In 2016 my wife and I bought our 2nd home together to help our family of four get more room to grow. In order to get more for our money, we moved to a property a little further out.
With this came a new septic system as the house was a new build. During the process of building the home, the builder got the permit for the septic system and gave us a copy upon closing.
If you want to learn more about what a septic system is and how it works you can check out our article here.
Fast forward to 2019 and we were due for a septic system service and I wanted to find my permit so I could see what size unit I had before reaching out to a contractor.
So how do you locate your septic permit? Most counties have an Environmental Health Service department which has your septic permit on file and will be happy to email you a copy if you give them the proper information to help find the information quickly.
What are my other options for locating my Septic Permit?
If you are looking for your septic permit you have several options for locating your septic permit. As the homeowner, you can reach out to your builder, look through your closing paperwork, or reach out to your local environmental health service department for a copy.
Once you locate the permit, I recommend adding to a binder for your home related appliances, projects etc,. This should prevent you from running around trying to locate it the next time you need that information.
Reach out to your builder
If you purchased a new construction home, you could reach out to the builder and ask for a copy of the permit. In most cases, the builder should be keeping a copy of the septic permit in their files for your home.
Depending on your builder, you may even have the paperwork in a binder with your home related items. Our builder supplied a binder that had paperwork on our septic, propane tank, appliances and building materials of the home.
Look through your closing paperwork.
If you didn’t receive paperwork from your builder or you are purchasing the home as a second (or third, etc.,) there should be paperwork on the septic tank included.
If your home is older there should be an inspection of the septic tank to ensure that it is in working in order. This paperwork should include the necessary information on your septic tank.
If your home is still fairly new you may only receive the permit information on your home in your closing paperwork.
Buying a new home? Make sure to ask if it has a septic and if so, make sure to ask for the permit information and/or inspection information before signing off on the closing.
Reach out to your local county environmental health service department.
If you don’t have an binder with that information, didn’t receive it in the closing paperwork, or like me took it out and misplaced it you still have options.
Open up trusty old Google and type in your county name and environment health service or septic permit. If your county is well organized, you should be able to connect to the online database and search for your permit.
If they don’t have an online platform or the platform is having problems, call the phone number or find the contact email to reach out and ask for help.
In my experience, our local contact was very helpful and simply needed the land parcel number as well as the year the home was built to locate the permit. Shortly thereafter I received a pdf copy via email.
Related Questions
How to read your septic permit?
At first glance, you may find it hard to ready your septic permit. There are a few key things to take away from reviewing your permit and they are the size of the tank and size of the field. Check out our article on how to read your septic permit to find out more.
How do I find my septic tank and leach field.
If you are early enough into the process of building your new home, you should be able to easily identify the location of your septic system by simply taking a look in your yard.
In the event that you are purchasing an older home or you simply forgot where your septic tank was, take a look at your septic permit and there are measurements listed to help you locate your tank as well as your leach field.
What is a septic system and how does it work?
The septic system consists of the septic tank, distribution box, and leach field. Each part of the system serves its own unique purpose and work cohesively together. For a deeper dive into the septic system and its parts, please review our article on that here.