Planning a new septic system in Florida: what permit and design will it need?

The order of the work

The application is Form DEP 4015, with a site plan, a site evaluation and a floor plan. A construction permit is valid 18 months and can be extended once for 90 days.

A city or county may not issue a building or plumbing permit for a building that needs a septic system until the owner has the construction permit, and the building may not be occupied until the final installation is approved. Broward's packet adds a survey of the features within 75 feet of the property, signed and sealed by a licensed surveyor and mapper.

What a new Florida septic system costs, with county permit fees beside it

The model puts a new system at $2,350 to $7,750 per system, an estimate, not a quote. It starts from one national range, widened 15 percent each side, with the Florida-to-US wage ratio for operating engineers applied, and one Florida company's installation price was countable, short of the five a Florida range needs.

County permit fees are outside it, and a nitrogen-reducing design is a different system from the conventional one the model prices.

Estimated range. Built from national published ranges (1 source), adjusted by Florida's operating engineer wage ratio to the US (0.79, BLS May 2025). Not a quote. Two Florida septic companies publish a price we could count on their own websites; where five or more price the same job, the range is the middle half of their prices, and where two to four do, the estimate is widened to take them in. Coupons, specials and figures a page gives as an average are not counted. Only one Florida company publishes a price we could count for this job, so the range is our national estimate alone. Full method. Prices as of Oct 24, 2026.

When the design has to reduce nitrogen

Since July 1, 2023, new systems on lots of one acre or less in basin management action plan and alternative restoration plan areas have to be nitrogen-reducing, where sewer isn't available. Since January 1, 2024, that applies to every lot size in the Indian River Lagoon Protection Program area, which reaches parts of Volusia, Brevard, Indian River and St. Lucie counties.

Counties with no impacted areas are Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gulf, Holmes, Liberty, Nassau, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington. In the Northern Indian River Lagoon, DEP's August 2026 table marks no new construction permits, citing a court injunction effective July 17, 2025. For one address, DEP's BMAPs and Alternative Restoration Plans OSTDS requirements map gives the answer.

Lot size and setbacks

A subdivision lot of at least one-half acre with a minimum dimension of 100 feet can take a regulated water system and a septic system if flow stays within the statute's limits. Lots on a public water system can go to four lots per acre, and a lot in the 10-year floodplain needs at least one-half acre.

The setbacks in rule 62-6.005, as printed in the chapter 62-6 text on flrules.org, put a system 75 feet from a private potable well and 75 feet from surface water, with exceptions. Lee County requires an engineer-designed system for any new application in the unincorporated county, and Sarasota County requires one for every new or modified system.

Who may install

Contracting to build a system takes a registration under part III of chapter 489, which DEP administers. An owner may build for his or her own owner-occupied single-family home but needs every permit, and a plumber state-licensed under section 489.105(3)(m) is exempt only from the registration.

What the permit costs

Where DEP permits, it charges only state fees: $100 for application and plan review, $55 for the permit, $75 for the initial inspection, a $5 surcharge and $115 for a site evaluation. In every other county, the county health department sets the total.

Broward lists a $100 plan review fee and a $260 permit fee, and Lee lists $390 with $155 more if a site evaluation is needed. Pasco lists $255 for the application and soil test and $135 for the permit, and Brevard lists $510 without a site evaluation. Seminole lists $425 and, separately, $50 for springs Priority Focus Area additional review.

What cannot wait while you plan

Before the contract is signed

1. Ask the county health department whether sewer is available and whether your lot sits in a nitrogen-reduction area.
2. Ask who arranges the site evaluation and who files the application.
3. Ask for the company's septic tank contractor registration number.
4. Ask the county for its permit fee and write it beside the quote.

The construction permit

Section 381.0065 bars constructing a system without a permit approved by the department. The county health department issues it in most counties, and DEP issues it in 17, applying only the state fees of rule 62-6.030.

Questions people ask

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