We are selling a Saratoga house that is still on septic. What has to happen before escrow closes?

It depends on the distance to the public sewer. Within 200 feet of an available approved sewer, Section 7-10.070 requires the connection to be provided for, to the Health Officer's satisfaction, before the sale closes. Farther away, the system needs an inspection by a registered civil engineer, a registered environmental health specialist or another qualified person, with the report submitted to the Health Officer.

Does a laundry-to-landscape system in Saratoga need a permit?

Not if it is a simple clothes washer system discharging less than 250 gallons a day. A bigger or more complex graywater system needs a permit, drawings and a percolation and mantle test, and the city then requires a reduced pressure backflow assembly on the water supply, which in turn means expansion tanks on the water heaters.

Will San Jose Water keep testing the backflow device on our irrigation line?

Only until the end of 2026. From January 1, 2027, the company stops routine testing of customer-owned assemblies, and the owner arranges the yearly test with a qualified tester and submits the report. San Jose Water says it will send each affected customer the assembly to be tested, the deadline and reporting instructions before the first test falls due.

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Free to request, and you agree the scope and price with the person you hire before work starts. In California, a job over $1,000 in labor and materials, or one that needs a building permit, must be done by a contractor licensed by the CSLB in the right class. Ask for the license number and check it at cslb.ca.gov.

Permits and local rules

The code sections a Saratoga septic or sewer job answers to

Section 7-10.070: septic and the transfer of ownership
Saratoga adopted the county's sewage disposal code and added this section to it. No one may transfer more than 50 percent of the ownership of a building on a private on-site sewage disposal system within 200 feet of an available approved public sewer without first providing for its connection to that sewer, to the Health Officer's satisfaction, as a condition of closing escrow. Farther from the sewer, the sale needs the inspection and written report described above instead.
City of Saratoga Municipal Code, Article 7-10 (opens in a new tab)
Sections 7-10.080 and 7-10.090: orders to connect
The Health Officer can order an owner whose property sits within 200 feet of an available public sewer to connect, or vacate, within a set period of no more than 180 days. An owner wanting more time submits an inspection report within 45 days, or the city records a notice of non-compliance. A system judged adequate can stay for up to five years under a recorded covenant to connect. Once a substandard system is recorded, no improvement, an addition included, can be approved while it operates.
City of Saratoga Municipal Code, Article 7-10 (opens in a new tab)
Two sanitary districts, two permit desks
West Valley Sanitation District takes permit requests through an online form after the city building permit has been applied for, then issues its permit at a counter appointment. The Cupertino Sanitary District asks for a sewer permit request letter by email and charges fees separate from the city's, payable before any sewer work begins. Each district can confirm whether an address is in its service area, which is the first thing to settle before a lateral or connection is priced.
Cupertino Sanitary District (opens in a new tab)

State license for this work: C-36 Plumbing, C-42 Sanitation System. Look up a contractor's license on the CSLB website (cslb.ca.gov).

The work

Work that Saratoga's handouts and code set out in detail

A water heater replacement to the city's checklist
Saratoga requires a permit for every water heater installation, replacements included, and issues replacement permits over the counter. Its inspection sheet is stricter than many: two straps, in the upper and lower thirds, the lower one at least 4 inches above the controls, a third strap on any unit over 52 gallons, each wrapped fully around the tank and lag-bolted into framing, and plumbing tape is not accepted. The relief valve drain runs outside and ends 6 to 24 inches above the ground, pointing down, and the inspector checks the bonding of metallic water and gas piping.
Laundry-to-landscape and larger graywater systems
A simple clothes washer system discharging less than 250 gallons a day needs no permit. Anything more complex needs a permit, drawings and specifications, and a percolation and mantle test before work begins, and it must stay 10 feet from a property line, 5 feet from the water service and 50 feet from streams. The city also requires a reduced pressure principle backflow assembly whenever a graywater system goes in, which closes the water system and brings expansion tanks on every water heater.
A septic inspection before the house is sold
Where the nearest approved public sewer is more than 200 feet away, Saratoga's code bars selling or transferring more than half the ownership of a property on septic without first having the system inspected. The inspector, a registered civil engineer, a registered environmental health specialist or someone the Health Officer finds qualified, reports whether the system complies with the code, and the report goes to the Health Officer as a condition of closing escrow.
Backflow assemblies on irrigated lots
From January 1, 2027, San Jose Water will stop testing customer-owned backflow prevention assemblies. The yearly test stays mandatory, so owners will arrange it with a qualified tester and send the report to the utility by the deadline it sets. The same lots answer to Valley Water's 2023 water waste ordinance: no overhead irrigation from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., no more than incidental runoff onto walks, streets or a neighbor's lot, and no running water through a broken fixture or sprinkler after a written notice to repair it.

Copper pipe fittings: elbows, a tee, reducers and couplings. Photo: Torsten Bätge, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The houses here

Pre-1979 houses on a blended supply, some lots beyond the sewer

Saratoga's 2023-2031 Housing Element reports that most of the city's homes were built before 1979, which puts much of the original supply and drain piping well past forty years old. Water arrives from San Jose Water as a blend: roughly 40 percent groundwater pumped from more than 100 wells in the Santa Clara basin, about half imported surface water bought from Valley Water, and some 10 percent local mountain water collected in the Santa Cruz Mountains and treated at the company's two plants. The Element notes the three are often mixed in the distribution system, so the source at a given tap shifts from day to day. And where no public sewer is within reach, the city's code still sets standards for private septic systems.

Part by part

Saratoga addresses where the sewer story changes

Cupertino Sanitary District territory, Prospect Road to Pierce Road
The district's boundary map shows its Saratoga service starting at Prospect Road and running south along both sides of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, with a reach out Pierce Road. Here a backup call goes to that district, which repairs the lateral under the street only where an accessible, serviceable cleanout sits at the property line.
Hillside lots under the Hillside Specific Plan
The city's 2023 General Plan environmental report says the Hillside Specific Plan requires new homes on newly created lots to connect to a sanitary sewer. Where a septic system is the only feasible choice, county standards apply: a site assessment, soil analysis and percolation testing. Conventional systems are barred on slopes over 30 percent, any system over 50 percent, and slopes between 20 and 50 percent need a geotechnical report.

Timing

Work hours and the life of a Saratoga permit

Construction may run from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office cites violations. Sundays and weekday holidays are closed, except 9 to 5 for residential work that needs no city permit, or that holds one and stays under half of the existing structure. A permit lapses if work has not started within 12 months, and each approved inspection restarts a 180-day clock. The permit center closes Tuesdays from 11:30 to noon and every other Friday.

Before you hire

Questions that decide a Saratoga plumbing scope

Is the house on sewer or septic, and if septic, how far is the nearest public sewer from the property line?
Which district serves our address, West Valley or Cupertino Sanitary, and who will file that district's permit?
Will the water heater get metal straps lag-bolted into framing, since Saratoga does not accept plumbing tape?
For graywater beyond laundry-to-landscape, who runs the percolation test and specifies the reduced pressure backflow assembly?
Is your C-36 Plumbing license current on cslb.ca.gov? The class also covers connecting on-site waste disposal systems.

Still deciding?

Why does our Saratoga water seem harder in some weeks than others?

Because the source can change. Saratoga gets a blend of well water, Valley Water's imported surface water and local mountain water, and the Housing Element notes the mix at a tap shifts day to day. San Jose Water's 2025 report shows the gap: about 99 ppm of hardness for Valley Water's supply, 151 for the mountain water and an average of 288 for the wells.

Can a Saratoga water heater permit be issued online yet?

Replacement permits are issued over the counter today. The Building Division's express permits, which run on Symbium and are issued automatically once fees are paid, currently cover solar, panel upgrades and EV chargers, and the city lists water heaters among the types it says are coming. The same page notes the Air District rules phasing out sales of standard gas water heaters as early as 2027.

Keep exploring

More on plumbing work and Saratoga

Plumbing in other cities

Other trades in Saratoga

Guides and smaller jobs

Where this page belongs

Where these facts come from

Checked against these public sources in October 2026. Rules and programs change: confirm permit requirements with the city before work starts, and a contractor's license on the CSLB website.

library.municode.com: code of ordinances
saratoga.ca.us: building (saratoga.ca.us)
saratoga.ca.us: Frequently Asked Questions (saratoga.ca.us)
saratoga.ca.us: Construction Work Hours (saratoga.ca.us)
saratoga.ca.us: Express Permitting (saratoga.ca.us)
saratoga.ca.us: Utilities (saratoga.ca.us)
saratoga.ca.us: Water Heater Saratoga (saratoga.ca.us)
saratoga.ca.us: Gray Water Systems Submittal and Expection (saratoga.ca.us)
saratoga.ca.us: Section 2 Housing Needs Assessment PDF (saratoga.ca.us)
saratoga.ca.us: Section 4 Constraints PDF (saratoga.ca.us)
saratoga.ca.us: Saratoga Draft EIR PDF (saratoga.ca.us)
wvsdca.gov: District Service Area (wvsdca.gov)

Saratoga plumbing between two sewer districts and a septic rule at sale

What Saratoga owners ask about septic, sewers and water

Get quotes for plumbing work in Saratoga

The code sections a Saratoga septic or sewer job answers to

Section 7-10.070: septic and the transfer of ownership

Sections 7-10.080 and 7-10.090: orders to connect

Two sanitary districts, two permit desks

Work that Saratoga's handouts and code set out in detail

A water heater replacement to the city's checklist

Laundry-to-landscape and larger graywater systems

A septic inspection before the house is sold

Backflow assemblies on irrigated lots