Buying or selling a house that is not on sewer

Seller: assemble a file before the listing goes live

• SIPH permit, as-built, and any repair permits (records request)
• Pump receipts with dates, tank size, and baffle notes
• ETPS service contracts and the last annual report if you have an advanced unit (due to the health district by July 31 each year, per DEQ)
• A sketch with measurements from two house corners to each lid

If you cannot find a permit, say so. Pretending a 1968 tank is “new in 2005” will not survive a records search.

Buyer: do not skip the dirty work

Order the SIPH file early; three working days is the statutory first response, not a promise that the as-built will arrive before your inspection period ends. Hire someone who will open the tank, not someone who glances at the lawn. Confirm:

• Bedroom count and any shop or basement plumbing versus the permitted design flow
• Whether the replacement area is still empty, or now sits under a garage pad
• Whether the property is 200 feet or less from a sewer line that would change a future repair (the SIPH application asks this for new work; it also matters when a field fails)
• Well setbacks as built, not as hoped

What a pump-out at closing is and is not

Pumping at closing is useful if the pumper documents baffles and levels. It is not a drainfield load test. A tank can be empty and the laterals still saturated. If the inspector finds surfacing effluent, you are not negotiating a credit for “landscaping.” You are looking at a permitted repair or replacement.

Title, tribal land, and sewer districts

Fort Hall Reservation parcels follow tribal permitting. Groveland and other sewer districts exist west and around Blackfoot; some streets look rural and still have a main. See sewer or septic before you budget for a new field that the city or district will not allow.