Selling or Buying? Kitsap Already Runs Its Own Sale Inspection
Washington's statewide septic inspection-at-sale requirement starts
February 1, 2027. Kitsap County didn't wait for it. The district
already runs a mandatory Transfer-of-Property Inspection Program
under Ordinance 2025-01 §13.D, independent of the statewide
rule and years ahead of it.
(kitsappublichealth.org — Selling property, accessed July 22, 2026)
Timing: the owner conveying a septic-served
property has to apply to the Health Officer at least 30 days
before the transfer for a Property Conveyance Inspection (PCI) and
written evaluation of the system's functionality, maintenance
status, and regulatory compliance.
What the inspection needs, by system type: a
standard system needs a tank inspection completed within the past
3 years by a certified pumper or specialist. An alternative system
needs the M&M provider's inspection already on file. A system
that's unknown or was never permitted needs an as-built record
drawing plus a fresh tank inspection.
District turnaround: the Health Officer has to
respond within 7 business days, covering the records search, field
inspection, and written report.
What the seller hands the buyer: the written PCI
evaluation, whatever permit and maintenance records exist (or a
record drawing if none do), and a completed RCW 64.06 seller
disclosure statement, the same statewide disclosure form required
for any Washington home sale.
Fee and validity: the PCI costs $295, non-refundable.
A completed report stays valid for 3 years on a standard system, or
1 year on an alternative system, regardless of how many times the
property changes hands inside that window. A repeat sale that falls
inside a still-valid report's window may not need a fresh
inspection at all.
Exemption: a structure that's never been occupied,
with an approved installation permit and a valid certificate of
occupancy, is exempt from the PCI requirement.
2025 outcomes, straight from the district. Kitsap
Public Health District reported 1,743 PCIs completed in 2025. 450
of them, 26 percent, turned up significant deficiencies. The top
causes cited: encroachment on the primary or reserve drainfield,
inaccessible alternative-system components, use beyond the
permitted bedroom or capacity rating, and unpermitted plumbing
additions. Roughly one in four sellers who go through this process
finds out their system has a real problem, before it becomes the
buyer's problem.
A related, separate requirement runs alongside the PCI on the same
district webpage: a Water Status Report, in place since March 4,
2019, for private wells and Group B water systems at conveyance.
It carries its own fee and its own report, distinct from the septic
conveyance inspection, though the district often bundles the two
into the same sale-prep conversation.
This local rule is separate from, and predates, the statewide
inspection-at-sale requirement that starts February 1, 2027 under
the state's revised on-site sewage rule. Kitsap sellers are
effectively already living under a version of what the rest of
Washington gets in 2027. For how the statewide rule works once it's
active everywhere, see our
Selling a House
With a Septic System in Washington guide.