Radon in Pennsylvania · home sales
Pennsylvania radon in a home sale: disclosure and testing rules
Pennsylvania has no radon-specific sale law. Sellers disclose known defects under the general disclosure law, and anyone testing for someone else must be DEP certified. These are the rules, each linked to its source.
What the seller must disclose
- Seller disclosure duty
- A Pennsylvania home seller must disclose known material defects on a property disclosure statement given to the buyer before the sale agreement is signed.Pennsylvania General Assembly, read October 15, 2026
- Hazardous substances on form
- The law lists hazardous substances among the subjects the state disclosure form must cover; the statute itself does not mention radon.Pennsylvania General Assembly, read October 15, 2026
- No duty to investigate
- The disclosure law does not make the seller investigate, so it does not by itself require a radon test before a sale.Pennsylvania General Assembly, read October 15, 2026
How a sale test must be run
- Real estate test safeguards
- A radon test for a real estate deal must use anti-tampering procedures.PA Environmental Quality Board, 2018 final rule text (posted by DEP), read October 15, 2026
- Signed test agreement
- The buyer, seller, occupant or agent in control of the home signs a conditions agreement for the short-term radon test.PA Environmental Quality Board, 2018 final rule text (posted by DEP), read October 15, 2026
- Closed house conditions
- For tests under 96 hours, windows and doors must be kept closed starting at least 12 hours before the test begins.PA Environmental Quality Board, 2018 final rule text (posted by DEP), read October 15, 2026
- Short-term test length
- A short-term radon test runs from 48 hours to 90 days.PA Environmental Quality Board, 2018 final rule text (posted by DEP), read October 15, 2026
- Where the test goes
- Short-term tests go in the lowest livable level of each part of the home that touches the soil.PA Environmental Quality Board, 2018 final rule text (posted by DEP), read October 15, 2026
- No digital monitors in sales
- A national advisory posted by DEP says consumer digital radon monitors should not be used for real estate tests.Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (posted by Pennsylvania DEP), read October 15, 2026
Who may test
- Certification required by law
- Under the Radon Certification Act, only people certified by the state may test for radon or mitigate it in a building in Pennsylvania.Pennsylvania General Assembly, read October 15, 2026
- Placing a test device
- Anyone who places and retrieves a radon test device for someone else, such as a home inspector in a sale, must hold DEP testing certification.Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, read October 15, 2026
- How to verify
- DEP tells the public to check for a current DEP ID card or certificate, because certification status can change between monthly lists.Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, read October 15, 2026
- ID card on the job
- Certified testers, mitigators and listed firm employees must wear their DEP photo ID card while working and show it to a client on request.PA Environmental Quality Board, 2018 final rule text (posted by DEP), read October 15, 2026
Home inspectors and radon work
- Repair ban, radon excepted
- Inspectors may not sell repairs on a house they inspected in the past 12 months, but the ban does not cover radon remediation.Pennsylvania General Assembly, read October 15, 2026
EPA's guidance for buyers and sellers
EPA's Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide applies in every state; the state rules above come first where they differ.
- Three short-term sale options
- For a home sale, EPA's buyer and seller guide accepts any of three short-term testing options to decide whether to fix.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, read October 15, 2026
- Buyer may ask for retest
- A buyer may ask for a new test, for example when the seller's test is more than about two years old.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, read October 15, 2026
- Sale test placement
- In a sale, the test device goes in the lowest level that could be used regularly, finished or not.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, read October 15, 2026
- Contract: who pays mitigation
- EPA suggests buyers consider contract terms for the radon test, including when any mitigation happens and who pays for it.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, read October 15, 2026
Have a number already? Read your result on EPA's scale. Need a licensed mitigator before closing? Pennsylvania's license list. Hiring an inspector for the sale? Pennsylvania home inspector rules.
Sources
- Pennsylvania General Assembly, read October 15, 2026.
- PA Environmental Quality Board, 2018 final rule text (posted by DEP), read October 15, 2026.
- Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (posted by Pennsylvania DEP), read October 15, 2026.
- Pennsylvania General Assembly, read October 15, 2026.
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, read October 15, 2026.
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, read October 15, 2026.
- Pennsylvania General Assembly, read October 15, 2026.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, read October 15, 2026.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, read October 15, 2026.
This page explains the rules; it is not legal advice for a particular contract.