NEW Septic System Inspection Legislation Coming July 1st
During the 2025 legislative session, the General Assembly passed a bill on septic inspections. Your state Public Policy Committee voted to support this bill, and it will become law on July 1, 2025. Here is a quick primer of what you should know about this new law and how it might affect your business.
House Bill 2671 sets a minimum standard for the inspection of a septic system that is requested by a lending institution, real estate licensee, prospective home buyer, or other impacted party as a condition of the sale of real estate. This important consumer protection measure will ensure that a buyer is getting a quality inspection of the onsite septic system, providing them with all the knowledge they may need as they move forward in the purchase of a new home. This standard inspection will also lessen the chance of finding out later that a system has failed, resulting in potential liability for the seller and the REALTOR®.
First and foremost, agents should be aware of the contracts in their area and whether it’s the buyer or seller who orders the septic inspection. The Virginia REALTORS® Form 600M allows either the buyer or seller to order the septic inspection as part of the real estate transaction. The purchase agreement includes language that gives permission from the homeowner for the buyer’s inspectors to enter and inspect the property. Whomever orders the septic inspection must have a written agreement with their inspector outlining the scope of the inspection.
The scope of the septic inspection is negotiable between the parties in the terms of the purchase agreement. The new law defines a complete inspection as an inspection of “…all readily accessible and openable components, including septic tanks, pump tanks, distribution devices, treatment units, control panels, and dispersal fields. The inspection shall also include any components specified in the operation permit and any vegetation, grading, or signs of harmful water entry that may impact septic system function.” Note: a complete inspection ALSO includes pumping the septic tank.
The law defines “readily accessible” as “approachable or enterable for inspection without the risk of damage to any property or alteration of the accessible space, equipment, or opening.” The amended Virginia REALTORS® septic addendum Form 600M, which will be available by July 1st, gives the parties the ability to customize their inspection. The parties may agree to order a full inspection as outlined in the new law, understanding that if everything is underground, they will not learn much from this inspection. The parties could also agree to do an inspection, but decline pumping the septic tank. In cases where access to the tank is available above ground, this would still allow for a visual inspection of the tank. And finally, where the septic tank and all of its components are located underground, the parties could agree to order an inspection and allow for alterations to the terrain to access components for inspection, including digging or excavating if determined to be reasonably necessary to complete the ordered inspection.
Inspectors will need to pull the operation report for the system and any other local health department records, but the statute does provide an exemption if those records are unavailable. If approached by a septic inspector for information on the property (e.g., septic system size, bedroom count), REALTORS® should remember to be the source of the source. In fact, when listing properties with onsite septic systems, ordering the operation permit at the time of listing is a great option to mitigate future risk in the transaction.
After the inspection, septic inspectors will have 10 business days to submit a written report. Please make sure that if the timeframe in the contract is less than that, you have a conversation with your inspector to see if the timeframe is reasonable and whether the contract dates need to be amended.
The report must identify all the components that were able to be inspected, those that were not, and the reason why. For example, maybe there was access to the tank above ground, which allowed for a visual inspection of the interior of the tank, but the distribution box was buried and neither party allowed for digging in the inspection. The inspector must note this in the report.
As always, if you have further questions about this new law and how it will affect your business, please contact us at the Virginia REALTORS® Legal Hotline.
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