Checked against EPA SepticSmart pages and state statutes and regulations on 2026-10-07. Laws and local rules change; the current law and your local health department win.
Buying a house with a septic system, or just bought one? EPA's free SepticSmart pages explain how septic systems work and how to care for them. What they don't do is tell you what your state requires when a home is sold, what to ask the seller, or give you a place to keep the records. This checklist does.
EPA's SepticSmart pages are free (epa.gov/septic), and your state or county health department is free to call. This checklist is a paid planning guide; you don't need it to buy, sell or care for a home with a septic system.
Instant download. 14-day no-questions refund. Edition 1.0, dated 2026-10-07. National (U.S.); 9 states' rules at sale plus how to check yours.
What's inside
State rules at sale: the statewide septic inspection, pump-out, disclosure and cesspool rules in Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, plus Florida's ban on government-mandated point-of-sale inspections, each with the law it comes from. For every other state, how to check.
Questions to ask the seller, the listing agent, the inspector and the local health department.
An owner's maintenance plan built on EPA's intervals: inspected "at least every three years," and household tanks "typically pumped every three to five years."
4 fill-in forms: seller questions worksheet, inspection-day checklist, system record with a site sketch, and a pumping and service log.
Who it's for
Home buyers and new owners anywhere in the U.S. with a septic tank and drainfield, an alternative system, or a cesspool. Sellers can use it too: the forms are the records buyers ask for.
What it isn't
It's general information and blank worksheets, not legal or inspection advice, and it doesn't evaluate any system. Only a qualified septic professional can do that. The state table is not a complete legal survey, and local rules can be stricter.
EPA's SepticSmart pages are free (epa.gov/septic), and your state or county health department is free to call. This checklist is a paid planning guide; you don't need it to buy, sell or care for a home with a septic system.