Verified against county records · updated August 7, 2026 · rules change — confirm with the agent before applying
Chester County abolished the ten-acre septic exemption in writing. Its health department regulation says a permit is required for all rural residences in its jurisdiction and that all property owners, regardless of property size, must first obtain one. The department is the Act 537 local agency for all 73 municipalities, a site evaluation is $800, a major permit is another $800, and building without one costs twice the permit fee on top of everything else.
$800 for the site evaluation and $800 for the major permit, on a schedule effective January 1, 2025 that the department says it plans to update every two years. No newer version was posted as of August 2026.
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Site evaluation | $800.00 |
| Additional site evaluation, one area | $400.00 |
| Major permit | $800.00 |
| Redesign | $400.00 |
| Minor tank permit (new commercial, permanent or interim holding tanks) | $450.00 |
| Minor component repair | $250.00 |
| Evaluate existing system for building alterations, additions or change of use | $200.00 |
| Verification of existing site testing | $200.00 |
| Residential Component I, Component II, exemptions | $175.00 per lot |
| Non-residential and land development | $200.00 per site |
| Non-building waiver plans and inspection | $200.00 flat |
| Public sewer or SFTF review, Component 3, 10 lots or fewer | $400.00 flat |
| Public sewer or SFTF review, Component 3, 11 lots or more | $700.00 flat |
| Additional inspection due to delay | $100.00 |
| Permit review after the third review | $100.00 |
| Transfer of permit / record rider form | $75.00 |
| Request for administrative hearing | $400.00 |
| Expedited file look-up request | $150.00 per request |
| Liquid waste hauler licence | $175.00 per vehicle |
| Failing to obtain a permit | Twice the permit fee |
One sentence on that schedule is worth planning around: no testing will be scheduled until the permit fee has been paid. Cheque, card at the office with a surcharge, or online through the county’s payment provider. For the cost of the system rather than the paperwork, see our cost guides.
The Chester County Health Department, through its Bureau of Environmental Health Protection, is the Act 537 local agency for every municipality in the county. The Department of Environmental Protection’s own south-east region tabulation lists it against all 73.
Chester County Health Department, Bureau of Environmental Health Protection
601 Westtown Road, Suite 295, West Chester, PA 19380-0990
Phone: (610) 344-6225
Web: chesco.org
The department publishes something few Pennsylvania agencies do: a Sewage and Water Staff Coverage Map, effective January 13, 2026, that assigns each of the 73 municipalities to a named environmental health specialist with a direct phone number. If you want to talk to the person who will actually stand over your test pit, that document is how you find them.
Chester County Health Department regulation section 503.4 requires all property owners, regardless of property size, to obtain a permit before installing an individual or community on-lot sewage disposal system, and section 503.4.1 states that a permit shall be required for all rural residences within the department’s jurisdiction.
That is the statewide exemption at 25 Pa. Code section 72.22(e) being switched off in terms, which the state rule expressly allows a local agency to do by ordinance. Even where the exemption survives elsewhere in Pennsylvania it is narrow: a residence occupied by the owner or an immediate family member, on a contiguous tract of ten acres or more, and only where the owner was the owner of record as of January 10, 1987. The regulation carrying all this is Chapter 500, section 503, certified by the Secretary of the Chester County Board of Health on September 24, 2014 and effective at the close of business on November 12, 2014. It adopts 25 Pa. Code Chapters 71, 72 and 73 by reference.
In Chester the applicant prepares the excavations and performs the percolation test; the county attends and witnesses it. That is the opposite of the arrangement in some other Pennsylvania counties, and it changes who you hire.
The permit is valid for three years, matching 25 Pa. Code section 72.27(a). Appeals go in writing within ten days, and a request for an administrative hearing costs $400. The department also warns that falsification of any test is cause for denial of the permit and the initiation of legal action, which tells you how the county has been burned before.
Pennsylvania issues no septic installer licence. In Chester the enforceable checks are the county’s liquid waste hauler licence at $175 per vehicle and the SEO’s own inspections against 25 Pa. Code Chapter 73.
Statewide, the strongest public credential a pumping company holds is registration as a residential septage hauler with the Department of Environmental Protection, which is a filing rather than a vetting, and we describe it that way rather than calling anyone licensed. Home improvement contractor registration with the Attorney General and PSMA certification are industry or consumer-protection registrations, not septic licences. See how we verify for what sits behind each listing. County-level enforcement of the work itself runs through the sewage enforcement officer, which is why the coverage map naming your specialist is a genuinely useful document.
$800 for the major permit and $800 for the site evaluation that precedes it, on the schedule effective January 1, 2025. A minor component repair is $250, a minor tank permit is $450, and a redesign is $400. Building without a permit costs twice the permit fee.
Yes. The county regulation requires a permit from all property owners regardless of property size, and specifically for all rural residences in its jurisdiction. Pennsylvania’s statewide ten-acre exemption yields wherever a local agency requires a permit by ordinance, and Chester does.
You do, or your contractor does. The department states that the applicant or authorised agent is responsible for preparing the observation test pit excavations and performing the percolation tests. A county specialist attends. You will also need a PA One Call serial number on the day, or testing will not go ahead.
Site testing for existing individual lots is scheduled for completion within 20 working days of the department receiving the Sewage Application Record and Rider forms, and nothing is scheduled until the fee is paid. That is one of the few published turnaround commitments from any Pennsylvania sewage agency.
Three years, the same term 25 Pa. Code section 72.27(a) sets statewide. Transferring a permit or filing a record rider form is $75. Appeals must be made in writing within ten days.
Sources: Chester County Health Department Bureau of Environmental Health Protection, Sewage, Wells and Contractors Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2025; Chester County Health Department section 503, Individual Sewage Disposal and Administration of Sewage Facilities Act, certified September 24, 2014, effective at close of business November 12, 2014; Application and Permit Procedure for On-Lot Sewage Disposal Systems; Site Preparation Requirements, Procedures for Site Testing and Absorption Area Requirements for Individual Lots; Sewage and Water Staff Coverage Map, effective January 13, 2026; Pennsylvania DEP, SE Region Municipal Onlot Sewage Service Depiction (updated 3/1/15). All read August 7, 2026. 25 Pa. Code Chapters 71, 72 and 73. Fees change; confirm before applying.
Ground conditions, verified providers and the wider picture: Chester County septic hub. How permitting works elsewhere in the state: Pennsylvania permit guides.
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