Shorts
What happens if a lot fails the perc test in Arkansas?
A perc test measures how fast water drains through the soil. Fail it and there is no conventional septic approval, and without septic approval there is no building permit. After closing your options shrink to an engineered system (more expensive) or a county variance, which is not guaranteed. Run the test before you sign. Text LAND to (307) 337-9113 for price drops and new lots.
What happens if land fails the perc test?
A failed perc test means the soil drains too slowly for a standard septic field, so the county will not issue a conventional septic permit, and without that permit there is no building permit. After closing you are left with an engineered system at higher cost, or a variance the county does not have to grant.
Why does a failed perc test stop the whole build?
No passing test means no conventional septic approval. No septic approval means no building permit. The lot does not stop being land, it stops being a place you can put a house on, which is usually the only reason you wanted it.
How does a perc test actually work?
Someone certified by the state digs the test holes and floods them with water for at least four hours, so the soil is wet like it would be in winter. Then they measure how far the water drops over a thirty minute period. That drop is the percolation rate.
What percolation rate is too slow to build on?
Arkansas draws the line at a number. Under the state onsite wastewater rules, soil where the percolation rate is slower than 75 minutes per inch is unsuitable for a standard system, and a minimum of two soil pits is required before anyone signs off on the site.
How do you check the soil before you sign?
Before you sign, pull the soil map. USDA Web Soil Survey has maps and data online for more than 95 percent of counties in the country, and it will show you the mapped soil type and drainage class on that tract before you spend a dollar. Then pay for the real test.
Source: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Web Soil Survey
Transcript
Folks, the lot was cheap. Then it failed the septic test. A perc test measures how fast water drains through the soil. No passing test, no conventional septic system. No septic system, no building permit. Fail it after closing and your options are an engineered system, more expensive, or a county variance, which is not guaranteed. Before you sign, the test takes a few hours of digging and timing drainage. That is the cheaper version of finding out. Check soil first. It's on screen.
Sources
Lots you can look at right now
- 0.35 Acres Near Crown Lake in Horseshoe Bend, AR (0.35 acres, $2,499 cash or $149 at signing)
- 0.27 Acres, Lot 29, Horseshoe Bend in Horseshoe Bend, AR (0.27 acres, $1,995 cash or $149 at signing)
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