Every property sold in the City of Pittsburgh needs an Evidence of Compliance Certificate from Pittsburgh Water before it can close. Condos need one too if the unit has its own parcel number. The rule applies to every seller in the city. The risk does not. For most addresses, the certificate is a $20 online application. For a smaller set, it means a plumber's dye test, and a failed test means repairs and a retest before the certificate issues.
Which group you fall into depends on the kind of sewer pipe under the street. Your list price, the condition of the home, and how fast your agent moves don't change it. If the same seller also buys in O'Hara Township or Fox Chapel Borough, the rules change again. Those municipalities don't sort properties by sewer type. They require a test for every sale.
One application, two very different outcomes
The citywide requirement comes from Pittsburgh Code Chapter 433, which covers illegal surface stormwater connections. It traces to Ordinance No. 3-2006, effective April 12, 2006, and was later amended by Ordinance No. 20-2007. The ordinance text bans stormwater connections into sanitary sewers. It requires the seller to obtain Evidence of Compliance, or Temporary Evidence of Compliance, for any property with a building or improvement.
Here is how the process works today, according to Pittsburgh Water's dye testing page:
- The property owner, the real estate agent, or the title company submits the application online and pays a $20 processing fee by credit card. Paper applications are no longer accepted.
- Pittsburgh Water checks whether the property sits in an area served by a sanitary sewer. It replies within 10 business days.
- If the property is in a combined-sewer area, the certificate issues and the sale can proceed.
- If it is in a sanitary-sewer area, a certified plumber or general contractor performs a dye test and submits the results on Pittsburgh Water's form.
- Pittsburgh Water reviews the results and replies within another 10 business days. Any corrective work happens only after that review. A second test then follows.
- The certificate issues through the online portal and stays valid for three years.
The written code describes a shorter timeline. It calls for applications at least 14 days before closing and a certificate within seven days. Pittsburgh Water's own published process uses 10 business days at each review stage, so treat that as the current timeline. Pittsburgh Water also says the total time "will be longer if the property requires a dye test or corrective actions."
Three-quarters of the city never sees a dye tablet
The two paths are so different because of how the city's sewers are built. Pittsburgh Water says that across approximately 75 percent of Pittsburgh, sewage and stormwater flow into the same underground pipes. In those combined-sewer areas, a downspout tied into the sewer is how the system was designed. So no dye test is required, and the owner receives the certificate after submitting the request form.
The test only matters where separate sanitary sewers exist. Those pipes are meant to carry household sewage only. In a dye test, a non-staining dye tablet goes into a drain or downspout and gets flushed with water. Then the sewer is checked for dyed water. If dye shows up, the gutters, driveway drains, or yard drains are feeding rainwater into a line that wasn't built for it. Pittsburgh Water says that can overload the sanitary sewer, back up basements, and pollute nearby streams and rivers.
The tricky part is that you can't sort these areas by neighborhood name. Pittsburgh Water publishes a searchable map that shows identified sanitary-sewer areas in green. It calls the map only a guideline, says it does not confirm whether a test will be required, and says the areas can change with new pipe construction, record updates, and field investigations. Its sewershed tool makes the same point. One example sewershed, Negley Run, covers parts of East Liberty, Highland Park, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, and other neighborhoods. Pittsburgh Water directs users to check a specific location, not to assume an answer for a whole neighborhood.
The pipes themselves also change. In the Strip District, KDKA reported on a project that retires a combined sewer beneath the Terminal Building and installs separate storm and sanitary lines. That's one project, not a reclassification of the whole neighborhood. Still, it shows why Pittsburgh Water makes the call at application time, not from a static list.
What a failed test has cost sellers before
The reason the rule exists, and why some sellers take it seriously, comes from the program's history. When council passed the ordinance in 2006, the Post-Gazette reported that its goal was to keep human waste out of the rivers. At the time, the authority estimated a dye test at $50 to $200, with repairs ranging from incidental to thousands of dollars. Those figures are two decades old. No current cost range turned up in our research, so we won't estimate one.
Later local reporting showed how badly things could go in separate-sewer pockets. A KDKA report described owners in Brookline, Carrick, and Beechview who couldn't sell after failing the test. It said rainwater from about 5,000 city properties was draining into the sanitary sewer, and it tied the requirement to a federal consent order. That report described a $200,000 program of grants and loans to help owners make the fixes. In a 2014 Post-Gazette case, a seller's closing was postponed after the authority asked where the downspout water went, even though an earlier test had passed. The proposed fix involved digging through the front yard and sidewalk.
These are historical accounts, not a picture of today's process. Taken together, they show that the risk has always been concentrated by geography. A seller in a combined-sewer area and a seller in Beechview filed the same form and got very different experiences.
Where condos fit
For the condo owners we work with most, the question is simple. Pittsburgh Water says a condo with its own parcel number needs an Evidence of Compliance Certificate. Whether a test follows depends on the same address-level sewer determination as any other property.
Two details from Pittsburgh Water's FAQ matter in a condo building, where units change hands often:
- Recent certificates can carry over. Submitting the standard application prompts Pittsburgh Water to check whether a test was completed in the last three years. If one was, it sends that existing certificate to the requester.
- Refinances can trigger it too. Pittsburgh Water says a refinance generally needs the certificate if the lender requires tax lien letters, and that it can't determine which refinances do.
Crossing the city line resets the rules
Many of our move-up clients sell a city condo and buy a single-family home in O'Hara or Fox Chapel. That means two sewer certificates under two different systems, often within the same few months. The suburban systems put every seller through the test.
| City of Pittsburgh | O'Hara Township | Fox Chapel Borough | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who gets tested | Only properties Pittsburgh Water places in sanitary-sewer areas | Every sale or transfer, with limited exceptions | Sewer status certification required before a sale |
| Municipal fee | $20 processing fee | $125 for residential buildings | $425 dye-test fee |
| Who runs the test | Certified plumber or general contractor | Registered plumber, witnessed by the Township | Plumber from the borough's registration list |
| Lead time | 10 business days per review stage | Application at least 30 days before closing | Not stated on the borough's form |
| Validity | Three years | One year | Not stated on the borough's form |
O'Hara's sanitary sewer certificate page cites Township Code Chapter 358, Article V. It says the Township won't issue a Municipal Certification letter, also called a no-lien letter, without the sewer certificate. The page also says it is "advisable to have the test done as early as possible in the sale process, as replacement or repairs MUST be made prior to closing." The underlying Ordinance No. 1299 reads differently. It allows up to 180 days to correct identified deficiencies, and it lets the Township issue a temporary certificate in certain weather or foreclosure situations if security is posted and the buyer signs undertakings. Because the township's page and its ordinance don't match, confirm with the Township office early in the sale.
Fox Chapel's requirement comes from Chapter 285, Article III, "Requirement for Certification of Sanitary Sewer Status." The borough's dye test page directs the homeowner or agent to schedule a plumber from the borough's registered list. When bad weather delays a test, the borough's agreement form calls for $1,000 in security and a test within 14 days of borough notice, and it puts any defects on the buyer.
A few distinct questions
Does a City of Pittsburgh sale also need a Certificate of Occupancy? No. The City says a Certificate of Occupancy isn't required to buy or sell property, though a zoning certificate request is part of the transaction. A buyer may need an occupancy permit if the current use differs from the recorded certificate.
Does O'Hara's requirement apply to every kind of transfer? The ordinance exempts transfers between spouses and transfers to a trust whose only beneficiaries are the current owners.
Who can file the city application? The owner, the real estate agent, or the title company. Pittsburgh Water asks applicants not to submit duplicate requests.
If you're selling a city condo and buying in O'Hara or Fox Chapel, New City Pittsburgh can line up both sewer certificate timelines against your closing dates, so neither letter holds up your move. Schedule a free consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
