The dye test — the Pittsburgh closing delay nobody warns you about

Here's a scenario I've watched play out more than once. Everything is going well. Inspection is behind you, the appraisal came in, the lender is clear to close. Then, about ten days out, somebody asks whether the dye test has been done — and the answer is no.

Now you're scheduling a municipal test, waiting on a certificate, and possibly finding out a downspout is connected to the wrong pipe. Your closing date moves.

This is one of the most Pittsburgh things about buying and selling here, and almost nobody explains it up front.

What a dye test actually is

Sanitary sewers are supposed to carry wastewater from inside the house. Storm drainage — roof downspouts, driveway drains, yard drains — is supposed to go somewhere else. In a lot of older housing stock, it doesn't. Somewhere along the way, a downspout got tied into the sanitary line.

That's an illegal connection, and it matters because every gallon of rainwater dumped into the sanitary system is a gallon the treatment plant has to handle. Multiply by thousands of houses in a heavy storm and you get overflows.

So municipalities test for it. A technician runs colored dye through the storm drainage and watches where it comes out. If it shows up in the sanitary line, you have a problem to fix. If it doesn't, you get a certificate.

And in most of Allegheny County, you can't sell the house without that certificate.

The rules are different in every municipality

This is the part that catches people. There is no single county-wide rule. Each municipality wrote its own ordinance, and they genuinely differ — in who tests, how long the certificate lasts, and how much lead time you need.

Two examples of how far apart they can be:

City of Pittsburgh. All property owners selling within the city must comply with the dye testing ordinance before the property can be sold. The owner, agent, or title company can submit the application; there's a $20 processing fee, and Pittsburgh Water responds within 10 business days. An Evidence of Compliance Certificate is good for three years. Properties in combined sewer areas — where the system is built to take both sewage and stormwater — are exempt.

McCandless. The ordinance requires anyone selling, transferring, or assigning property to apply at least 14 days before the date of sale, and the McCandless Township Sanitary Authority or an ACHD-licensed plumber it designates performs the test within 14 days of that application. MTSA's fees run $50 per request for the certification paperwork, $75 for the exterior test, and $50 for interior inspection — plus $60 if nobody's home when the technician arrives. Once issued, the certification is good for the life of the building, until the property sells again.

Read those two side by side and you'll see the trap. Pittsburgh's certificate expires after three years; McCandless's effectively doesn't. Pittsburgh's process is measured in business days; McCandless writes a two-week minimum directly into the ordinance.

Franklin Park, Hampton, Fox Chapel, Brentwood, Baldwin, South Fayette — they each have their own version. Baldwin, for instance, wants a lien letter, a dye test and a sewer camera inspection, and an occupancy inspection and permit before you can sell. Some municipalities require an occupancy inspection on every resale. Others, McCandless included, only require one for new construction or major renovation.

There is no shortcut here. You have to know what your municipality requires.

Why it derails closings

Three reasons, in order of how often I see them.

It gets remembered late. Nothing about a dye test comes up during showings or inspection. It surfaces when the title company builds the file — which is usually well into the contract period.

The lead time is real. If your ordinance says fourteen days before the date of sale and you're twelve days out, you are already behind, and no amount of urgency fixes it. Add scheduling, the test itself, and the certificate being issued.

Sometimes it fails. Then you need a licensed plumber to correct the connection and a retest. Depending on what's wrong, that's anywhere from a modest repair to excavation. Costs vary enough that I won't quote a number — get an actual estimate — but the schedule impact is the bigger problem for most people.

What to do about it

If you're selling: find out your municipality's requirement before you list, not after you're under contract. Call the borough or township office, or the sanitary authority that serves you. If a test is required, get it done early. A clean certificate in hand before you have a buyer removes the whole problem, and in places like McCandless that certificate keeps working for the life of the building.

If you're buying: ask who's responsible for the dye test in your municipality and make sure the contract says so. It's usually the seller, but "usually" isn't "always," and finding out at the closing table is a bad time to negotiate it.

Either way: ask early enough that a two-week requirement is an inconvenience rather than a crisis.

The honest summary

This isn't complicated. It's just invisible until it isn't, and it's the kind of local detail that never shows up in a national article about buying a house. If you're moving within Allegheny County, it's worth ten minutes of attention at the start rather than a delayed closing at the end.

If you want, tell me your address and I'll find out exactly what your municipality requires and how long it takes. That's a phone call I'm happy to make, and it costs you nothing.

Sources: Pittsburgh Water (City of Pittsburgh dye testing ordinance, fee, validity period, combined-sewer exemption) · McCandless Township Sanitary Authority (current fee schedule) · Town of McCandless Article 915 (Certification of Sanitary Sewer Status) · Baldwin Borough (resale requirements).

Municipal ordinances and fees change, and every municipality is different. Confirm current requirements with your borough, township, or sanitary authority before relying on anything here. This is general information, not legal advice.