If you’re selling a Texas home served by a septic tank or aerobic treatment unit, the TAR 1407 form is the on-site sewer facility disclosure you complete alongside the statutory seller’s disclosure. You fill in three short sections describing the system, its maintenance history, and the documents you can hand over, then sign and deliver it to the buyer on or before the contract’s effective date. The form itself is available only through a licensed Texas REALTORS® member, so your agent will provide it.
When the Form Applies
Any residential property of one dwelling unit or fewer that uses an on-site sewage facility rather than a municipal sewer connection triggers the disclosure. That covers conventional gravity septic tanks, aerobic treatment units with spray or drip distribution, and any other non-standard system regulated under TCEQ rules. A vacant home with a septic tank still counts.
TAR 1407 supplements the seller’s disclosure notice required by Texas Property Code Section 5.008. The statutory notice asks yes-or-no questions about whether a septic system exists and whether you know of defects; TAR 1407 fills in the operational detail a buyer actually needs.
Section 5.008 doesn’t reach every transfer. Court-ordered sales, foreclosures, transfers by a bankruptcy trustee, sales by a fiduciary administering an estate or trust, transfers between co-owners or spouses, conveyances to family in the direct line of descent, transfers to or from a government entity, and sales of a new residence that has never been occupied are exempt. So are properties where the dwelling’s value is five percent or less of the total. If your sale falls in one of those buckets, the form isn’t required, though many sellers still provide it as a matter of good practice.
Section A: Describing the System
Section A captures the physical characteristics of the system. Every field allows an “Unknown” response, and Section 5.008(d) requires only that you complete the notice to the best of your belief and knowledge. Marking “Unknown” when you genuinely don’t have the information is fine. Marking it to avoid disclosing something you do know is not.
- Type of treatment system. Check Septic Tank, Aerobic Treatment, or Unknown. Sprinkler heads in the yard or a drip-line network indicate aerobic treatment. A buried tank feeding a gravity drain field is a conventional septic tank.
- Type of distribution system. How treated wastewater leaves the system: a traditional drain field (leach field), surface spray heads, or subsurface drip tubing.
- Approximate location of the drain field or distribution system. Describe its position relative to the house, for example “east side of property, approximately 40 feet from the back wall.” If you have a site map from the original installation, reference it.
- Installer. The company or individual who originally installed the system. Your closing documents from when you bought the home, or the installation permit filed with your county or local TCEQ-authorized agent, should show this.
- Approximate age. Your best estimate of the installation date, usually available from the permit or the original planning materials.
Section B: Maintenance Information
Section B has four questions, and this is where a buyer will focus.
B-1, maintenance contract. Indicate whether a maintenance contract is currently in effect, and provide the contractor’s name and phone number and the contract’s expiration date. A note printed on the form warns that maintenance contracts must be in effect to operate aerobic treatment and certain non-standard systems. Under TCEQ rules, aerobic systems require a maintenance provider to inspect the system and submit a report to the local permitting authority at least once every four months, or every six months if the system uses electronic monitoring that automatically notifies the provider of failures. If your contract has lapsed, disclose that. The buyer will find out anyway once they call the provider or the county.
B-2, last pumping date. Write the approximate date any tanks were last pumped. Conventional tanks generally need pumping every three to five years depending on household size and tank capacity. If you’ve never had it pumped or don’t remember, say so honestly.
B-3, known defects or malfunctions. If you answer “Yes,” you must explain. Things worth disclosing include sewage backing up into the house, standing water or foul smells near the tank or drain field, unusually green or spongy grass over system components, slow drains throughout the house, and gurgling from plumbing fixtures. Well water tests showing elevated coliform bacteria or nitrates can also indicate the system is leaching improperly treated wastewater. The form’s own language reminds the buyer that sellers aren’t experts and encourages an independent inspection, so disclose what you know without trying to diagnose.
B-4, manufacturer or warranty information. Check Yes or No. If you still have the owner’s manual, warranty card, or equipment specifications for a pump, aerator, or control panel, indicate that and make the documents available.
A Note on Aerobic Contracts
Aerobic and certain non-standard systems must have a valid maintenance contract at all times under 30 TAC Chapter 285. A new system comes with an initial two-year service policy from the installer, running from the date the system is first used (the sale date, for a new home) or from the date the permitting authority issues the notice of approval for a system installed on an existing property. After that, the homeowner is responsible for keeping an active contract with a licensed provider. Because TAR 1407 asks for the contractor’s name, phone number, and contract expiration, a buyer can verify the contract’s status directly, so answer accurately.
Section C: Documents to Attach
Section C is a checklist. Check every box that applies, and attach copies of what you have:
- Planning materials submitted to obtain the original installation permit, typically the site evaluation, soil analysis, and system design drawings.
- The permit for the original installation.
- The final inspection report from when the OSSF was installed.
- The current maintenance contract.
- Manufacturer information: manuals or spec sheets.
- Warranty information, active or expired.
If you can’t locate a document, don’t check the box. The form also notes that the buyer may need to transfer the OSSF operating permit into their own name after closing, which happens through the county or local authorized agent that administers TCEQ’s on-site sewage rules. Flagging the permit’s existence here saves the buyer from scrambling after the sale.
Site maps showing the physical location of the tank, distribution lines, and drain field are especially useful, because they keep a buyer from driving over a buried tank, planting trees whose roots could crack pipes, or building on the drain field. Attach one if you have it, even though the form doesn’t specifically list site maps as a checkbox item.
Signing and Delivering on Time
Both sellers sign and date the bottom. The form then goes to the buyer, who signs the receipt acknowledgment confirming they’ve reviewed the information. The seller signatures certify accuracy; the buyer signature creates proof you met the obligation.
Timing matters. Section 5.008(f) requires the seller to deliver the disclosure on or before the effective date of the contract. If the contract goes effective before the buyer has the disclosure, the buyer can terminate for any reason within seven days of finally receiving it. That termination window is the practical reason to complete TAR 1407 early. A buyer who opens the form and sees an expired maintenance contract or an undisclosed malfunction inside those seven days can walk away without needing to justify the decision. Delivering before the contract goes effective closes that window entirely.
Most agents deliver electronically through transaction management platforms that timestamp when each party opens and signs. Certified mail or in-person handoff also works. Electronic delivery just leaves a cleaner audit trail. Keep a copy either way.
Where to Find Missing Information
Sellers who can’t locate their installation permit, site plan, or maintenance records have a few places to look. The county or local governmental entity that serves as TCEQ’s authorized agent for on-site sewage facilities typically keeps copies of permits, site evaluations, and inspection reports. Start with the county health department or environmental services office. Some counties post records online; others take in-person or written requests.
For maintenance history on aerobic systems, the maintenance provider submits reports to the local permitting authority after every visit, so that office should have copies going back as far as the reporting requirement has applied. Each report is due within 14 days of the test date. The maintenance tag or identification marker that providers install on the system at the beginning of each contract is another quick reference, since it gets punched or marked at each visit and gives you a rough service timeline.
If the system dates back decades and no records exist anywhere, mark the relevant fields “Unknown.” The statute protects sellers who genuinely lack the information, provided they say so on the notice. It does not protect a seller who has the information, or has reason to know it, and conceals it. A buyer who later discovers an undisclosed defect the seller knew about has grounds for a fraud or misrepresentation claim, which can carry liability for repair costs and potentially rescission of the sale.