What the City requires before a property changes hands, and how the dye test actually works.
Chapter 951 of Eastlake's codified ordinances covers sewer, apron and sidewalk inspection on the sale of property. Before a transfer, the property has to be inspected and a Certificate of Inspection issued.
The sewer portion is a dye test. Water carrying dye is introduced into the sanitary and storm systems — including downspouts and outside drains — and watched to confirm each one discharges where it is supposed to. What it is really looking for is cross-connection: storm water plumbed into the sanitary sewer, or the reverse.
The City is careful to note that a Certificate of Inspection is its best effort to make known the violations it found at the time of inspection. It is not a warranty that the property is free of other defects.
This trips people up regularly. The City of Eastlake is not responsible for performing the test. Arrangements are made by the property owner or their agent with a private sewer contractor, and the contractor's fee is separate from the City's application fee.
So there are two costs, not one: what you pay the City to apply, and what you pay whoever does the testing.
Fees change. Confirm the current amount with the Service Department before you budget.
A failed inspection does not have to stop a sale. If the violations cannot be corrected before transfer, they can be placed in escrow instead.
Two numbers matter there. The escrow has to be funded at one and a half times the estimated cost of the corrections — so the estimate you bring to closing directly sets how much cash is tied up. And corrections in escrow must be completed within 90 days of the Certificate of Inspection being issued.
That 90-day clock is the part worth planning around. Ninety days is comfortable for a lateral repair booked promptly and tight if the estimate arrives late, the escrow is argued over, or the work needs the street opened.
Our practical advice: dye test early in the listing process, not once you are under contract. A failure found in week one is a repair. The same failure found five days before closing is a negotiation.
Dye testing for Eastlake point-of-sale inspections, scheduled around the City's Thursday and Friday testing days.
A camera survey shows why a line failed, which is what an estimate has to be built on.
CIPP lining seals failed joints without excavating the yard or the driveway.
Hydro-jetting and vac truck services for lines that need clearing before they can be tested or lined.
33050 Lakeland Blvd
Eastlake, OH 44095
440-290-6055
Dispatched 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Lake County, Ohio: Eastlake, Willoughby, Willowick, Wickliffe and Mentor
Municipal requirements change. Every factual claim on this page is sourced below so you can check it yourself, and we re-verify these quarterly. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Last verified 15 August 2026.
