Well and Water Quality Testing
A well water test in an Oregon sale is a seller legal duty, not an optional inspection, and the home inspection does not cover it.
A well and water quality test in Oregon is governed by statute when a home with a domestic well is sold. The seller must test for arsenic, nitrate and total coliform bacteria and report the results. The home inspection does not cover wells or on-site water quality.
A statute, not a checklist item
Oregon is unusual in making well testing at sale a legal duty. The requirement falls on the seller, triggers on acceptance of an offer, and names three contaminants: arsenic, nitrate and total coliform bacteria.
The results go to the Oregon Health Authority and to the buyer within 90 days. OAR 333-061-0325 states the test cannot be waived even with buyer consent, and results stay valid for one year when tied to the sale.
What the home inspection does with a well
Nothing beyond the visible plumbing. Wells and water quality are not among the ten categories in OAR chapter 812 division 8, and the inspection is visual by rule.
A flow or yield test and the laboratory water test are separate engagements. The statutory test covers three contaminants; a buyer may choose to test for more.
Asked and answered
Two separate things. First, the statutory test: Oregon law requires the seller to test a domestic well for arsenic, nitrate and total coliform and report the results. Second, what the law does not cover: well yield, pump condition and any contaminant beyond those three. The home inspection covers none of this, since wells sit outside the ten categories.
A store-bought kit is a screen, not a record. For a sale, OAR 333-061-0325 names arsenic, nitrate and total coliform bacteria and requires the results to reach OHA and the buyer within 90 days. Those are laboratory analyses, and the rule says the test cannot be waived. A home kit can prompt a question; it cannot satisfy the seller duty.
Questions are taken verbatim from live Google People Also Ask results for this inspection type. Answers rest on Oregon rule text and the records cited above.