Septic companies in Georgia

Who Regulates Septic Systems in Georgia

Sources: Georgia Department of Public Health. Checked 2026-09-18.

Georgia runs septic through public health rather than through an environmental agency. The Department of Public Health writes the rules, and your county board of health issues the permit and carries out the inspections. DPH sends local questions to the county rather than answering them itself.

The rules cover every on-site sewage management system opens in a new tab apart from those the Department of Natural Resources regulates and those served by a public or community treatment plant. DPH says plainly that it cannot supply local records or administer exams, and sends people to their County Environmental Health Office opens in a new tab instead.

The technical detail sits in the Manual for On-Site Sewage Management Systems, which the rules point to throughout. Where public or community sewage disposal is not accessible opens in a new tab, the Manual is the standard an adequate system has to meet.

Licenses and What to Check Before You Hire

Sources: Georgia Department of Public Health. Checked 2026-09-18.

Georgia certifies rather than licenses, and it certifies both the person and the company. Nobody may work as a soil classifier, septic tank contractor, inspection personnel, maintenance personnel or sewage pumper opens in a new tab without current Department certification.

A Certified Septic Tank Installer opens in a new tab installs, repairs or modifies systems. A Certified Septic Tank Pumper opens in a new tab removes, transports and disposes of septage. They are separate certifications behind separate exams, the Residential Exam to install and the Pumper Exam to pump opens in a new tab, with further exams for commercial systems and subsurface drip.

Certifications expire at the end of February and renew every two years opens in a new tab in even numbered years, so a current one is a fair thing to ask to see. A portable sanitation company that never pumps septic tanks opens in a new tab sits under a lighter continuing education rule, which is worth knowing when the truck on your drive is a portable toilet truck.

DPH publishes two lists, certified installer companies opens in a new tab and approved pumper companies opens in a new tab, and we check Georgia listings against both. Each entry is a company name, a phone number and a county of business location, with no certification number and no street address, so our match is name plus phone plus county. That county heading is where the firm is based and not where it may work, because companies and individuals are certified to conduct business throughout all of Georgia opens in a new tab.

Permits, Inspections and Selling a Home

Sources: Georgia Department of Public Health; University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. Checked 2026-09-18.

We found no Georgia rule requiring a septic inspection when a home sells. What the rules require is a permit before the work: nobody may install a system without first obtaining a construction permit from the County Health Department opens in a new tab. Repairs and modifications have to be permitted and inspected opens in a new tab too.

The permit follows the soil rather than the other way round. Construction permits are issued only after the County Board of Health finds favourable absorption rates and soil characteristics opens in a new tab, and soil evaluations must be done by individuals the Department has certified opens in a new tab. The county then permits sites deemed suitable by those evaluations opens in a new tab.

Every system must be inspected before it is put into operation opens in a new tab. That inspection belongs to the county rather than to the installer, and it is the document worth asking for when you buy a house with a recent system.

Evaluations at sale do happen in Georgia, but they are requested rather than mandated. If a performance evaluation of an existing system is conducted opens in a new tab it has to follow the Manual's procedure, and county boards of health are routinely asked to carry them out opens in a new tab.

Keeping a System Working

Sources: Georgia Secretary of State, Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia; Georgia Department of Public Health; University of Georgia Cooperative Extension; United States Environmental Protection Agency. Checked 2026-09-18.

The property owner is responsible for operating and maintaining the system opens in a new tab, and DPH is blunt that additives are not beneficial and can in fact be detrimental opens in a new tab. Georgia's own extension guidance puts pumping at every three to seven years opens in a new tab, a wider window than the EPA's three to five with an inspection every three opens in a new tab.

Help Paying for Repairs

Sources: Georgia Environmental Finance Authority; Georgia Department of Community Affairs; United States Environmental Protection Agency. Checked 2026-09-18.

Georgia state money does not reach a homeowner directly, and the reason is statutory. State law does not allow the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority to lend to private entities for water, wastewater, sewer and septic projects opens in a new tab, and the Community Development Block Grant program takes applications from cities and counties rather than from individuals opens in a new tab.

What exists runs either through your local government or through Washington. GEFA's Septic-to-Sewer Program helps local governments and authorities build wastewater treatment opens in a new tab, and USDA offers grants and low-interest loans to repair rural single-family homes, including septic systems opens in a new tab, with grants reserved for elderly very-low-income owners.

Find Your County's Environmental Health Office

Most Georgia counties are served through a Department of Public Health health district. Each link goes to the office that handles septic permits for that county. Checked 2026-09-18.

Questions People Ask