17 published records
Business licenses and permits in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania — seat Norristown, a Home Rule Municipality (not a borough: voters abolished borough status in a 1983 referendum effective 1986, and the municipality's legal name is 'Municipality of Norristown') — is a Second Class A county (population 500,000–999,999) made up of 62 municipalities: boroughs and townships plus Norristown's single Home Rule Municipality, and zero cities, since Pennsylvania has no unincorporated territory anywhere. Montgomery is one of only 6 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties that runs its own county health department, plus Philadelphia as a city-county, under the Local Health Administration Law of 1951, and most of the county-level records here come from that department's own Public Health Code and 2026 Fee and Permit Schedule, plus a Sheriff's Office precious-metals license and a Planning Commission subdivision/land-development review that reaches every proposal countywide (advisory only; final approval is each municipality's own). Montgomery is not a home-rule county, and Pennsylvania's Local Tax Enabling Act (Act 511 of 1965), 53 P.S. §6924.301.1(a), empowers only cities, boroughs, towns, townships and school districts — not counties — to levy a business-privilege or mercantile tax or require a general business registration, which is why Montgomery County issues no general county business license of its own. The county's five largest municipalities by population are Lower Merion Township, Abington Township, Cheltenham Township, Norristown, and Upper Merion Township. Each of the 62 municipalities separately administers its own zoning under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, its own building and Uniform Construction Code permitting, and, where adopted, its own business-privilege or mercantile tax — all of which stacks on top of every county-level record here.
What are you opening in Montgomery County?
- RestaurantsFull-service restaurants carry the densest permit load of any small business: food, fire, occupancy, waste, and usually alcohol.See the full permit list
- Coffee shopsCafés are permitted as food service establishments even where no cooking happens, and the plan review step catches most operators by surprise.See the full permit list
- Retail storesRetail is the lightest common permit load, but the sales tax permit and the certificate of occupancy are non-negotiable in every jurisdiction.See the full permit list
- Salons and barbersPersonal care is licensed at state board level as well as locally, so the shop license and the practitioner licenses are separate obligations.See the full permit list
- Food trucksMobile food is the one category with no certificate of occupancy — but it gains a commissary agreement, and the unit itself is inspected rather than the premises.See the full permit list
- Fitness studiosPrepaid memberships trigger state registration and often a surety bond, which catches operators who budgeted only for the fit-out.See the full permit list
- Childcare centresThe heaviest permit load of any small business: state agency licensing, per-person background checks, and a stricter fire standard than ordinary commercial use.See the full permit list
- Contractors and tradesLicensed at state board level rather than locally, and the only common category with no premises permits at all — the bond is usually the long pole.See the full permit list
- Auto repair shopsOrdinary commercial permitting plus an environmental layer: waste oil, solvents and stormwater are each registered separately.See the full permit list
- Veterinary clinicsA state facility permit, controlled substances registration at both state and federal level, and a medical waste manifest — none of which a general business license covers.See the full permit list
Permits that apply to every type of business in Montgomery County
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On-Lot Sewage Disposal — Inspections, Hauler License, Fill Registry, Re-Use/Redesignonly if it applies to you | Montgomery County Office of Public Health | Routine inspections: conventional system $425, alternate system $550, experimental system $660, major-repair replacement $220, non-routine or component inspection $110, each per inspection. Liquid Sewage Hauler License: $215 per vehicle, per year; delinquent re-issuance $150 plus the license fee; on-premises vehicle inspection $100 plus the license fee. Fill Registry application $435. Re-Use or change-of-use review $215. Redesign review $315, all per the 2026 Fee and Permit Schedule. | Annual, per vehicle, for the Liquid Sewage Hauler License; one-time, per action, for every other fee on this record. | 2026-10-01 |
| On-Lot Sewage Disposal — Site Evaluation & New/Repair Permitonly if it applies to you | Montgomery County Office of Public Health | Soil probes/percolation test $485 per lot; major repairs (probes plus percolation) $485 per lot; additional or secondary site $625 per lot; conventional-system permit $425 per application; alternate and experimental systems $550 per application; retention tanks $245 per application; major repair or replacement $225 per application; minor repair $140 per application; modification $95 per application; permit transfer or duplication $165; re-submittal review $160 per application, per the 2026 Fee and Permit Schedule. | One-time, per application; related inspection fees are billed separately under the companion On-Lot Sewage inspections record here. | 2026-10-01 |
| Individual Water Supply / Irrigation & Geothermal Well Permitonly if it applies to you | Montgomery County Office of Public Health | Permit application review and installation inspection $270; additional well inspection $110 per inspection; permit transfer $165; modification $105; geothermal well with fewer than 5 boreholes $250, each additional 5-borehole increment $155, geothermal maximum per site $1,100, per the 2026 Fee and Permit Schedule. | Per permit or action. | 2026-10-01 |
| County Planning Commission (Act 247) Subdivision & Land Development Reviewonly if it applies to you | Montgomery County Planning Commission | Residential subdivision/land development: 1–3 units $150 flat; 4–10 units $180 plus $32 per unit; 11–20 units $300 plus $30 per unit; 21–50 units $500 plus $28 per unit; 50–100 units $700 plus $26 per unit (the schedule's own 'greater number applies' note governs where tiers overlap at exactly 50 units or lots); 101 or more units $1,060 plus $20 per unit. Nonresidential land development/conversion, by new building square footage: 1–3,000 sq ft $300 flat; 3,001–10,000 sq ft $400 plus $44 per 1,000 sq ft; 10,001–25,000 sq ft $600 plus $42 per 1,000 sq ft; 25,001–50,000 sq ft $1,050 plus $40 per 1,000 sq ft; 50,001–100,000 sq ft $1,550 plus $32 per 1,000 sq ft; 100,001 or more sq ft $2,580 plus $25 per 1,000 sq ft. Nonresidential subdivision: 1–3 lots $555 flat; 4 or more lots $555 plus $88 per lot. Other: residential lot-line change $65; nonresidential lot-line change $260; conditional use $260; miscellaneous review (for example, a parking lot with no new building square footage) $260; private petition for a zoning or SALDO change $1,000. Resubmission: $125 flat for residential (none if 3 units or fewer); $190 flat for nonresidential (none if 3 lots or 3,000 square feet or fewer). Fees are waived for a governmental-subunit applicant, other than a private nonprofit, except a volunteer fire or ambulance company. | Per application. | 2026-10-01 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
What do these permits involve in Montgomery County?
On-Lot Sewage Disposal — Inspections, Hauler License, Fill Registry, Re-Use/Redesign
A contractor hauling septic or sewage waste in Montgomery County needs the annual Liquid Sewage Hauler License from OPH at $215 per vehicle per year under the 2026 Fee and Permit Schedule — the one county-level license here reaching a contractor business directly for septic-waste hauling. The same fee schedule also prices the routine inspections, fill-registry registration, and re-use/redesign reviews that apply across the ten industries covered here wherever a property is not connected to public sewer, from $110 for a non-routine or component inspection up to $660 for an experimental-system inspection, plus a flat $435 Fill Registry application and $215/$315 for re-use and redesign reviews respectively. This record is a companion to the site-evaluation and new/repair permit fees listed separately here under the same Chapter 15 authority.
On-Lot Sewage Disposal — Site Evaluation & New/Repair Permit
Any Montgomery County business not connected to public sewer — typically at new construction — needs a site evaluation and permit from OPH before installing or repairing an on-lot septic system, under fee lines in the 2026 Fee and Permit Schedule ranging from $95 for a modification application up to $625 for an additional or secondary site evaluation per lot. The governing chapter, Chapter 15, was revised and adopted April 16, 2015, effective April 27, 2015, and is read together with the state's own Sewage Facilities Act and its implementing regulations. This record covers the site-evaluation and permit-issuance fees specifically; related inspection fees, the Liquid Sewage Hauler License, and fill-registry/re-use/redesign fees are recorded in a companion record here.
Individual Water Supply / Irrigation & Geothermal Well Permit
Any Montgomery County business not on public water — most relevant to the restaurant, retail-store, childcare, fitness-studio, veterinary, auto-repair, and contractor industries — needs a well permit from OPH before installing an individual water supply, irrigation, or geothermal well, priced under the 2026 Fee and Permit Schedule from $105 for a modification up to $1,100 for the geothermal maximum per site. The governing chapter, Chapter 17, was revised and adopted October 4, 2012, effective January 1, 2013, and remains the current authority for this program. A permit application review paired with the installation inspection is a combined flat $270, with each additional required inspection billed separately at $110.
County Planning Commission (Act 247) Subdivision & Land Development Review
Any of the ten industries covered here subdividing land, building new, or remodeling anywhere in Montgomery County's 62 municipalities triggers this mandatory MCPC review — broader than the 'default-only' county SALDO pattern seen in some other Pennsylvania counties, because Montgomery's review is a mandatory referral on every proposal countywide, not a fallback that applies only where a municipality lacks its own ordinance. County approval itself is advisory only: 'The County review is advisory only, and final approval for any proposal is made by the municipality,' per MCPC's own current program page. The $555 flat fee applies specifically to a nonresidential subdivision of 1 to 3 lots, not to any residential tier — the separate, lower $150 flat fee is the residential 1-to-3-unit tier — keeping the two figures and scopes distinct from an AI-summary error that has conflated them. A private petition for a zoning or SALDO change, as opposed to a municipal petition, is billed separately at a flat $1,000.
Sources
Every figure in the table above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Montgomery County Office of Public Health, 2026 Fee and Permit Schedule (effective January 1, 2026)Montgomery County Office of Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
- Montgomery County Public Health Code Chapter 15, On-lot Sewage Disposal, revised and adopted April 16, 2015, effective April 27, 2015Montgomery County Office of Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
- Montgomery County Public Health Code Chapter 17, Individual Water Supply, Irrigation Well, and Geothermal Well System Regulations, revised and adopted October 4, 2012, effective January 1, 2013Montgomery County Office of Public Health · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
- Montgomery County Planning Commission, Act 247 Fee Schedule (approved November 17, 2022, effective January 1, 2023)Montgomery County Planning Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
- Montgomery County Planning Commission — Subdivision & Land Development Reviews pageMontgomery County Planning Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
Who issues business permits in Montgomery County?
Permitting in Montgomery County is split across 3 agencies we hold records for, with tax registration handled at state level. No single office issues everything, which is why an opening usually means filing in several places rather than one.
Montgomery County issuing agencies
- Montgomery County Office of Public HealthAdministers the county's own 21-chapter Public Health Code and a single consolidated Fee and Permit Schedule, effective January 1, 2026, covering food facilities, public bathing places, organized camps, farmers-market vendors, on-lot sewage disposal, and individual water supply/well permits, under the Local Health Administration Law (Act 315 of 1951)15 permits
- Montgomery County Planning CommissionPerforms the mandatory, advisory-only county review of every subdivision and land development plan filed anywhere in the county's 62 municipalities, under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (Act 247 of 1968), 53 P.S. §10502 — does not zone or issue building permits; each municipality retains final approval authority1 permit
- Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Special Services DivisionIssues the state-created Precious Metals Dealer License under the Precious Metal Sale Regulation Law (Act 17 of 1984)1 permit
Other Pennsylvania jurisdictions we cover
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.