Durham County

Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division

In short

Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division issues 17 permits we publish for Durham County, last verified 2026-09-30. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Well Water Sampleonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$135 per sample, county-only, at the same amount for each of the four sample types — bacteriological (total coliform and E. coli), inorganic including nitrate and nitrite, pesticide and petroleum; per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per sample; sampling recurs whenever the county or the operator's own programme calls for it rather than on a license term	2026-09-30
Existing Food Establishment Plan Reviewonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	No fee	one-off review of an existing, previously permitted facility; the buyer's own food establishment permit is issued under G.S. 130A-248 and does not expire while the establishment operates	2026-09-30
Limited Food Service Establishment Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$75 per permit, collected by Durham County Environmental Health; G.S. 130A-248(d2) makes the charge mandatory rather than discretionary, and the county's adopted schedule prints the same $75.00	per permit issued for the limited operation; G.S. 130A-248(d) excludes limited food services establishments from the $120.00 annual Department permit fee, so this $75.00 is the whole permit charge	2026-09-30
Swimming Pool, Wading Pool or Spa Operation Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	Durham County's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule and the Environmental Health Division's own fee web page state different amounts for this annual operation permit, so no amount is published here. Contact Durham County Environmental Health on 919-560-7800 or food@dconc.gov for the amount currently charged, and note that the separate $350.00 pool plan review, $100.00 permit inspection revisit and $100.00 lighting inspection are each published and listed separately.	per season for a seasonal pool, which the county's Public Swimming Pools page allows to operate April 1 through October 31, and renewed before the expiration date for a year-round pool; the page states that all public pool facilities are required to renew their operation permit each season	2026-09-30
Public Swimming Pool Plan Reviewonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$350 per plan review, county-only, and it does not include the operation permit; per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	one-off, before construction of a new or reconstructed pool; the annual operation permit that follows is a separate, recurring requirement on the same pool	2026-09-30
Re-review of Food Service Plansonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$200 per re-review of resubmitted food service plans, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per re-review, charged each time plans are resubmitted after the original review; it is not an annual or renewable charge	2026-09-30
Food Establishment Plan Review	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$250 per plan review, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	one-off, per project, at construction or before a new food establishment opens; the food establishment permit that follows does not expire while the establishment operates	2026-09-30
Mobile Food Unit, Push Cart or Caterer Plan Review	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$250 per plan review, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	one-off, per unit reviewed; the food establishment permit that follows does not expire while the unit operates, and the $120.00 NC DHHS permit fee is reassessed annually against it	2026-09-30
Temporary Food Event Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$75 per event permit, collected by Durham County Environmental Health; G.S. 130A-248(d2) makes the charge mandatory rather than discretionary, and the county's adopted schedule prints the same $75.00	per event; the permit is issued for the temporary establishment at that event rather than for a license year, and a vendor trading at several events needs a permit for each	2026-09-30
Environmental Health Multiple Trip Feeonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$50 per occurrence, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per occurrence, charged each time an extra trip to the site is needed rather than on any renewal cycle	2026-09-30
Pool Permit Inspection Revisitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$100 per revisit, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per revisit, charged each time Environmental Health returns to a pool after an inspection that did not result in a permit; it is not part of the annual permit cycle	2026-09-30
Swimming Pool Lighting Inspectiononly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$100 per inspection, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per inspection, requested when a pool is to be used after dark; it attaches to the lighting inspection rather than to the pool's permit year	2026-09-30
Septic Construction Authorizationonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$200–$525 per construction authorization, county-only, by system type: Type I and II $200.00, Type III (pump) $350.00, Type IV, V and VI $525.00; per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per authorization, issued after the improvement permit and before the system is installed; a Type V or VI system then carries an operational permit renewed every five years at $50.00 on the same schedule	2026-09-30
Private Well Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$425 per well permit, county-only; the same schedule prices a Well Repair Permit at $0.00; per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per permit, for the construction of the well; water sampling is charged per sample and is listed as its own requirement	2026-09-30
Restaurant Remodel or Renovation Plan Reviewonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$250 per remodel or renovation plan review, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	one-off, per remodel or renovation project; the establishment's existing food establishment permit continues, and the review attaches to the work rather than to a license term	2026-09-30
On-Site Wastewater Improvement Permitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$300 per application for an improvement permit with a 2 acre limit, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per application; the improvement permit is the site evaluation stage and is followed by a separate construction authorization before the system may be installed, and by an operation permit for the system types that require one	2026-09-30
Existing System Authorization Site Visitonly if it applies to you	Durham County Department of Public Health — Environmental Health Division	$150 per site visit, county-only, per the Durham County FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026	per site visit; the authorization that follows attaches to the existing system and the proposed use rather than to a renewable term	2026-09-30

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

About each permit

Well Water Sample

Durham County charges $135.00 for each well water sample, and the price is the same whichever of the four analyses is ordered: bacteriological for total coliform and E. coli, inorganic including nitrate and nitrite, pesticide, and petroleum. All four lines appear at $135.00 in the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and the department's own Environmental Health fee web page agrees on every one of the six well and sampling lines, which makes this one of the most solidly corroborated figures in the county's schedule. The sampling programme rests on G.S. 87-97, which places the permitting, inspection and testing of private drinking water wells with the local health department, and the fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which names G.S. 87-97 services expressly. For a restaurant, coffee shop, childcare centre or veterinary clinic on a private well the cost is cumulative rather than a single charge, because a full round of the four analyses is $540.00 and a new well is normally sampled before the business may open; the well permit itself is a further $425.00 and is listed separately. A business on a public water supply has no well sampling to pay for.

Existing Food Establishment Plan Review

Buying an already-permitted Durham County restaurant or coffee shop and taking it over as it stands still means a review by county Environmental Health, but the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule prices the Existing Food Establishment Plan Review line at $0.00, so there is no county plan review fee for this case; the FY 2025-26 column shows $0.00 as well, and the department's own Environmental Health fee web page carries the same line. What the buyer does still owe is the permit itself: G.S. 130A-248(b) and (c) make a food establishment permit non-transferable and void it on issuance of a new permit for the same location, so the new owner applies for a permit in its own name, and the $120.00 annual NC DHHS permit fee listed separately is then assessed against that permit. The $0.00 line covers the unaltered facility only — where the incoming owner changes the kitchen, the county's Restaurant Remodel or Renovation line applies at $250.00, and where the operation is different enough to be a new establishment the Food Establishment Plan Review applies at $250.00, both listed separately. The fee authority behind the Environmental Health schedule as a whole is G.S. 130A-39(g). A change of ownership can also trigger Durham City-County Building & Safety's $50.00 Change of Occupancy Permit, which its Schedule F applies unless a building permit is otherwise required — a different department and a separate charge.

Limited Food Service Establishment Permit

A limited food service establishment — the category North Carolina uses for an establishment whose food operation is restricted in menu, equipment or duration rather than running as a full food establishment — is permitted by Durham County Environmental Health at $75.00 per permit. The amount is set by statute rather than by the county: G.S. 130A-248(d2) provides that a local health department shall charge each temporary food establishment and each limited food services establishment a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) for each permit issued, which is a duty rather than a discretion, and the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule prints $75.00 in both its FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27 columns, matching the statute. The $120.00 annual NC DHHS food establishment permit fee listed separately does not stack on top of it, because G.S. 130A-248(d) expressly excludes limited food services establishments from that charge, so $75.00 per permit is the whole permit cost on the county and state side. Environmental Health handles the permit from 414 E. Main Street, 919-560-7800, food@dconc.gov, and its General Inspections page describes the section's responsibility for plan review, permits and inspections of facilities regulated in State rules. A church, club or seasonal operation running an occasional kitchen is the usual holder; a business running a continuous food operation is on the full food establishment permit instead.

Swimming Pool, Wading Pool or Spa Operation Permit

A fitness studio, gym, hotel or apartment community running a public pool, spa, wading pool, training pool or special purpose and therapy pool in Durham County needs an annual operation permit from county Environmental Health before it may open. The county's Public Swimming Pools page states that all such pools 'must comply with applicable laws and rules prior to operation including the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act', that 'New construction requires plan review approval and inspections', that 'All public pool facilities are required to renew their operation permit each season', that seasonal pools may operate April 1 through October 31, and that year-round pools must renew before the expiration date. Applications run through the county's own portal at poolinspector.dconc.gov, whose 2026-season notice states that if a permit is denied 'a new application must be submitted with the correct safety compliance data and a re-inspection fee paid before a re-inspection of the facility'. The amount for this particular permit is left out deliberately: the county's FY 2026-27 adopted fee schedule and the Environmental Health fee web page state different figures for it, and neither the Public Swimming Pools page, the plan review application, the permit portal, G.S. 130A-282 nor G.S. 130A-39(g) states an amount, so the requirement is recorded here and the figure is not. The related pool charges are published without any such divergence and are listed separately: $350.00 plan review before construction, $100.00 per pool permit inspection revisit and $100.00 swimming pool lighting inspection. A fitness studio with no pool, spa or hot tub on site has no pool permit to obtain, and a private residential pool is outside the public pool rules entirely.

Public Swimming Pool Plan Review

Building a public pool, spa or wading pool in Durham County, or reconstructing one, requires plan review by county Environmental Health before construction, at $350.00. The county's Public Swimming Pools page states plainly that 'New construction requires plan review approval and inspections'. The $350.00 is one of the pool figures where the county's two publications agree: it appears in the Environmental Health division of the FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and at the same amount on the department's own Environmental Health fee web page, and the schedule's own wording notes that the plan review does not include the operation permit. The technical standards are the Commission for Public Health rules at 15A NCAC 18A .2500, adopted under G.S. 130A-282, which requires those rules to cover application, review, expiration, renewal, and revocation or suspension of an operating permit; the county's authority to charge a cost-related fee for pool services is G.S. 130A-39(g), on a fee plan recommended by the local health director and approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners. A pool project normally pays this review once and then the annual operation permit every season afterwards, and a failed permitting inspection adds the $100.00 pool permit inspection revisit listed separately. A fitness studio without a pool or spa has no plan review to submit.

Re-review of Food Service Plans

Where food service plans submitted to Durham County Environmental Health have to be looked at again after the original review, the county charges $200.00 for the re-review. This is the one Environmental Health food line that changed for the new fiscal year: the FY 2025-26 column of the county's adopted Fees and Other Charges Schedule shows $100.00 and the FY 2026-27 column shows $200.00, so a project that budgeted from last year's figure will be short. The amount is levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and the department's own Environmental Health fee web page carries the new $200.00 figure as well. The fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which allows a local board of health to impose cost-related fees for services on a plan recommended by the local health director and approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners. The charge applies on top of the $250.00 original plan review for a new food establishment, a mobile food unit, push cart or caterer, or a restaurant remodel, each listed separately, so a restaurant whose plans go back twice pays $250.00 plus $200.00 plus $200.00 for the review alone. Getting the first submittal complete is therefore worth real money on a Durham County food project, and the county's General Inspections page is the route in for pre-submittal questions on 919-560-7800.

Food Establishment Plan Review

A new restaurant, coffee shop, food stand or childcare kitchen in Durham County submits plans to county Environmental Health and is charged $250.00 for the review, as published in the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and repeated on the department's own fee web page. That amount is the statutory ceiling rather than a local choice: G.S. 130A-248(f) allows a local health department to charge a fee not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for plan review, so Durham County charges the maximum the statute permits, and the FY 2025-26 column of the same adopted schedule shows $250.00 as well, so the figure did not move for the new fiscal year. The authority to charge at all is G.S. 130A-39(g), which lets a local board of health impose cost-related fees on a plan recommended by the local health director and approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners. A chain or franchise applicant should check which fee it owes before paying twice: G.S. 130A-248(e1) provides that plans for a franchised or chain food establishment reviewed and approved by the Department require no further review and approval by any local health department, and subsection (f) adds that no food establishment paying the State's $250.00 prototype plan review fee under subsection (e) is liable for the local fee. This review is separate from the $120.00 annual NC DHHS permit fee listed elsewhere on this page, and separate again from the Durham City-County Building & Safety permits for the same fit-out and, for a restaurant on county sewer, from the Engineering & Environmental Services plumbing plan review.

Mobile Food Unit, Push Cart or Caterer Plan Review

Durham County prices mobile food units, push carts and caterers on their own line of the Environmental Health fee schedule, at $250.00 per plan review, and the amount is the same as the fixed-premises food establishment plan review because G.S. 130A-248(f) caps every local plan review fee at two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00). The figure appears in the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, at the same amount as the FY 2025-26 column, and on the department's own fee web page. Environmental Health's General Inspections page lists 'Mobile food vendors' and 'Hot dog vendors' among the facilities whose plans it reviews and whose premises it inspects, so a food truck or cart based in the county goes through this review before it may be permitted. The permit that follows is the state food establishment permit under G.S. 130A-248(b), carrying the $120.00 annual NC DHHS fee listed separately; the county charge here is the one-off review of the unit's plans. A caterer is on the same line as the mobile units, which matters for a restaurant adding off-premises catering to an existing permitted kitchen, because the added activity is reviewed rather than simply absorbed into the existing permit. Payment and submittal run through the Environmental Health Division at 414 E. Main Street, 919-560-7800, food@dconc.gov.

Temporary Food Event Permit

A vendor selling food or drink to the public at a fair, festival or other special event in Durham County needs a temporary food event permit from county Environmental Health, at $75.00 per permit. Environmental Health's General Inspections page lists 'Special events selling food to the public' among the facilities the section permits and inspects. The amount is fixed by statute and not by local choice: G.S. 130A-248(d2) requires a local health department to charge each temporary food establishment and each limited food services establishment a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) for each permit issued, and the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule prints $75.00 in both the FY 2025-26 and FY 2026-27 columns. The $120.00 annual NC DHHS permit fee listed separately is excluded for temporary food establishments by G.S. 130A-248(d), so it is not owed on top. For a food truck the two routes are different charges and should not be confused: trading at an event on a temporary permit costs $75.00 each time, while setting the unit up as a permitted mobile food unit means the $250.00 county plan review recorded separately here plus the state permit. The county's fire schedule separately prices Exhibits and Trade Shows at $150.00 and Carnivals and Fairs at $250.00 as operational permits for the event itself, which fall on the event rather than on an individual food vendor.

Environmental Health Multiple Trip Fee

Durham County charges $50.00 per occurrence when Environmental Health has to make an extra trip to a site, on the Multiple Trip Fee line of the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 and unchanged from the FY 2025-26 column; the department's own fee web page carries the same line. It is the cheapest of the county's return-visit charges and the easiest to trigger, because it attaches to any facility type Environmental Health regulates rather than to one programme: the section's General Inspections page lists restaurants, caterers, commissaries, food stands, school lunchrooms, mobile food vendors, hot dog vendors, meat markets, special events selling food to the public, childcare centers, institutions and lodging among the facilities it covers. For an operator the practical significance is scheduling: a site that is not ready when the inspector arrives, or a follow-up that cannot be completed in one visit, adds $50.00 each time on top of any programme-specific revisit charge, such as the $100.00 pool permit inspection revisit or the $100.00 improvement permit revisit listed elsewhere on this page. The fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which allows a local board of health to impose cost-related fees for services on a plan recommended by the local health director and approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners. The same schedule also prices an Appeal of Permit Condition at $200.00.

Pool Permit Inspection Revisit

A Durham County pool that does not pass its permitting inspection pays $100.00 for each revisit by Environmental Health, and this is one of the pool figures both county publications state identically: it is in the Environmental Health division of the FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, and on the department's own Environmental Health fee web page, at $100.00 in each. The county's pool permit portal describes the mechanism from the operator's side: if a permit is denied, 'a new application must be submitted with the correct safety compliance data and a re-inspection fee paid before a re-inspection of the facility', so paying is a precondition of getting the pool looked at again rather than a charge that arrives later. For a seasonal pool aiming at an April 1 opening under the window the county's Public Swimming Pools page sets out, that sequencing is the real cost: each failed visit adds $100.00 and pushes the opening date. The fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which allows a local board of health to impose cost-related fees for services performed under the public swimming pool rules on a plan recommended by the local health director and approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners. The Environmental Health Multiple Trip Fee of $50.00 listed separately is a different charge, applying to extra trips generally rather than to a pool permitting revisit.

Swimming Pool Lighting Inspection

Durham County charges $100.00 for a swimming pool lighting inspection, on its own line of the Environmental Health fee schedule, and this is the third of the pool figures where the county's adopted schedule and the department's own fee web page agree exactly. It appears in the Environmental Health division of the FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, at the same amount as the FY 2025-26 column, and on the department's Environmental Health fee page. The inspection matters to a gym, hotel or apartment community whose pool is used after dark, because the public swimming pool rules at 15A NCAC 18A .2500, adopted under G.S. 130A-282, condition night use on the pool's lighting, and the inspection is how the county verifies it. It is a separate charge from the $350.00 plan review and from the annual operation permit, so a pool adding lights to extend its hours pays this on top of whatever its permit already costs. The county's authority to charge is G.S. 130A-39(g), which lets a local board of health impose cost-related fees for services performed under the public swimming pool rules on a plan recommended by the local health director and approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners. A fitness studio without a pool or spa has no lighting inspection to request.

Septic Construction Authorization

The construction authorization is the second half of a Durham County septic approval and is priced by system type rather than by site: $200.00 for a Type I or II system, $350.00 for a Type III pump system and $525.00 for a Type IV, V or VI system, in the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, unchanged from the FY 2025-26 column. A commercial kitchen or a veterinary clinic on an unsewered site frequently lands in the higher tiers because of flow and pretreatment, so the difference between $200.00 and $525.00 is a real design decision rather than a formality. The same adopted schedule prices the a(2) construction-authorization-only variants at $80.00 for Type I and II, $140.00 for Type III and $210.00 for Type IV, V and VI, and the combined improvement permit plus authorization packages at $180.00, $240.00 and $310.00 respectively; a Type V or VI system also carries an operational permit renewal fee of $50.00 every five years. The improvement permit that must precede this authorization is listed separately at $300.00, and an Improvement Permit Revisit costs a further $100.00. The county's authority for all of these is G.S. 130A-39(g), which lets a local board of health impose cost-related fees for services performed under Article 11 of Chapter 130A on a fee plan approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners.

Private Well Permit

A Durham County business drawing its water from a private well rather than a public supply needs a well permit from Environmental Health's On-Site Water Protection programme, at $425.00, and this is one of the county lines where the adopted schedule and the department's own fee web page agree exactly — both print $425.00 for the well permit and $0.00 for a Well Repair Permit, so repairing an existing well is a permit without a charge. The amounts sit in the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026. The statutory basis is G.S. 87-97, which puts the permitting, inspection and testing of private drinking water wells with the local health department, and G.S. 130A-39(g) names G.S. 87-97 expressly among the services for which a local board of health may impose cost-related fees on a plan approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissioners. For a food business the well is not the end of it: water sampling is charged per sample at $135.00 each on the same schedule, listed separately, and a restaurant or coffee shop on a private well will normally be sampled before it may operate. A site that is on neither public water nor public sewer pays this alongside the improvement permit and construction authorization for its septic system, so the water and wastewater side of an unsewered commercial site starts well above a thousand dollars in county charges alone.

Restaurant Remodel or Renovation Plan Review

An existing Durham County restaurant or coffee shop that remodels or renovates its kitchen pays a separate $250.00 plan review on its own line of the county's Environmental Health fee schedule, distinct from the review of a brand-new establishment and from the $0 line the same schedule carries for an existing food establishment plan review where no work is proposed. The amount is published in the Environmental Health division of the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 at the same figure as the FY 2025-26 column, and it is also on the department's own fee web page. It sits at the G.S. 130A-248(f) ceiling of two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00), which is the maximum a North Carolina local health department may charge for plan review of a food establishment, and the county's authority to charge is G.S. 130A-39(g). For a working restaurant this is one of three charges the same project can attract at once: this review from Environmental Health, the Durham City-County Building & Safety building, mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits for the construction itself, including the $150.00 per hood commercial cooking hood permit, and, where the premises is on county sewer and the plumbing is altered, the Engineering & Environmental Services building plumbing plans upfit or renovation review. A re-review of the resubmitted plans is charged separately and is listed elsewhere on this page.

On-Site Wastewater Improvement Permit

A business on an unsewered Durham County site starts with an improvement permit from Environmental Health's On-Site Water Protection programme, and the FY 2026-27 adopted amount is $300.00 for an application with a 2 acre limit. The figure to use is the adopted one: the county's FY 2026-27 Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, raises this line from the $250.00 shown in its FY 2025-26 column to $300.00, and the department's own Environmental Health fee web page still shows the superseded $250.00, along with the old $100.00 for the Existing System Authorization Site Visit that the same adopted schedule raised to $150.00. The same adopted schedule prices a smaller set of a(2) variants separately — improvement permit only $250.00, improvement permit with a Type I or II construction authorization $180.00, with a Type III pump authorization $240.00 and with a Type IV, V or VI authorization $310.00 — and adds an Improvement Permit Revisit Fee of $100.00, a Wastewater System Reconnection Permit of $200.00, a Type V or VI Operational Permit Renewal Fee of $50.00 every five years, an Engineered Option Permit at $35.00, an Authorized On-Site Wastewater Evaluator Permit at $35.00 and an Appeal of Permit Condition at $200.00. The department's fee page adds that tracts greater than 2 acres already evaluated by a licensed soil scientist with a sealed report submitted are charged $200.00, with only the area the consultant specifies evaluated. The fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which names Article 11 wastewater services expressly.

Existing System Authorization Site Visit

Taking over an unsewered Durham County property that already has a septic system, or changing what the building is used for, brings Environmental Health out to look at the existing system, and the FY 2026-27 adopted charge for that visit is $150.00. This line rose in the new schedule: the FY 2025-26 column of the county's Approved Fees and Other Charges Schedule shows $100.00 and the FY 2026-27 column shows $150.00, levied by Section 7 of the Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026, while the department's own Environmental Health fee web page still carries the superseded $100.00, so the adopted schedule is the figure published here. The visit matters most on a change of use, because a system sized for one occupancy may not support another — a retail unit becoming a restaurant, or a house becoming a veterinary clinic or a childcare centre, changes both flow and waste strength — and the authorization is what lets the new use proceed on the existing system. Where the existing system cannot serve the proposed use, the improvement permit and construction authorization listed separately apply instead, at $300.00 and $200.00 to $525.00. The same adopted schedule prices a Wastewater System Reconnection Permit at $200.00, which is the route where a system is being reconnected rather than newly authorised. The fee authority is G.S. 130A-39(g), which names Article 11 wastewater services expressly.

Contact

Jurisdiction: Durham County
Phone: 919-560-7800
Website: dconc.gov/Public-Health/Environmental-Health/Fee-Schedule

Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.

Sources

Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

Durham County Approved Budget, Fiscal Year 2026-2027 — Annual Budget Ordinance adopted June 8, 2026 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 and ending June 30, 2027, whose Section 7 levies 'Charges for services and fees by county departments … in the amounts set forth in the attached Fee and Other Charges Schedules', with the Environmental Health, Animal Services, Fire Prevention and Protection Code, Sewer Utilities and Stormwater Erosion Control divisions of that scheduleDurham County Budget and Management Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
Durham County Environmental Health Fee Schedule (department web page) — food, pool, on-site wastewater, well, water sample and tattoo lines, including the note that a tract greater than 2 acres previously evaluated by a licensed soil scientist with a sealed report is charged $200.00 for the area the consultant specifiesDurham County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
Durham County Environmental Health General Inspections — the section 'is responsible for plan review, permits and /or inspections of facilities regulated in State rules', listing restaurants, caterers, commissaries, food stands, school lunchrooms, mobile food vendors, hot dog vendors, meat markets, special events selling food to the public, childcare centers, institutions, lodging and tattoo artistsDurham County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
Durham County pool permit portal — the county's own application route for public swimming pool, wading pool and spa operation permits, whose 2026-season notice states that a denied permit requires a new application with the correct safety compliance data and a re-inspection fee paid before re-inspectionDurham County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
Durham County Public Swimming Pools — all public swimming pools, spas, wading, training and special purpose and therapy pools must comply with applicable laws and rules before operation including the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act, new construction requires plan review approval and inspections, seasonal pools may operate April 1 through October 31, and year-round pools must renew before expiryDurham County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
G.S. 130A-248 — food establishment permits: the $120 Department permit fee and its exclusions (d), the $25 late and $150 reinstatement fees (d1), the mandatory $75 temporary and limited food service fee (d2) and the $250 local plan review ceiling (f)North Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
G.S. 130A-282 — public swimming pool rules adopted by the Commission for Public Health, which must include application, review, expiration, renewal, and revocation or suspension of an operating permitNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
G.S. 130A-39(g) — a local board of health may impose cost-related fees for wastewater, public swimming pool and tattooing services on a plan approved by the local board of health and the county board of commissionersNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
G.S. 87-97 — permitting, inspection and testing of private drinking water wells by the local health department, the service for which G.S. 130A-39(g) expressly authorises cost-related local feesNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30

Other offices serving Durham County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Business licenses in Durham County

Industry permit lists that include this agency

North Carolina jurisdictions

Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.