Verified against county records · updated August 7, 2026 · rules change — confirm with the agent before applying
Installing or replacing a household sewage treatment system in Trumbull County costs $674, a figure the health district’s own application form breaks out as including the $74 state fee. An alteration is $335, including a $35 state fee. And Trumbull is one of the Ohio counties that will not let a house change hands without looking at the septic first: the point-of-sale inspection is $300 and has been since June 1, 2017.
$674 to install or replace, $335 to alter, and $300 for the real-estate transfer inspection. Trumbull publishes its fees on the individual application forms rather than as one schedule, so each figure below is quoted from the form that charges it.
| Service | Fee | Source form |
|---|---|---|
| Installation or replacement of an HSTS | $674.00 (includes $74 state fee) | Septic Application, ENV 1010 Att. Y |
| Alteration of an existing system | $335.00 (includes $35 state fee) | Septic Application, ENV 1010 Att. Y |
| Point-of-sale septic inspection | $300.00 (effective 6-1-17) | Point of Sale Application, ENV 1010 Att. A |
| Existing-system evaluation | $300.00 (no fee if registered under O&M Level 3 or 4 only) | Existing System Application, ENV-1010 Att. II |
| O&M evaluation, Level 3 / Level 4 / Level 5 | $125.00 / $175.00 / $125.00 | Existing System Application, ENV-1010 Att. II |
| Variance, inspection required | $300.00 | Application for Variance, ENV-1100 Att. A |
| Variance, no inspection required | $50.00 | Application for Variance, ENV-1100 Att. A |
| Recorder fee filed with a variance | $43.00 | Application for Variance, ENV-1100 Att. A |
| Optional well tests at point of sale: bacteria / lead / nitrates | $97.00 / $87.00 / $86.00 | Point of Sale Application, ENV 1010 Att. A |
The state portion inside those first two numbers is not the district’s to keep. Ohio Administrative Code 3701-29-05(C)(3) has required every board of health since January 1, 2017 to collect $74 on each new or replacement installation permit and $35 on each alteration, then pass it to the Ohio Department of Health. Trumbull is unusually straightforward about printing the split on the form.
What we could not find, and will not guess at. Trumbull has no consolidated sewage fee schedule online. The instrument exists: the board named it in Motion 25-188 on November 19, 2025 as the “Regulation of the Trumbull County Combined Health District for Establishing Fees”, but only its food-service section is published. So the operation-permit fee, the site-evaluation fee and the lot-split fee are real charges we cannot quote, and a public-records request or a phone call is the only route to them. We would rather leave a gap than fill it with a number borrowed from another county. For what the system itself costs, see our cost guides.
The Trumbull County Combined Health District issues the septic permits in this county, including inside the City of Warren. Warren has its own health district, which is why the question comes up, but that district publishes no sewage programme at all.
Trumbull County Combined Health District
194 West Main Street, Cortland, OH 44410
Phone: (330) 675-2489
Email: health@co.trumbull.oh.us
Web: tcchd.org
The Warren City Health District, at 258 E. Market Street, (330) 841-2541, lists every programme it runs, and sewage is not among them. Its one septic touchpoint is a business licence: Codified Ordinance Section 923.05 requires businesses that install or clean septic systems within the city to be licensed. That is a licence to trade in Warren, not a permit for your system, and it is no substitute for registering with the county district.
The county also publishes a parcel-level map of known household sewage systems, which the district itself describes as a work in progress with new data added monthly. Treat a blank parcel as missing data rather than proof there is no system.
Trumbull runs five named stages on one application: site evaluation, staking inspection, design, interim inspection and final inspection.
Trumbull operates a mandatory point-of-sale inspection programme, and at $300 with a three-week lead time it belongs in your timeline rather than your closing week.
The district’s own fact sheet sets out the practical traps. The process can take as long as three weeks. Vacant houses will still be inspected. All household plumbing must be tied in and inspected. Do not chlorinate the well in the two weeks before the visit. And do not pump the tank immediately beforehand: pumping right before the dye test delays the sewage test by 30 days, which is the most reliable way to lose a closing date here. Where a system already carries an inspection from the previous twelve months and is enrolled in the district’s operation and maintenance programme, the point-of-sale inspection may be waived. The fee is non-refundable either way.
A failing system is not a negotiating point in Trumbull. The fact sheet says the owner is required to repair. A real-estate septic inspection from a private provider is a different product from the county’s evaluation, and buying one does not discharge the county requirement.
Trumbull runs a tiered operation and maintenance programme with levels, per-level evaluation fees, and a collection route that ends on your property tax bill.
On April 23, 2025 the board passed three separate motions, 25-67, 25-68 and 25-69, certifying unpaid permit-to-operate fees for Levels 3, 4 and 5 to the county tax duplicate under Ohio Revised Code 3709.091, after service and thirty days without a response. Whatever you make of the fee, ignoring it does not end it; it becomes a charge on the property. In 2024, 3,228 residents paid their permit-to-operate renewal online.
Compliance is genuinely hard here, and the district publishes the numbers rather than burying them. Its 2025 annual report puts the household sewage programme at 32% compliance achieved, 27% non-compliance and 41% extensions granted, for 33% overall compliance, against 58%, 31%, 11% and 62% the year before.
Ohio issues no septic licence. Contractors register with each health district and carry a statewide surety bond filed with the Ohio Department of Health, and Trumbull publishes all three of its lists.
Under OAC 3701-29-03 registration runs to the end of the calendar year and requires at least $500,000 of general liability cover, six continuing-education hours a year, and a bond on the state’s form: $40,000 for an installer doing more than one system a year, $25,000 for a service provider (down to $15,000 where the firm also registers as an installer), and $25,000 for a septage hauler. The district’s current lists carry 56 registered installers for 2026, 27 service providers as of April 29, 2026, and 28 septage haulers. Anyone calling themselves a “licensed septic contractor” in Ohio is describing a credential the state does not issue, which is why every listing we publish is checked against the bond record instead. See how we verify.
$674 to install or replace a system and $335 to alter one, both including the state fee the district collects for Ohio. Those are the figures printed on the district’s own septic application form. Other charges, including the operation permit, are set by a fee regulation the district has not published online.
Yes. Trumbull requires a point-of-sale septic inspection, priced at $300 since June 1, 2017, and the fee is non-refundable. It may be waived where the system was inspected within the previous twelve months and is enrolled at operation and maintenance Level 3 or 4. Allow up to three weeks, and do not pump the tank right before the visit.
No. The Warren City Health District publishes no sewage or septic permit programme and no septic fees. It licenses businesses that install or clean septic systems inside the city under Codified Ordinance Section 923.05, which is a trade licence rather than a system permit. Septic permitting in Trumbull County runs through the county district in Cortland.
The board said in March 2026 that “the rules do allow for that”, but the application still certifies installation by a registered installer, so raise it with the district before you hire a machine. Ohio’s rule at OAC 3701-29-03(H) lets a board of health waive parts of the registration requirement for a person working only on their own home. Whether it applies to your project is the district’s decision, not ours.
One year from the date of issue, extendable by six months where progress is being shown. That is both what the application form states and what the board confirmed on the record in March 2026. Ohio permits transfer with the property if it sells before the work is finished.
Sources: Trumbull County Combined Health District application forms ENV 1010 Attachment Y, ENV 1010 Attachment A, ENV-1010 Attachment II and ENV-1100 Attachment A; the district’s point-of-sale fact sheet; board motions 25-67, 25-68 and 25-69 (April 23, 2025), 25-188 (November 19, 2025) and 26-47 (March 25, 2026); the 2025 and 2024 annual reports; the 2026 installer, service provider and septage hauler lists; Warren City Health District environmental health pages and licence fee schedule. All read August 7, 2026. Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 3701-29, effective January 1, 2015. Fees change; confirm before filing.
Ground conditions, registered contractors and the wider picture: Trumbull County septic hub. How permitting works elsewhere in the state: Ohio permit guides.
Tell us once — we send it to up to 3 verified pros. Free, no spam, delete your request anytime.
Secure form. Sent over an encrypted connection to up to 3 verified pros. Never sold to data brokers, and you can have your request deleted anytime.