Parametric Septic Design Notes: A Template an AI Agent Can Fill

A parametric design notes template is a fixed document skeleton with named fields for the values that change from job to job, so an agent or an assistant can fill the structure while you supply and confirm every number. Done well, the template removes retyping and formatting errors without moving a single design decision away from the designer of record.

Key takeaways

• A template separates what never changes (structure, wording of your standard statements) from what changes (site facts and design values).
• Every field has an owner: the client, the survey, the soil evaluation or the designer. Fields owned by the designer are never filled by an agent.
• Empty fields should stay visibly empty. A blank you can see beats a plausible guess you cannot.
• Rules and numeric limits come from your state rules and your own review, not from the template.
• Test the template on a finished job before using it on a live one.

What is a parametric design notes template?

Most designers write the same document each time: a description of the property, the design basis, the selected system, the components and their sizes, the layout and the operation and maintenance notes. The sentences repeat, and the values change. A parametric template turns that into a skeleton. The wording you always use is written once. The values that vary are replaced by named fields, such as the site address, the number of bedrooms, the system type or the tank capacity.

The word parametric is borrowed from CAD. In a parametric drawing, you change one dimension and dependent geometry follows. In a parametric document, you change one input and the places that depend on it update, in the same way each time. If the number of bedrooms changes, every sentence that mentions it changes together, and you do not find a leftover old value on page four.

This is formatting and consistency work. It does not decide anything. Texas, for example, sets the planning material requirements in 30 TAC 285.5, and the criteria for choosing a system in 30 TAC 285.31. Your template should reflect what your authority requires, which means you decide what goes in, and confirm it against your current rules.

How do you design the fields so the template stays honest?

Give every field three properties: a name, an owner and a status. The owner says where the value comes from. The status says whether it is filled, confirmed or empty.

A practical field map has four owners.

• Client or intake: owner name, site address, parcel reference, the type of structure, the number of bedrooms or fixture counts the client reports, water source.
• Survey base: lot dimensions, structure locations, access, the places where the field and tank can physically fit, notes on easements and utilities you found.
• Soil evaluation: the observations from the evaluation you or a colleague performed, written by the evaluator and entered as given.
• Designer: system type, sizing basis, selected components, layout decisions, operation and maintenance conditions, and every statement that carries your professional judgment.

An agent may fill the first two from documents you provide, with a flag for each value it took from a source. It may copy the third exactly as the evaluator wrote it. It should never fill the fourth. Leave those fields empty, highlighted and waiting for you.

A checklist for building your own template

Start from the last three notes you wrote and work backward from what repeated.

• Copy a finished notes document and remove every value that is specific to that job.
• Replace each removed value with a field name that you and an assistant will both understand.
• Mark the owner of each field next to it in a separate field list, not in the final text.
• Mark which fields are required for every system type and which apply only to one type, such as aerobic with drip, aerobic with spray or conventional.
• Write the conditional paragraphs once. For example, a spray paragraph that is included only when the system type field says spray.
• Add a visible placeholder for any field left empty, so a blank cannot slip into the PDF.
• Add a short review block at the end that lists unconfirmed fields and the source of each filled one.
• Save the template with a version date, so you know which wording went to which job.

When the template is ready, run it on a job you already finished and compare the result with your original document. Differences point to a missing field or a sentence you changed over time without noticing.

Illustrative scenario

This scenario is illustrative and does not describe a real job. A designer has an intake form from a homeowner, a survey base drawn the previous day and the soil evaluation notes from a site visit. The designer chooses the system type and the sizing basis, and writes those values into a short input sheet.

The agent opens the template. It fills the property description from the intake form and the lot facts from the survey, and tags each with its source. It pastes the soil observations exactly as written by the evaluator. It fills the design fields from the input sheet. Anything missing, such as the maintenance contract details that the client has not provided yet, stays as a highlighted placeholder. At the end, the review block lists three empty fields and four values that came from the intake form and need confirmation.

The designer reads the document from the top, resolves the placeholders, corrects one value that the client had entered in error, and signs off the final text. The agent then regenerates the PDF with the same layout as the last job. The time saved was the typing and the formatting. The decisions stayed where they belong.

How does the template connect to the rest of the package?

The notes are one part of a package that includes the site plan, the soil evaluation form and the submittal forms. If the same inputs feed all of them, you gain consistency across documents: the address, the system type and the capacity read the same in the notes, on the drawing title block and on the forms. The permit package routine describes how to assemble and check the whole set, and the soil evaluation report guide shows how the evaluator's observations enter the notes without being rewritten.

One input sheet per job is the simplest way to keep this together. The sheet holds the decisions you made. The template and the forms read from it. If you change a decision, you change it once and regenerate.

What does Be Human do in this workflow?

Be Human designs, implements and operates personalized AI agents for small businesses. In a design office, we sit with you to turn your existing notes into a template, define the field owners and the placeholders, and set the agent to fill only what you allow. After that we operate the agent, adjust the template when your wording or your local requirements change and keep the log of what it filled and what it left open. The agent drafts, you review and sign. The service model is described on the managed AI agents page.

If you want to find out whether the design notes are the first task in your week worth handing to an agent, take the free Be Human AI diagnostic.

Frequently asked questions

Can the agent write the design values, such as sizing? It should not. Sizing, system selection and layout are professional decisions governed by your state rules and your judgment. The template can carry those values once you enter them, and the agent can format them, but the choice stays yours.

What if my state or county uses different wording? Build the template from your own accepted submittals and check it against the rules and forms your authority publishes. In Texas, the planning material requirements are in 30 TAC 285.5, and your local permitting office can tell you about local practice.

How do I keep the template from drifting over time? Version it with a date, review it when rules or forms change and compare each new output with the last accepted one. A short change note at the top of the template file is enough for a one-person office.

Is a Word template enough, or do I need special software? A well built document template with clear field names is a good start. The agent can work with the file you already use, so you do not need to adopt a new system to begin.

Be Human editorial guidance. Examples are illustrative unless explicitly attributed. Sources provide background; implementation choices depend on your workflow.