How to complete a Report of Property Transfer in Snohomish County
The Report of Property Transfer is the document the Snohomish County Health Department reviews before a septic property changes hands. A certified septic professional evaluates the system and produces it, a site plan goes with it when the county has no as built on file, and the health department either accepts it or sends it back. Acceptance lasts 12 months.
What is the Report of Property Transfer?
It is a written record of the condition of an on-site sewage system, submitted to the county so the county can sign off before a sale closes. Snohomish County describes it as "the Report of Property Transfer reviewed by the Health Department (valid for 12 months from the date of acceptance)". Snohomish County Health Department, Property Transfer (checked 2026-08-03).
It becomes part of every septic sale in the county on November 1, 2026. If you want the background on why the requirement exists and how it lines up against the neighboring counties, that is the Snohomish County transfer rule guide. This page is the mechanics.
Who is responsible for getting it filed?
The seller. Snohomish County puts it directly: "Sellers are the party responsible for completing property transfer requirements." Snohomish County Health Department, Property Transfer. Which side of the transaction pays for the contractor's time is a negotiation between buyer and seller. Which side the county expects to have done the work is not.
The evaluation itself has to come from a septic professional the county health department certifies for operation and maintenance work, and the site plan step names a certified septic contractor. A homeowner cannot evaluate their own system for a sale. Washington has no single statewide septic license to check, so the credential to ask about is the county certification for the job in front of you, backed by an active Labor and Industries contractor registration.
What does the health department actually review?
The county reviews the submitted package for completeness and for what the evaluation found. Snohomish County's Property Transfer page is the authoritative list of what has to be in that package, and it is worth reading in full before you start, because the list is the county's to change and not ours. Snohomish County Health Department, Property Transfer.
What the evaluation covers physically is more predictable. A septic evaluation means opening the tank rather than looking at the lawn: measuring the sludge and scum layers, checking the inlet and outlet baffles, confirming that the tank is watertight and structurally sound, and testing whatever moves. On a mound or pressure distribution system that includes the pump, the floats, the control panel, and the distribution laterals, which is why those systems take longer to evaluate and have more that can be written up.
The drainfield is assessed for signs it is not accepting what is sent to it: standing effluent, soggy ground over the lines in dry weather, unusually vigorous grass, or backing up at the house. In North Sound ground, where winter water tables sit high and soils drain slowly, the drainfield is the component most likely to be the reason a report is not a clean one.
What if the county has no as built drawing of your system?
Then you add a site plan to the application. The county's instruction is to "have a certified septic contractor complete an On-Site Sewage System Site Plan instead. Submit the site plan with your application." Snohomish County Health Department, Property Transfer.
An as built is the drawing filed when the system was installed, showing where everything went. Older rural properties frequently have none, either because the system predates the county's filing practice or because a replacement was done without the record making it into the file. Finding out early costs you a phone call. Finding out late costs you a delay, because drawing a site plan for an undocumented system means locating the tank and the drainfield in the ground first, and that is field work with its own scheduling.
How long is an accepted report valid?
12 months from the date the health department accepts it. The date that matters is acceptance, not inspection. A contractor who visits in March and a county that accepts in May gives you a report that runs out the following May.
A year is generous enough that starting early carries almost no downside. It is also short enough that a listing which sits on the market through a slow winter can outlive its own report. If your sale is dragging, check the acceptance date on the paperwork rather than assuming.
What should you do while you wait for a decision?
Use the gap productively. The review is out of your hands, but three things are not, and each one shortens whatever comes next.
- Gather the paper trail. Pumping receipts, past inspection reports, permits, any operation and maintenance records from a service contract. A documented system is easier for a buyer to accept and easier for a reviewer to close out.
- Keep the drainfield clear. No vehicles, no stacked material, no new landscaping over the lines. Redirect roof and gutter runoff away from it.
- Get ahead of the likely finding. If the contractor told you on the day that the pump is tired or the baffle is gone, start pricing that repair rather than waiting for the letter to confirm it.
What happens if the report is not accepted?
The county tells you what is missing or what failed, and you fix it and resubmit. An incomplete package is an administrative problem and usually a quick one. A system that did not pass is a different conversation, with real options and a real order to work through them.
The property transfer inspection page covers the inspection itself in more detail, and what the county requires of a Snohomish property in particular is collected on the Snohomish County septic page. For how all three counties and the coming state rule fit together, start with the North Sound transfer inspection guide.
Getting it started
You need one certified septic professional and a rough idea of when you want to list. Tell us the county and what the property needs, and the request goes to a single independent local contractor certified by that county health department. Nothing is charged to you for the match.
Common questions
Who fills in the Report of Property Transfer?
A septic professional certified by the county health department performs the evaluation and produces the report. The seller is the party the county holds responsible for making sure it happens and gets submitted.
Do I need a site plan as well as the report?
Only when the county has no as built record of your system. In that case Snohomish County asks for an On-Site Sewage System Site Plan drawn by a certified septic contractor, submitted together with the application.
When does the 12 months start running?
From the date the health department accepts the report, not from the date the contractor visited the property or the date the report was written. If your sale is slow, check the acceptance date rather than the inspection date.
Can I submit the application before the evaluation is finished?
There is nothing useful to submit until the evaluation exists, because the evaluation is the substance of the report. Use the waiting time to collect your pumping and maintenance records and to uncover the tank lids so the visit is not spent digging.
Find out what your county actually requires
Tell us the county and what the property needs. We pass it to one local septic contractor certified by that county health department.
Your request goes to one independent local septic contractor certified by your county health department, serving Snohomish, Skagit, or Whatcom county. It does not go to a national lead list.