Do I need a well test to sell my house?
No. The Virginia Department of Health requires neither a well inspection nor a water quality test when a house on a private well sells, and it has no authority to test private well quality or require anyone else to. A test enters the sale through the lender, the buyer's contract or a local ordinance; VDH says many lenders require testing for bacteria, nitrate and lead at a minimum.
A water test and a well inspection are two different jobs
When a buyer's agent or a loan officer says the well needs testing, the first thing to settle is which request is on the table, because who can require it, and who does the work, differ between the two.
A water quality test is a sample of the water sent to a lab for a named list of things: bacteria, nitrate, lead, or whatever else the person ordering it asks for. A well inspection looks at the well itself, and VDH recommends that a stand-alone well inspection be performed by a licensed water well service provider. One can happen without the other.
Virginia's well regulations also sort wells by how they were made, which is what separates a drilled well from a bored or dug one. Wells explained: how a private well is permitted, built, recorded and tested covers construction in full.
The health department takes no part in a well at the point of sale
The Virginia Department of Health says it without hedging on its real estate transfer page.
The Virginia Department of Health DOES NOT require activities in conjunction with the buying or selling of property with private wells.
Virginia Department of Health, Real Estate Transfer FAQ
The private well regulations require neither a well inspection nor water quality testing for a property transfer, and VDH is not involved in real estate transactions. After a well is installed, further testing is at the discretion of the well user. VDH goes further than staying out of the sale: it has no authority to test private well quality, or to require anyone else to test it.
VDH does make suggestions to people buying. It suggests that prospective homebuyers test private well water for basic indicators and for bacteriological and radiological concerns, whether the well is new or existing, and it recommends testing for bacteria and nitrate every year. The private well regulations do set out when a Class III private well's water counts as satisfactory for coliform organisms, but that standard is not written as a requirement for selling.
Lender, contract or locality: find the source before ordering anything
Because the state requires nothing, a well test that shows up in a sale came from somewhere, and there are three places to look.
The loan conditions
VDH says a lender may require an inspection and will outline what it requires, and that many lenders require testing for bacteria, nitrate and lead at a minimum. The lender's own list is the lender's to give.The purchase contract
A buyer can make a water test or a well inspection a condition of the contract. The contract, not a state rule, then sets who orders it and by when.A local ordinance
VDH says certain localities may require a well inspection and advises checking with local government. Confirm with the county, or with the City of Galax inside the city.One statute touches local well testing and is easy to misread. Va. Code 32.1-176.5 B names the localities whose governing bodies may by ordinance require well water testing before building permits are issued, and Carroll, Grayson, Wythe, Pulaski, Montgomery, Floyd and Galax are not on that list. The provision concerns building permits, not sales, so a local question about a sale still goes to the county or city.
A lender's minimum panel is shorter than VDH's list of common contaminants
VDH notes that lender-required well tests may not be comprehensive evaluations of well water quality, and two of its own lists, set side by side, do not match.
| Many lenders require, at a minimum | VDH names as most common in Virginia |
|---|---|
| Bacteria | Bacteria |
| Nitrate | Radon |
| Lead | Arsenic |
| Iron | |
| Manganese | |
| Radiological contaminants |
Radon is on the second list and not the first, and how radon figures in a house sale is its own question, taken up in whether radon comes up in sales here. For owners who want to understand their water beyond a lender's panel, VDH describes the Virginia Household Water Quality Program, run through Virginia Cooperative Extension, as a source of practical information on private water systems such as wells, springs and cisterns. VDH does not endorse or recommend any particular well service provider or laboratory.
What the local health department may already hold on your well
Before ordering anything, find the paper that already exists. VDH says the local VDH office maintains well records, although none were required before 1990. In Carroll County that office is the Carroll County Health Department, 605-15 Pine Street, Hillsville, (276) 730-3180.
When a well is completed, the certified water well systems provider certifies its storage capacity and yield on a form provided by VDH, which is where a documented well yield starts. A well that passed its inspection has an inspection statement too, and the regulation says that statement is not a warranty of water quality or quantity, or of how long the well will function.
Those records are worth finding before a buyer's lender asks, and selling a home in Southwest Virginia covers the rest of the sale. The septic system follows its own statute, set out in whether you need a septic inspection to sell.
Selling a house on a private well to a buyer with a lender?
Send the address and any well paperwork you have, and Lowell will flag the water questions a buyer's lender tends to raise so the answers are gathered early. No cost, no obligation.
Got it. Thank you.
We'll be in touch shortly with an honest read.
Questions this raises
Can Carroll County require a well water test before a sale?
The statute that lets localities require well water testing by ordinance, Va. Code 32.1-176.5 B, covers testing before building permits and names specific localities; Carroll, Grayson, Wythe, Pulaski, Montgomery, Floyd and Galax are not among them. VDH still advises checking with local government about well inspections at a transfer, so the county is the office that confirms whether any local rule applies.
Who tests the water if the health department does not?
The test is arranged by whoever asks for it, whether the lender, the buyer or the owner, and VDH says a lender that requires an inspection will outline what is required. VDH has no authority to test private well quality, and it does not endorse or recommend any particular private well service provider or laboratory. For an inspection of the well itself, VDH recommends a licensed water well service provider, and it describes the Virginia Household Water Quality Program, through Virginia Cooperative Extension, as a source of practical information on wells, springs and cisterns.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Real Estate Transfer FAQ Virginia Department of Health
- Guidance on Testing Your Private Well Water Virginia Department of Health
- Private Well Program Virginia Department of Health
- Private Well Water Information Virginia Department of Health
- Septic System and Private Well Service Providers Virginia Department of Health
- Mount Rogers Health District locations Virginia Department of Health
- 12VAC5-630-10, private well definitions Virginia State Board of Health
- 12VAC5-630-330, the well inspection statement Virginia State Board of Health
- 12VAC5-630-431, bacteriological quality of a private well Virginia State Board of Health
- Va. Code 32.1-176.4, well regulations, storage capacity and yield certification Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 32.1-176.5, well construction permits and local testing ordinances Virginia General Assembly