What do these permits involve in Cuyahoga County?

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Private Water System Permits (business premises on a well, spring, pond, cistern or hauled water)

A business outside the City of Cleveland whose premises draws on a well, spring, pond, cistern or hauled water rather than a public main deals with CCBH's Private Water Program, which states that 'CCBH issues permits for the development of new private water systems, the alteration of existing systems and well sealing. These systems are inspected and sampled as part of the approval process.' The amounts are read from Exhibit A, CCBH Private Water Program Fees, effective 7 November 2022, the document CCBH links today from its Forms and Applications page as 'Private Water System Fees (effective November 7, 2022)'. That table is a two-column schedule and should be read as one: almost every line is duplicated for a '1, 2, or 3 family dwelling' and for a property 'other than a 1, 2, or 3 family dwelling', and a commercial premises takes the second of those. On the installation permit the two rows happen to carry the same $600.00 total, built as $526.00 to CCBH plus a $74.00 state fee; on a conversion they diverge, at $615.00 for a non-dwelling against $560.00 for a dwelling. Alteration at $300.00, sealing at $125.00 and a temporary hauled-water tank at $125.00 are the same on both rows. Sampling is charged separately at $130.00 for a potable water sample and $80.00 for a resample. A business that has water delivered rather than drawn is also touching the hauler side of the programme, where registration is $230.00 with vehicle inspections at $210.00 for the primary vehicle and $25.00 for each additional one. The schedule adds an 'Administrative Late Fee – 25% added to specified fee', which OAC 3701-28-06(F)(2) allows a board of health to charge where construction, alteration or conversion began before a permit issued or hauling began before registration and vehicle inspection, and which ORC 3709.09(D) applies to any fee payment received after the day it was due. In practice this record is narrow: most commercial premises in the county are on public water, and these permits reach the minority that are not, concentrated in the two townships and outlying villages.

CCBH Plumbing Permit, Plan Review and Inspection

Fitting out a kitchen, salon, clinic or workshop in one of the communities CCBH covers draws a CCBH plumbing permit, and the price is a two-column schedule that must not be flattened: commercial work is charged at roughly twice the residential rate at every line. CCBH states the trigger as 'Plumbing system installation inspections are required when plumbing systems are installed in all new homes or businesses, or when systems are altered in existing homes or businesses. A permit to do this plumbing work must be obtained from our agency.' The amounts sit on the CCBH fee sheet headed 'Effective July 1, 2012' and, line for line, on CCBH's own 2026 Plumbing Plan Review and Permit Application Form, uploaded in December 2025 and titled for the 2026 permit year, which prints 'Basic Permit Application Fee … $100 Residential / $200 Commercial', 'Hot Water Tank Only (No Plan Review Necessary) … $60', 'Plan Review Only - Residential … $60 1–20 Fixtures / $70 21 or more Fixtures', 'Plan Review Only - Commercial … $150 1–20 Fixtures / $200 21 or more Fixtures', 'Reinspection Fee (If Deemed Necessary by Inspector) … $50 Residential / $100 Commercial', and per-fixture totals at $10 residential and $15 commercial. The 2012 date on the fee sheet is the date of the scheme — the CCBH Plumbing Regulation carries the same 'Effective 7.1.2012, Amended 9.1.2012' line — and the 2026 worksheet is what carries the figures into the current year. An applicant can submit plan review only, permit only, or both. Submittal and conduct rules matter on site: the 2026 instructions state that 'Unless advised otherwise, one (1) complete set of architectural drawings and four (4) additional sets of 'plumbing only' drawings are required to be initially submitted along with the plan review fee', with up to 30 days allowed for review, and that 'a stamped, Approved set of plumbing plans must be present at the job at all times. Inspections will not be conducted if the plans are not on site.' Starting early is expensive: 'Early installation without a permit will result in a doubling of all fees.' Scope is the first thing to check — CCBH's residential programme reaches Olmsted Township and Chagrin Falls Township, its commercial programme reaches Linndale, Olmsted Township, Valley View, Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls, Chagrin Falls Township, Gates Mills, Hunting Valley and Moreland Hills, and the Regulation provides at §1.1 that 'This regulation shall not apply to those municipal jurisdictions who exercise enforcement authority for plumbing.'

Sanitary and/or Storm Sewer Permit

Connecting new or altered premises to a public sewer in the county sewer system draws a written permit from the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works before any ground is broken. Public Works states the rule as 'No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from all appropriate authorities', and that 'Permits for storm or sanitary service connections are required for all facilities or structures desiring use of a public sewer.' The figures rest on ordinance text rather than on a PDF: County Code §705.06(A) enacts the 2026 Sewer Permit & Inspection Fee Rate Schedule in the Code itself with effect from 1 January 2026, and the schedule Public Works publishes matches it line for line. The permit itself is $315; what makes a sewer job expensive is the inspection side, at $560 for a mainline construction inspection day and $105 an hour for overtime, holiday and weekend work, with $210 charged for failing to appear for an inspection already booked. The two penalty lines are set as multiples rather than as flat sums, which makes them unusually predictable: $630 for commencing work without a sewer permit is double the permit fee, and $1,120 for commencing work without a scheduled inspector is double the mainline inspection day fee. Forms can come from either end of the chain — 'Service Connection Permit forms may be obtained from the issuing municipal authority and/or the Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works' — and a county permit does not stand in for the municipal one: Public Works states that its approvals 'do[] not relieve a contractor from the responsibility to obtain local permits and/or utility company approvals.' Rates are fixed for 2026, with §705.06(B) allowing a capped, CPI-linked increase from 1 January 2027.

Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Private Water System Permits (business premises on a well, spring, pond, cistern or hauled water)only if it applies to you	Cuyahoga County Board of Health	Per Exhibit A, CCBH Private Water Program Fees, effective 7 November 2022. The schedule prints a separate row for a '1, 2, or 3 family dwelling' and for a property 'other than a 1, 2, or 3 family dwelling'; a business premises is priced on the non-dwelling row. Installation permit, other than a 1, 2 or 3 family dwelling, $600.00 (a combined $526.00 CCBH plus $74.00 state). Conversion of an existing well to a private water well, other than a dwelling, $615.00, against $560.00 on the dwelling row. Alteration of a well $300.00, sealing of a well $125.00 and installation or decommissioning of a temporary hauled water tank $125.00, each the same on both rows. Potable water sample $130.00 and resample $80.00. Water hauler registration $230.00, hauler vehicle inspection $210.00 for the primary vehicle and $25.00 for each additional vehicle. Contractor construction and knowledge assessment inspection $60.00. Variance $245.00. An administrative late fee of 25 per cent is added to the specified fee.	per permit for installation, conversion, alteration and sealing work; the water hauler registration and its vehicle inspections are annual, and the sampling fees are charged per sample taken	2026-09-30
CCBH Plumbing Permit, Plan Review and Inspectiononly if it applies to you	Cuyahoga County Board of Health	Separate residential and commercial columns throughout, per the CCBH Plumbing Program Fees sheet and the 2026 CCBH Plumbing Plan Review and Permit Application Form, which prints the same worksheet. RESIDENTIAL: basic permit application $100; each fixture, trap or appliance $10; plan review only $60 for 1–20 fixtures and $70 for 21 or more; reinspection $50. COMMERCIAL: basic permit application $200; each fixture, trap or appliance $15; plan review only $150 for 1–20 fixtures and $200 for 21 or more; reinspection $100. Installation of a hot water tank alone, with no plan review necessary, is $60. A permit total is the basic permit application fee plus the per-fixture charge from the form's 91-line fixture schedule, plus any plan review fee. CCBH states that 'Early installation without a permit will result in a doubling of all fees.'	per project rather than per year; the permit covers the work described in the approved application, and CCBH states that 'In the event a plumbing permit is cancelled and a refund is requested prior to any field inspections, a refund will be issued less the plan review fee, if applicable. No refund will be issued once a field inspection has been conducted.'	2026-09-30
Sanitary and/or Storm Sewer Permitonly if it applies to you	Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works, Sanitary Engineering	Per the 2026 Sewer Permit & Inspection Fee Rate Schedule that County Code §705.06(A) enacts in ordinance text with effect from 1 January 2026: sewer permit fee $315; mainline construction inspection fee for subdivision, commercial, industrial and mainline tap-in connection work $560 per day, or $105 per hour for overtime, holidays and weekends; a no-show fee of $210 for failing to appear for a previously scheduled mainline inspection; $630 for commencing work without a sewer permit, which the schedule describes as 'this penalty fee is double the cost of the sewer permit'; and $1,120 for commencing work without a scheduled inspector, 'double the cost of the mainline inspection day fee'.	issued per connection or project against the 2026 rate schedule enacted by County Code §705.06(A) with effect from 1 January 2026; §705.06(B) allows the Director of Public Works to raise these fees from 1 January 2027, once in any twelve-month period, by CPI where CPI exceeds 2.0 per cent and capped at 5 per cent a year	2026-09-30

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