Greetings certified oss contractors,

2/21/24  |  Beginning this year, Snohomish County Health Department will send quarterly newsletters to OSS contractors. These will communicate updates, reminders, and other relevant information. These newsletters will also be posted on our updated For Contractors webpage. For any urgent updates, you may receive an additional newsletter outside of the scheduled quarterly newsletters.

Updates

Health district to health department

Snohomish Health District merged with Snohomish County in 2023, and we are now Snohomish County Health Department. If you have information on your website or other materials that mention “Health District” we would appreciate it if you can update them to say “Snohomish County Health Department” to reduce confusion for the public.

Staffing changes

The land use team has hired several new staff. Below are the names of our newest team members that you may hear from, as well as staff who have left the department. 

• Melanie Benson (permitting) 
• David Viramontes (permitting) 
• Michaela Plumage (permitting) 
• Henry Canafax (monitoring & maintenance) 
• Steve Rice (retired in 2023)

Reminders

For installers

Permits: No installation work can occur until a permit is issued. Make sure you have the permit before you start any construction. 

Backfilling: After installation, backfilling should occur after the system has been reviewed by both the designer and the Health Department. Always check the permit to look for an approval signature from the Health Department before backfilling.

For designers

PTA Changes/Updates: If you receive updated information about a PTA number for a parcel you are working on, please send us the new PTA number by emailing SHD-EHQ@snoco.org. We want to make sure our records show the accurate PTA number if it changes.

General reminders for all

Reporting: All reports should be uploaded to OnlineRME within 30 days from the date of service. If the OSS is failing, the report should be uploaded immediately. 

Limited Repairs: Limited repairs also need to be reported in OnlineRME. If a limited repair was done at the same time as an inspection or pumping, use the comments section in the report to note what repairs were done. For limited repairs completed at another time, submit a follow up/limited repair report. If you aren’t sure what is considered a limited repair, please see Snohomish County Board of Health Code or reach out to us for more info. (*Pumpers can only perform limited repairs on conventional gravity and pump-to-gravity systems.)

Savvy Septic Info for Contractors: If you would like to give information to customers about the Savvy Septic program and other financial assistance options, you can find links and materials to distribute on our Savvy Septic page for contractors.

Contractor Feedback

We also want to know what you’d like to see in these newsletters, on our For Contractors webpage, and your thoughts on an OSS advisory committee. Please click the link below to complete the survey and provide feedback. The survey will remain open through the month of March. 

Click here to complete the survey

Questions? Please contact us!

Email: SHD-EHQ@snoco.org

Call: (425) 339-5250