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Wake County

Wake County Onsite Water Protection

In short

Wake County Onsite Water Protection issues 4 permits we publish for Wake 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
Onsite Wastewater (Septic) Permit — Residential and Small Systemsonly if it applies to youWake County Onsite Water ProtectionCounty-only, effective July 1, 2025: Improvement Permit, limited to less than 3 acres per evaluation, $400; Construction Authorization, which includes the Operation Permit and any requested revisions to an existing construction authorization, $400; both together $800; Verification for Change of Use or System Reuse on an existing system with no change to flow or lot size $400; Design Review Fee for Residential Permits $110; Field Consultation $100; Re-Inspection, charged for unnecessary return trips on lot evaluations and failed installation inspections, $200. Renewing a septic permit that has lapsed after five years is $400 for the construction authorization alone or $800 for both. Manufactured or mobile home relocation is $400 for the construction authorization, and the county charges nothing for a mobile home relocation inside a permitted mobile home park. As published on the Wake County Onsite Water Protection wastewater fees page.a septic permit lapses five years after issue; renewal is $400 for the construction authorization alone or $800 where both the improvement permit and construction authorization are renewed2026-09-30
Onsite Wastewater (Septic) Permit — Commercial and Engineered Systemsonly if it applies to youWake County Onsite Water ProtectionCounty-only totals, effective July 1, 2025: domestic strength up to 720 gallons per day, excluding industrial process wastewater, $910 in total — a $400 improvement permit, a $400 construction authorization and a $110 design review. Domestic strength above 720 and up to 3,000 gallons per day, and industrial process wastewater up to 3,000 gallons per day, $1,260 in total — $400, $400 and a $460 design review. Above 3,000 gallons per day, whether domestic strength or industrial process, the improvement permit and the construction authorization are each $400 per connection, a connection being 360 gallons per day, with design review varying by the number of connections. Operation and maintenance inspections of low-pressure pipe and alternative Type V and Type VI systems are $19 per connection. As published on the Wake County Onsite Water Protection wastewater fees page.a septic permit lapses five years after issue; the operation permit that comes with the construction authorization governs the system in use, and alternative systems carry recurring operation and maintenance inspection charges2026-09-30
Well Construction Permit (unincorporated Wake County)only if it applies to youWake County Onsite Water Protection$800 per new well, county-only; the county page states the fee includes pre-construction contamination source review, inspections, sample collection and laboratory analysis by Wake Countythe county page states that the permit is valid for five years2026-09-30
Approval to Use an Existing Well for New Constructiononly if it applies to youWake County Onsite Water Protection$125 per approval, county-only; the county page states the fee includes state-regulated well water testing for bacteria and inorganics, and that additional well water testing fees may apply under the Wake County Well Regulationsone-off, per approval, obtained when a new building is to be served by a well that already exists on the site2026-09-30

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

Onsite Wastewater (Septic) Permit — Residential and Small Systems

A business on a site that is not served by public sewer needs Wake County Onsite Water Protection to issue an improvement permit and a construction authorization before it can build, and the construction authorization carries the operation permit with it. The county's fee-changes page records both moving from $200, adopted in 2004, to $400 each as part of the July 1, 2025 changes adopted by the Board of Commissioners, so a new system that needs both now costs $800 before design review. The residential and small-system line above is the right one for a low-flow use; a restaurant, and any use producing more than domestic-strength or higher-volume wastewater, is priced on the commercial schedule listed as a separate Wake County requirement. Change of use is a real trigger here even without construction: taking over an existing building and changing what happens inside it calls for the $400 verification for change of use or system reuse, which is what a retail unit becoming a salon or a childcare room on an existing septic system will meet. The programme sits with the county's unincorporated-area services — Code Enforcement states that county staff respond to building code, zoning and environmental health violations only in unincorporated areas of the county — so a business on public sewer inside a municipality has no county septic step. Contact: 919-856-7434, wastewater@wake.gov.

Onsite Wastewater (Septic) Permit — Commercial and Engineered Systems

A restaurant is a commercial application here, and that is the point of keeping this record separate from the residential one: the county prices designed and engineered systems by flow rather than by permit type, and a design review is built into every commercial total. The first tier covers domestic-strength wastewater up to 720 gallons a day and totals $910 — a $400 improvement permit, a $400 construction authorization and a $110 design review. The second covers domestic strength above 720 and up to 3,000 gallons a day, and industrial process wastewater up to 3,000 gallons a day, totalling $1,260 because the design review rises to $460. Above 3,000 gallons a day the county charges per connection, treating a connection as 360 gallons a day, at $400 per connection for the improvement permit and $400 per connection for the construction authorization, with design review varying by the number of connections; a large childcare centre, veterinary hospital or fitness club can land here. Low-pressure pipe systems and alternative Type V and Type VI systems carry a recurring $19 per connection operation and maintenance inspection. The county's fee-changes page records the $200 to $400 increases as adopted by the Board of Commissioners effective July 1, 2025. The programme reaches the unincorporated area; a site on public sewer has no county septic step at all. Contact: 919-856-7434, wastewater@wake.gov.

Well Construction Permit (unincorporated Wake County)

A business drilling a new well in unincorporated Wake County pays $800 to Onsite Water Protection's Groundwater/Well programme, and the county page states the fee includes pre-construction contamination source review, inspections, sample collection and laboratory analysis by Wake County — so the water testing is inside the price rather than billed after. The county's fee-changes page records this as one of the July 1, 2025 changes adopted by the Board of Commissioners: the well construction permit fee moved from $400, adopted in 2005, to $800 with all initial testing included. The same page states that there is no fee for well repair permits and no fee for well abandonment permits, which matters to a business taking on a property with an old or failed well; well and septic re-inspections were raised to a flat $200 in the same round of changes. In practice the well permit is applied for on the county's permit portal at the same time as the wastewater permit and the building permit, and where an onsite wastewater system is also required, the well permit is issued with the wastewater permit and relies on the same site plan. A business on a public water supply has no county well step. Contact: 919-856-7482, wellwater@wake.gov.

Approval to Use an Existing Well for New Construction

Where a business is putting up a new building on a site that already has a well, the county approves the existing well for that new construction rather than permitting a new one, and the charge is $125 instead of the $800 new well permit. The county page states that the $125 includes state-regulated well water testing for bacteria and inorganics, and that there may be additional well water testing fees based on the Wake County Well Regulations, so a well with a history of contamination or an unusual source nearby can cost more than the headline figure. This is the line most likely to apply to a business reusing rural property in unincorporated Wake County — an old farm building becoming a veterinary clinic, a kennel, a salon or a small restaurant — and it is applied for on the county's permit portal alongside the wastewater and building permits, sharing the same site plan where an onsite wastewater system is also required. The same county page states that there is no fee for well repair permits and no fee for well abandonment permits. A site connected to a public water supply has no county well step. Contact: 919-856-7482, wellwater@wake.gov.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Wake County
Phone
919-856-7434

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.

  1. 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
  2. Wake County Code Enforcement — staff respond to building code, zoning and environmental health violations only in unincorporated areas of the countyWake County Planning & Development Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  3. Wake County Overview of Development Services Fee Changes — Fee Changes Effective July 1, 2025, adopted by the Board of Commissioners, with the prior and new amounts side by sideWake County · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  4. Wake County Wastewater Fees — improvement permit, construction authorization, design review, change of use, field consultation and re-inspection fees, and the commercial gallons-per-day tiersWake County Onsite Water Protection · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  5. Wake County Well Permits, Fees and Approvals — $800 new well permit valid five years, $125 approval to use an existing well, and the repair and abandonment permits the page prices at no feeWake County Onsite Water Protection · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30

Other offices serving Wake County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

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.