Sourced from the Klickitat County Health Department’s on-site septic program pages, its Gravity Septic Permit Installation Application and Site & Soil Evaluation Application, Klickitat County Code chapter 8.10 as published on the county’s code platform, and chapter 246-272A WAC — last checked August 2026. Where we could not source something, we say so.
Quick answer: Klickitat County is the most permissive county in Washington we have found. If your site evaluation allows a simple gravity system, you may design it yourself, and you may install it yourself after passing a homeowner installer exam. The permit is $500. The catch is at the front: the site evaluation is another $500, it needs four test pits, and your septic permit has to exist before the county will issue your building permit.
What it costs
These are printed on the county’s Gravity Septic Permit Installation Application and its Site & Soil Evaluation Application.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Site and soil evaluation (required first) | $500 |
| Standard gravity installation | $500 |
| Connection to a community system | $200 |
| Permit renewal | $150 |
| Septic tank replacement | $100 |
| Waterless toilet permit review | $100 |
| Drainfield replacement — with a soil log | $150 |
| Drainfield replacement — no soil log | $500 |
| System expansion — with a soil log | $150 |
| System expansion — no soil log | $500 |
A new residential build therefore runs $500 + $500 = $1,000 in county fees. That is mid-range for Washington. What is unusual is the shape of it: in most counties the site evaluation is a fraction of the permit. Here it is exactly the same price.
The soil log is worth $350. Replacing a drainfield or expanding a system costs $150 if a soil log exists for the site and $500 if it does not. Same work, same county, more than triple the fee. If you own property here and a soil log was ever done, find it and keep it — it is a document with a cash value attached.
You can do the work yourself
Most Washington counties have been closing the homeowner path. Walla Walla banned homeowner design outright in 2023. Klickitat has kept both halves open, with conditions:
| Stage | What the county allows |
|---|---|
| Design | The resident homeowner may design their own system if the site evaluation allows a simple gravity system. Anything else needs a licensed designer or engineer. |
| Installation | The homeowner may install a simple gravity system upon passing the WOSSA homeowner installer test. If the system is not gravity, or you cannot pass the exam, you hire a licensed installer. |
| Pumping | No homeowner path. The county requires an approved pumper licensed in Klickitat County. |
That exam is the part worth planning around. It is a real gate, not a formality, and the county is explicit that failing it sends you to a licensed installer. If you are budgeting a self-build on the assumption you will do the digging, sit the exam early rather than discovering the answer after the permit is issued.
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The sequence that catches people
Klickitat runs the permit order in the direction that surprises most buyers. The county states it twice, on its program page and on the permit application itself:
- Proof of adequate wastewater disposal is required before a building permit is issued for any structure producing wastewater.
- A design is required before a septic permit is issued, and a septic permit is required before a building permit is issued.
So the order is site evaluation, then design, then septic permit, then building permit. Local code 8.10.260(F) sits underneath it: every place where people congregate or reside must be provided a means of sewage disposal approved by the Local Health Officer.
Two consequences follow. If you are buying raw land intending to build, the septic work is not a later stage of the project — it is the gate on the whole thing. And if the site evaluation comes back badly, you find out before you have a building permit, not after.
Four test pits, and a two-week wait
The site evaluation is the county examining soil profiles in pits you provide. The requirements are more demanding than most:
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| New installations | Four pits — two for the primary dispersal area, two for the reserve area |
| Repairs or expansions | Two pits are sufficient |
| Spacing | Roughly 50 feet apart, and no more than 100 feet |
| Setback | All pits at least 100 feet from wells and surface water |
| Sloped sites | Two pits upslope, two downslope |
| Access | A sloping entrance or, on wet or saturated sites, a stepped entrance |
| Turnaround | Reports may take up to two weeks after the pits are evaluated |
You may hire an excavator or dig them yourself if you have the equipment, and the county tells you to call 811 for locates first. Before the visit you must clearly mark or flag the proposed home location, any additional structures, the existing or proposed well, any utilities or easements, and the access route.
One weather clause is worth knowing in advance: if high water conditions are present, the sanitarian may require a wet season evaluation under WAC 246-272A-0220(4). As in other counties with seasonal water tables, that turns a fee problem into a calendar problem.
Non-refundable, and one year. The application says it plainly: once submitted for review, all fees are non-refundable, and the site evaluation is non-refundable once the service has been rendered. Separately, every on-site septic permit is valid for one year and needs a $150 renewal once it expires.
Klickitat already has a property transfer rule
Most counties we have looked at have nothing in local code about selling a house on septic. Klickitat does. County code 8.10.180(A)(8)(a) requires the owner, at the time of property transfer, to give the buyer:
- maintenance records, if available, and
- the completed seller disclosure statement under chapter 64.06 RCW for residential real property transfers.
Read carefully, that is a paperwork duty, not an inspection. Nobody has to come out and look at the system. It is the current statewide baseline written into local code.
What makes it interesting is where it sits. That same subsection of the state rule — WAC 246-272A-0270, which the county’s own program page links to for owner responsibilities — is the one that changes on February 1, 2027 to add a third-party inspection authorized by the local health officer, submitted on an approved form. Klickitat is pointing residents at the exact rule that is about to change, without flagging the change.
We found no county announcement of the 2027 requirement anywhere, and no mention of 2027 in chapter 8.10. If you are selling here in 2027, the county’s existing transfer paragraph is the place the new obligation will most naturally land.
Keeping the system after it is in
The county’s maintenance expectations follow the state pattern, and are written into 8.10.180: a complete evaluation of system components at least every three years for a septic tank and gravity drainfield, and annually for everything else unless the health officer requires more. Owners must get approval before repairing, altering or expanding, employ an approved pumper when solids warrant it, and keep the tank, absorption area and reserve area free of impervious materials, surface drainage, compaction and soil removal.
Unlike some neighbors, Klickitat writes its own substantive code rather than adopting the state rule wholesale — chapter 8.10 runs to 27 sections covering design, installation, inspections, record drawings, repairs, expansions, abandonment, septage and subdivisions.
Subdividing
If you are dividing land where septic systems are planned, 8.10.230 requires a recommendation for approval from the health officer under RCW 58.17.159, plus site evaluations, at least one soil log per proposed lot unless the health officer accepts existing soils information, and a minimum lot size determined from the county’s table. Where individual wells are proposed, each lot must either fit a 100-foot water supply protection radius inside its own lot lines or establish that protection zone around each well site.
What we could not source
- Any county statement about the February 1, 2027 statewide transfer inspection. Nothing on the program pages, nothing in chapter 8.10.
- A consolidated county fee schedule. The fees above are printed on the application forms; we did not find a single published schedule listing them together, so confirm before paying.
- The cost of the WOSSA homeowner installer test, and how often it is offered. The county names the requirement but not the logistics.
- The minimum land area table referenced in 8.10.230. The code points to a table for minimum lot size; we did not retrieve its values and are not going to guess them.
- Fees for non-gravity systems. The published application covers gravity installations; pressure and alternative system pricing was not found.
- How many on-site systems are in the county. Not published anywhere we could find.
The practical bits
| Goldendale office | 115 W. Court Street, Goldendale, WA 98620 — (509) 773-4565 |
| White Salmon office | 501 NE Washington, White Salmon, WA 98672 — (509) 493-1558 |
| Parcel numbers | County Assessor, (509) 773-3715 |
| Provider list | Licensed septic installers and pumpers, updated June 2026 |
| Financial help | Craft3, for replacing a failed system |
Sources
- Klickitat County Health Department, On-Site Septic Program — klickitatcounty.gov
- Klickitat County, Gravity Septic Permit Installation Application — klickitatcounty.gov
- Klickitat County, Site & Soil Evaluation Application — klickitatcounty.gov
- Klickitat County Code chapter 8.10, On-Site Sewage Disposal — library.municode.com
- WAC 246-272A-0270, operation, monitoring and maintenance — owner responsibilities, including the property transfer provisions effective February 1, 2027; WAC 246-272A-0220(4); chapter 64.06 RCW; RCW 58.17.159
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a septic permit cost in Klickitat County?
A standard gravity installation permit is 500 dollars and the site and soil evaluation that must come first is another 500 dollars, so a new build runs about 1,000 dollars in county fees. Replacing a drainfield or expanding a system is 150 dollars if a soil log exists for the site and 500 dollars if it does not. A septic tank replacement is 100 dollars, a permit renewal is 150 dollars, and connecting to a community system is 200 dollars. All fees are non-refundable once submitted for review.
Can I design and install my own septic system in Klickitat County?
Yes, with conditions. If the site evaluation allows a simple gravity system, the resident homeowner may design it. For any other system a licensed designer or engineer is required. A homeowner may also install a simple gravity system, but only after passing the WOSSA homeowner installer test. If the system is not gravity, or you cannot pass the exam, you must hire a licensed installer. Pumping always requires an approved pumper licensed in Klickitat County.
Do I need a septic permit before a building permit in Klickitat County?
Yes. Klickitat County requires proof of adequate wastewater disposal before a building permit is issued for any structure producing wastewater, and the county states that a design is required before a septic permit is issued and a septic permit is required before a building permit is issued. The order is site evaluation, then design, then septic permit, then building permit.
Does Klickitat County require a septic inspection when selling a house?
Not an inspection. County code 8.10.180 requires the owner at the time of property transfer to give the buyer maintenance records if available, plus the completed seller disclosure statement under chapter 64.06 RCW. That is a paperwork duty rather than an inspection. The statewide rule the county cites, WAC 246-272A-0270, adds a third-party inspection requirement on February 1, 2027, but we found no county announcement of that change.