Point of Sale Requirements

Chisago County requires an inspection of the septic system be conducted by this office prior to the point of sale / conveyance of a property.

  • A new septic installation permitted and inspected by the county is considered to have a valid certification for 5 years.
  • Older systems which have been certified by the county as being compliant are considered to have a valid certification for 3 years.
  • No inspection is required if the system falls within 1 of the 2 above described parameters.
  • Call our office at 651-213-8370 to determine if a certification is required on your property.

Application Process

After submitting the application, site drawing and fee, please contact the septic pumper of your choice to have the tank(s) opened and pumped (distribution boxes also if necessary). You may mail the application with a check  made payable to the 'Chisago County Treasurer' for the fee, or plan to pay at our counter.  Payments are not accepted over the phone and applications are not accepted by email.

Have the pumper you select call our office to schedule the inspection so we can meet them on-site while the tank is open. The pumper will be familiar with the process, and our requirements. While the manhole is open, we will examine the inside of the tank and do a soil boring to determine if adequate separation is present in the soil profile.

Applications are processed on a first come, first served basis. Generally, following receipt of your application and payment (in person or through the mail),  24 hours will be considered adequate notice for scheduling of inspections.

If you have any questions, please call our office at 651-213-8370.

A Septic Certification Application (PDF) is available online for your convenience.

Wintertime Septic Certification Procedure

Chisago County recognizes that severe winter conditions may cause hardships to individuals who are attempting to obtain a septic certification of their system, at the point of sale. Toward that end, our ordinance allows the escrowing of sufficient funds to guarantee installation of a new system, if determined to be necessary, as soon as weather permits.

However, realizing that escrowing large sums of money for an indeterminate length of time is not always practicable for sellers, Chisago County has adopted the following policy.

Policy

We will perform septic certifications on property during winter months, but due to frost conditions, each such certification will require thawing of the ground by the owner, and multiple visits to the affected property. Below are the steps to be followed in this process:

  • Apply for the septic certification and pay the fee. Due to the 2nd visit, the fee for a wintertime inspection will be $250 rather than the usual $200.
  • A County Inspector will do the initial inspection, at which time he / she will stake the areas to be thawed for the borings. A diagram of area to be thawed (PDF) may be found online.
  • The areas to be thawed shall be at least 1 foot in diameter. The following method may be employed, or any other suitable alternate method of providing heat to thaw the ground:
    • Spread 0.5 of a 10 pound bag of charcoal within 5 feet of each stake.
    • Place the charcoal on the paper bag in which it is packaged, to prevent direct contact with the soil.
    • After placing charcoal at all the staked locations, thaw the ground for at least 6 hours.
  • Within 24 hours of the thawing of the ground, call for the 2nd inspection. This time period can vary with the outside temperature, and a shorter elapse time may be required if frigid conditions dictate.

Please contact our office, 651-213-8370 or email Environmental Services Office, if you have further questions regarding this procedure.

A WINTER Septic Certification Application (PDF) is available online, for your convenience.