In New Jersey, onsite wastewater (septic) systems are regulated by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Division of Water Quality, which sets the statewide code, and permits are issued and inspections carried out by county or local health jurisdictions. Installing, replacing or repairing a septic system here means, in sequence: a site and soil evaluation, a design, a permit application, an inspection while the system is open, and a final as-built record once it is approved.
The state-level regulator is New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Division of Water Quality (official program page). NJDEP writes and maintains the statewide septic code (N.J.A.C. 7:9A) under the Realty Improvement Sewerage and Facilities Act, while permitting and enforcement are delegated to municipal and county Boards of Health / local health departments, which issue the certificate of compliance and the permit to construct or alter a system. NJDEP approval is needed only when a local health authority cannot act on a project under N.J.A.C. 7:9A.
The statewide onsite-wastewater code is cited as N.J.A.C. 7:9A — Standards for Individual Subsurface Sewage Disposal Systems, adopted under N.J.S.A. 58:11-23 (Realty Improvement Sewerage and Facilities Act). We link the agency's own page above rather than restating specific numeric requirements from it, since those change by rule revision and by local amendment.
The order of operations is broadly consistent across the country, even though the specific numbers in each step vary by state and often by county. None of the figures below are specific to New Jersey; treat this as the shape of the process, and get the actual numbers from the agency linked above or from the county office.
| Design | A licensed Professional Engineer (licensed by the New Jersey State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors) must prepare the design plans and, upon completion, certify that construction complies with N.J.A.C. 7:9A. https://dep.nj.gov/dwq/wastewater/septic-systems/professional-information/ |
|---|---|
| Installation | N.J.A.C. 7:9A refers to a "septic system installer" / "authorized installer," but there is no single statewide NJDEP installer license for conventional systems; installers build to the PE's approved plans and are enforced through local boards of health. A prior requirement that installers of advanced treatment devices/drip dispersal hold NEHA CIOWTS Advanced-Level certification was removed by a July 2021 rule amendment. https://dep.nj.gov/dwq/wastewater/septic-systems/professional-information/ |
Septic records in New Jersey are generally held by the county or local health jurisdiction that issued the permit, not by the state agency, and are released under the state's public records law. We have not logged the specific statute name and response deadline for New Jersey yet; check with the county office listed on its records page below, or with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Division of Water Quality.
We hold 6,413 septic records across 1 of 21 New Jersey counties. Each county page below shows exactly where its records are kept and how many we hold.
| County | Records held |
|---|---|
| Hunterdon | 6,413 |
Full New Jersey county-by-county index · Open the parcel map
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Division of Water Quality. NJDEP writes and maintains the statewide septic code (N.J.A.C. 7:9A) under the Realty Improvement Sewerage and Facilities Act, while permitting and enforcement are delegated to municipal and county Boards of Health / local health departments, which issue the certificate of compliance and the permit to construct or alter a system. NJDEP approval is needed only when a local health authority cannot act on a project under N.J.A.C. 7:9A.
The sequence is a site and soil evaluation, a design sized from the evaluation and (under most state codes) bedroom count, a permit application, an inspection before backfill, and a final as-built filed once the system is approved. Exact numeric requirements are set by the agency's own code, not restated here.
N.J.A.C. 7:9A refers to a "septic system installer" / "authorized installer," but there is no single statewide NJDEP installer license for conventional systems; installers build to the PE's approved plans and are enforced through local boards of health. A prior requirement that installers of advanced treatment devices/drip dispersal hold NEHA CIOWTS Advanced-Level certification was removed by a July 2021 rule amendment. https://dep.nj.gov/dwq/wastewater/septic-systems/professional-information/
Septic records are generally held by the county or district health office that issued the permit. See our county-by-county New Jersey index for the specific office and portal in each county.
Regulatory information on this page was researched against official state agency sources and last verified 2026-08-31. It is informational only: the agency linked above is authoritative, and requirements can change. We are not lawyers, not a government body, and not affiliated with, licensed or certified by any agency named on this page.