If the customer and the carter agree that the customer will be billed on a flat or average billing method , whether based on volume or weight, the carter must conduct a survey, free of charge to the customer , of the amount of waste that the customer generated over a period of time. The survey must be based on data from no fewer than 7 days which has been gathered over a period of no more than 2 weeks and must represent an actual average amount of waste collected on those days multiplied by a negotiated dollar rate per volume or weight.

Before the start of the waste stream survey, the carter must inform the customer in writing that a survey is to be conducted and of the customer's right to participate in the survey. The customer has a right to participate in the waste stream survey, and the survey must be shown to and signed by the customer or its authorized representative, and the carter must give the customer a copy of the waste stream survey signed by both parties.