Perc Tests and Soil Evaluations in Texas

Called here: Site Evaluation (TCEQ-licensed Site Evaluator or Professional Engineer) (this state no longer performs a literal perc test)

Texas has no percolation test: the word does not appear in the state's OSSF rules. The required step is a site evaluation under 30 TAC 285.30, last amended effective September 11, 2008. The evaluator digs at least two soil borings or two backhoe pits at opposite ends of the proposed disposal area, classifies the soil by texture into Class Ia through IV, checks for restrictive horizons, and looks for groundwater indications within 24 inches of the excavation bottom, judged from soil morphology rather than a timed water reading. The report joins the planning materials submitted to the permitting authority, which is a local authorized agent (a county, city, river authority, or special district) or, where none exists, the TCEQ regional office. The authority must approve or deny an application within 30 days (30 TAC 285.3(c)). Approval produces an authorization to construct, valid one calendar year. The installer gives at least five working days' notice before the system is ready, the inspection happens within two working days after notice (excluding holidays), and the system may not be used until it is inspected and approved, after which the notice of approval issues.

A permit and an approved plan are required to construct, alter, repair, extend, or operate a system (Health and Safety Code 366.051(a)), and OSSF work done for compensation requires a TCEQ license. The one exemption is Health and Safety Code 366.052: a single residence on a tract of 10 acres or larger, with the field line or sewage disposal line no closer than 100 feet to the property line, needs no permit. That is a permit exemption, not a standards exemption: the effluent must still be retained on site, may not create a nuisance, and may not pollute groundwater, and non-compliant construction remains prohibited (366.004). Enforcement runs through civil and administrative penalties of up to $5,000 per day per violation, and a malfunctioning system can be ordered repaired on 30, then 20, then 10 days' notice. Aerobic systems carry a real recurring maintenance duty, but an authorized agent may not condition a single-family permit on the owner purchasing a maintenance contract; after the initial two-year service policy the owner may self-maintain or contract.

No current published price for a Texas site evaluation could be verified: the websites of two named, licensed Texas evaluation firms were checked directly and neither publishes pricing, and the dollar ranges circulating on SEO content sites are unsourced and unreliable. Permit fees are set locally by each authorized agent, so they vary county to county; the one verified local figure is Comal County's $150 reinspection fee, which is charged only when a system fails inspection and is not a permit or evaluation fee. The practical way to price the work is written quotes from two or three licensed site evaluators, each covering the evaluation, the report, travel, and any follow-up the permitting authority requires. Verify each license through TCEQ's licensing search before hiring.

There is no seasonal window for a Texas site evaluation. Groundwater is judged from drainage mottles in the soil profile, not from a water level observed on a particular date, so the evaluation can be performed at any time of year; nothing in the rule ties it to a season or a rain event. What is time-bound is the permit process: the 30-day application review, the one-year life of the authorization to construct, and the five-working-day notice and two-working-day inspection cadence. There is also no rule-based construction season, though a lot whose soil comes back Class IV clay may need an alternative or aerobic system, and that kind of system carries additional review and design work that lengthens the timeline.

Only two kinds of professionals may perform a Texas site evaluation: a TCEQ-licensed Site Evaluator or a licensed Professional Engineer (30 TAC 285.30, Health and Safety Code 366.071(c)). A professional sanitarian may file the paperwork as the owner's agent but may not perform the evaluation itself. The Site Evaluator credential is layered: an applicant must already hold one of six qualifying licenses (Installer II, Designated Representative, Professional Engineer, Professional Sanitarian, Certified Professional Soil Scientist, or Professional Geoscientist in soil science), then complete Site Evaluator Basic Training and pass the Soil Analysis Exam. The license runs three years with 24 hours of continuing education. Note that in Texas a Designated Representative is the local permitting authority's licensed reviewer, not someone a homeowner hires. Under Government Code Section 552.11765, TCEQ does not publish license holders' contact information without their consent, so most evaluators' phone numbers are not public; the state's license search still verifies every license and lists each evaluator's county.

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), On-Site Sewage Facilities Program · Verify a license