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After several conversations and additional feedback provided by Tacoma-Pierce County Association of REALTORS, the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department has made the decision to pause implementation of the septic stress test requirements which were originally effective as of July 15, 2024. This means that, for the time being, a stress test will not be required when submitting a home sale inspection application for a gravity septic system.

TPCAR had communicated our concerns with the Department for several months, including costs to sellers, potential damage to systems which function normally but were not otherwise designed to handle the volumes of water involved in the test, and the creation of an additional bureaucratic bottleneck in the sales process.

The Department had previously communicated that the stress tests were needed to address the condition of gravity systems as a consumer protection for homebuyers as their data estimated that, over the past 10 years, between 500 – 700 septic systems have failed within two years of an approved home inspection,.

TPCAR is appreciative of this decision and the commitment made by the Department to hold additional, meaningful stakeholder meetings to determine what kinds of septic testing procedures, if any, would be appropriate. Our Advocacy Team will continue to keep our membership updated on this issue as it evolves.

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