Dahl Septic Services · Septic Permits

Septic Permits in NC: County Offices and State Rules

In North Carolina, septic permits come from the environmental health office in your county. Here’s who to contact in the six counties we work in, what each office handles, and how the state rules fit in.

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How it works

How septic permits work in North Carolina

Septic permits in NC are issued by environmental health staff at the county level, working under the state’s on-site wastewater rules. Each county runs its own office, phone line and application system, so the first step is knowing which county your property is in. For a new system, the steps usually go like this:

Soil and site evaluation. An Environmental Health Specialist or Licensed Soil Scientist checks the soil and the site to see whether, and where, a system can go. Some counties ask the owner to have a backhoe and operator there for the visit.
Improvement Permit. If the site is suitable, the county issues an Improvement Permit for the approved area.
Construction Authorization. This is needed before the system is installed and before a building permit is issued.
Installation and inspection. The system is installed to the permit, then inspected and approved before it is covered and put into service.

Repairs, expansions and building near an existing system have their own steps. Union County, for example, requires an existing-system inspection before additions such as bedrooms, decks, garages and pools, and Cabarrus Health Alliance has an Existing System Approval for sheds, pools and reconnecting to a system.

Before you apply

Which county is your property in?

Permits follow the county the parcel sits in, and a mailing address doesn’t always tell you that. The 28104 ZIP code on many Matthews addresses also covers Stallings and Weddington in Union County, and Locust reaches from Stanly County into Cabarrus. Check the county tax or GIS record for the parcel before you apply.

What to have ready when you apply

Each county sets its own application checklist, so read your county’s page before you apply. These items come straight from the county pages and forms:

A complete application. Anson County returns incomplete applications, so fill in every required section.
A site plan. Mecklenburg County asks for a site plan drawn to scale showing the proposed house or building, grading and paving limits, decks, walkways and other buildings. Anson County asks for a property map with measurements and a site plan you draw yourself, showing the proposed house with distances from the road and property lines, the driveway, any wells, other structures such as garages, barns or pools, and where you’d like the septic system to go.
The deed or a recorded plat. Anson County asks for a copy of the deed with a property description, or the recorded plat map.
Plans to split the land. If the property is being subdivided, Anson County asks you to show the new property lines and won’t issue a Construction Authorization until the land is surveyed and the deed is recorded.
Not the owner yet? On Anson County’s application, if you don’t own the property you can apply only for an Improvement Permit.
The lot marked for the visit. In Mecklenburg County, the proposed house location and the property lines are marked on the lot for the soil evaluation.

Is a soil evaluation the same as a perc test?

It’s often called a perc test. In North Carolina, the county’s Environmental Health Specialist or a Licensed Soil Scientist does a soil and site evaluation. Mecklenburg County describes it this way: soils are checked with hand auger borings and sometimes backhoe pits, and the site’s topography is evaluated too, because it affects how a system is designed and installed.

Union County

Union County septic permits

Union County Environmental Health’s On-site Water Protection Program, based in Monroe, does the soil and site evaluations, issues septic permits, handles repairs and performs existing-system inspections. Phone: 704-283-3553. Applications, payments and status tracking run through the county’s online MyHD Dashboard.

For a new-system evaluation, the applicant arranges for a backhoe and operator to be on site at the scheduled time. Existing-system inspections are by request and are required before new construction on a property with a septic system, and underground utilities need to be marked first. Union County also runs the state’s Operation and Maintenance program for systems such as low-pressure pipe (LPP), pretreatment and pump systems.

Union County official septic page · Our work there: septic services in Union County

Stanly County

Stanly County septic permits

Stanly County Environmental Health is at the Stanly County Commons in Albemarle. Phone: 704-986-3675. Applications go through the county’s Central Permitting office (704-986-3667), which processes permits through its OpenGov online platform.

Central Permitting won’t process an application without an address. Inside the City of Albemarle, the Town of Richfield or the Town of Oakboro, the city or town assigns the address. Older septic permits can be searched on the county website by tax record number, or by the owner’s name when the home was built. The county notes it won’t have a record for a property built before 1973 unless septic work was done later.

Stanly County official septic page · Our work there: septic services in Stanly County

Mecklenburg County

Mecklenburg County septic permits

Mecklenburg County Public Health’s Groundwater and Wastewater Services, in Charlotte, handles plan review, permits and evaluations for septic systems and private wells. Phone: 980-314-1680. Septic, well and subsurface investigation applications can be submitted online through Accela, and the county posts septic permit records online.

The county’s steps for a new system start with an Improvement Permit application and a site plan drawn to scale, followed by a soil and site evaluation. The county advises owners not to cut, clear, excavate or otherwise disturb the property before talking with the soil scientist.

Mecklenburg County official septic page · Our work there: septic services in Mecklenburg County

Cabarrus County

Cabarrus County septic permits

In Cabarrus County, septic permits come from the Environmental Health division of Cabarrus Health Alliance. Environmental Health front desk: 704-920-1207. New soil evaluations, septic expansions and repairs, and Existing System Approvals (for sheds, swimming pools or reconnecting to an existing system) are applied for through the Accela Citizen Portal.

Septic and well records are requested with a records form on the Cabarrus Health Alliance website.

Cabarrus County official septic page · Our work there: septic services in Cabarrus County

Anson County

Anson County septic permits

Anson County Environmental Health is part of the Anson County Health Department in Wadesboro. Phone: 704-994-3397. Its onsite water protection staff handle septic permits and soil evaluations, and the onsite application forms are on the county’s Environmental Health page.

The county’s application packet asks you to confirm zoning first and to include a copy of the deed or recorded plat and a site plan. Staff work in the field most of the day, and the county lists office hours of 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. on weekdays.

Anson County official septic page · Our work there: septic services in Anson County

Montgomery County

Montgomery County septic permits

Montgomery County Environmental Health works out of the county’s Central Permitting office in Troy. Phone: 910-572-8175. Staff do soil evaluations, system inspections and repair consultations, and the forms for a new system (soil evaluation), a Construction Authorization and an existing-system reconnection or addition are on the county’s Environmental Health page.

The county says its Environmental Health permits are being digitized, so a copy of a previously issued permit may take several days.

Montgomery County official septic page · Our work there: septic services in Montgomery County

North Carolina rules

The state rules: 15A NCAC 18E

Every county applies the same state rules: 15A NCAC 18E, Wastewater Treatment and Dispersal Systems, in effect since January 1, 2024. They cover how sites are evaluated, how systems are designed and installed, and how they are operated, maintained, repaired and abandoned. The NC Department of Health and Human Services publishes the rules and guidance on its on-site wastewater laws and rules page.

Some systems need regular inspections under the state’s operation and maintenance requirements. Low-pressure pipe (LPP), pretreatment and pump systems are examples. When a tank is taken out of service, the rules also set how it has to be abandoned; see septic tank decommissioning.

Septic records

Finding septic records for a property

Septic records are kept by the county that issued the permit, and older homes may have none on file.

Mecklenburg: septic permit records are posted on the county’s Groundwater and Wastewater Services site.
Stanly: search septic permits on the county website by tax record number or owner name.
Cabarrus: request septic and well records with the form on the Cabarrus Health Alliance site.
Union, Anson and Montgomery: ask the county Environmental Health office listed above.

We can help communicate with the county to pull septic records when they’re available. If there’s no record, we can find the tank and look at the system itself during an inspection.

How we help

Where Dahl Septic Services fits in

The county issues the permits. We do the septic work around them:

Septic inspections, including home-sale inspections, and a look at the system before you build near it.
Repairs to tanks, lines and drain fields, working from the county’s repair permit when one is required.
New system installs, once the county has issued the permits.
Septic tank pumping, and LPP and drip system maintenance with a certified subsurface operator on our team.
Help communicating with the county to pull septic records when they’re available.

We work across Union, Stanly, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Anson and Montgomery counties. Find your town on our service areas page.

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