located on the DW side. The Facility Specific Operator (FSO) track for the smallest DW systems (DSS/WT1, or community systems <=100 people) requires the designee to be an employee/member of the PWS, meaning FSO status itself is NOT available to a true outside contract/for-hire operator, even though those same small systems may still be served by an outside CORC under the standard (non-FSO) certification.
Indiana's rules say nothing about a special filing just for hiring an outside operator. The closest real deadline is on the wastewater side: 30 days to tell the commissioner after any CORC change (327 IAC 5-23-6). On drinking water, the only paperwork is the operator's own letter to each owner listing every system they run (327 IAC 8-12-3.6). That letter goes to the owner, not the state.
Source: 327 IAC 5-23-6, verified 2026-07-16.
There's no set limit on how many systems one operator can run. A certified operator can take charge of more than one water or wastewater plant, as long as they can show they're supervising each one properly. On drinking water, that means writing a signed letter to each owner before taking on another system, naming every plant and the hours committed to it. The commissioner can review that letter and decide the time isn't enough.
Source: 327 IAC 8-12-3.6, verified 2026-07-16; 327 IAC 5-23-7, verified 2026-07-16.
Drinking water has a fixed visit schedule based on classification. Community systems need at least 2 visits a week. Nontransient noncommunity systems (places like schools or factories with their own water supply) over 500 people need 1 visit a week, and smaller ones need 1 every two weeks. DSM and WT1 plants need 3 visits a week; DSL, WT2, and WT3 plants need 5. WT4 and WT5 plants need a certified operator on site the whole time the plant runs, unless the commissioner has approved an automated system for it.
Wastewater has no set visit schedule. Instead, the CORC has to spend "sufficient time at each facility, either onsite or through remote monitoring," stay familiar with how the plant is actually running, and keep it meeting its permit. Remote operation is allowed on both sides, but it's not automatic: WT4 and WT5 plants need the commissioner to approve the specific automated system first, and remote wastewater operation still has to meet the same knowledge-and-performance bar as being there in person.
Source: 327 IAC 8-12-3.6, verified 2026-07-16; 327 IAC 5-23-7, verified 2026-07-16.
Indiana does keep a real for-hire list, but only for wastewater: the downloadable Sanitary Certified Operators and Industrial Certified Operators lists, published together as the "List of Contract Operators". To get on it, contact IDEM's Wastewater Certification Program directly. There's no public web form.
Drinking water works less formally. IDEM says it "can provide a list of certified operators who make it known to us their availability," which means calling or emailing the Operator Certification Program or Drinking Water Branch. There's no self-service portal or published web address for that side.
Source: Wastewater Operator Certification and Continuing Education page, verified 2026-07-16; Drinking Water Operator Certification page, verified 2026-07-16.
Indiana's core law is simple: "A person, firm, or corporation may not operate a water or wastewater treatment plant or a water distribution system unless the commissioner has certified the operator in responsible charge" (Ind. Code 13-18-11). That requirement is about the individual CORC's certification, not the business itself. We didn't find any separate license, bond, or insurance requirement for the operating company in 327 IAC 8-12 or 327 IAC 5-23.
One thing worth knowing: Indiana's Facility Specific Operator track, built for the smallest drinking water systems, requires the person to be an employee or member of the water system itself. That track is closed to an outside contract operator, though the standard CORC certification is still open to one.
Source: Ind. Code 13-18-11, verified 2026-07-16.
Most states don't make liability insurance a condition of holding a license. Carry it anyway. EPA's operator hiring guide puts it on the short list of questions every board should ask a contract operator: do you have liability insurance, and does it name the utility?
The reason is simple. You are making calls that affect public drinking water on systems you don't own. If something goes wrong, an uninsured operator puts the board's whole trust in you on the line, and boards that have been burned know to ask. Showing up to the first conversation with coverage in hand, and the certificate to prove it, closes the question before it opens. Talk to an insurance agent who handles utility contractors; policies that name each system you serve are the norm in this business.
Every system you operate on one map, with the records, work orders, and compliance schedule your crew actually uses. We run our own contract operation on it, so the demo is the real thing, not a sandbox.
Confirm current text with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), Office of Water Quality, before you commit to anything.
Rules change. Check the current text before you commit.
Indiana Dept. of Environmental Mgmt (IDEM): Drinking Water