Permit Search Tips

Environmental Health Permit Search Tips for Septic and Well Permits

All Henderson County Environmental Health septic and well permits are available online.

Below are detailed instructions on how to best search for these permits.

Start your search by opening GIS and searching for the property by address or parcel number. This will help you locate the permit in the next steps. Click the Real Property Link to view relevant property information:

• REID and PIN #
  • Can be used to search on the Online Public Portal – Advanced Search (don’t include dashes in parcel number).
• Property Description
  • If a subdivision name/lot # is listed AND the property was permitted prior to 2004, then using the subdivision/lot # is the best way to search on the Legacy System.
• Year Built
  • Can help you determine which permit search system(s) to use.
• Deeds
  • Will show you the names of previous owners. This can help when searching for the original permit since it will be under the name of the person who applied for the permit, not the current owner.

For help using GIS, please visit the Henderson County GIS Services page.

Conduct searches for permits issued 2004+ using the Online Public Portal - Advanced Search. It is best to start with the newest search system to ensure you have the most up-to-date permit. Even if the original permit was issued before 2004, there may have been a repair permit or a permit change after 2004.

Search using one of the following:

• Permit Number
  • Listed as “Application Number”
• Site Address
  • When searching using the site address, only type in the first part of the address (e.g., instead of “1200 Spartanburg Hwy, Hendersonville, NC 28792”, simply type in “1200 Spartanburg”).
  • Do not enter anything into the Site City or Site Zip boxes.
• Parcel Number
  • Permits from April 2004 to July 2022 will likely be listed under the PIN #.
  • Permits from August 2022 to the present will likely be listed under the REID.
  • The REID and PIN # can be located using GIS.
  • Do not include any dashes when entering the parcel number (e.g., the PIN # 9578-33-6198 should be entered as 9578336198).

This will pull up all Henderson County permits. Permit type is listed below the permit number. To find the permit PDF:

1. Click on the blue-highlighted permit number.
2. Scroll down and click on “Notes”.
3. The final, completed septic permit should be titled with “Operations Permit (OP)” or “Authorization to Operate (ATO)”. The final, completed well permit should be titled with “Well Certification of Completion (WC)”.

If there are no results from this system and you have tried separate searches using the address, PIN #, REID, and all of the property owners since 2004, and the property was deeded before 2004, try the Environmental Health Legacy Permits Archive Search System.

Conduct searches for permits issued between 1968 and 2004 using the Environmental Health Legacy Permits Archive.

Things to note:

• Well permits started in 1991.
• Records are more reliable for newer properties, especially from 1990 on. Many of the septic permits from 1979 until 1983 were destroyed. If no attachment is found, there is no permit on file. There are no additional permits in our office.
• Always consider data entry errors, such as misspellings or abbreviations.

Search using one of the following:

• Owner Name
  • Last,First no space, e.g., "Smith,John".
  • Search using previous owners’ names. The permit would be under the owner’s name at the time of the septic system being installed, not the current owner. To find the names of previous owners, search the address on GIS, click on Real Property, and select Deeds.
  • If you are looking for a business, use periods between each word, e.g., "Apple.Blossom.Estates".
  • If you know the builder or installer, try searching using their name.
• Directions
  • If the property is in a subdivision, start with the subdivision name and then the lot #, e.g., "Kingswood lot 22". To find a subdivision name, search the address on GIS, click on Real Property, and if it is in a subdivision, the subdivision name will be listed under Property Description.
    • If the subdivision name and lot # together do not pull up any results, you can try searching for the subdivision name alone. After clicking search, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F (control find) to search for the lot #.
  • Try the address of the property. Be as brief as possible (e.g., “Spartanburg” instead of “1200 Spartanburg Hwy”) and try different spellings/abbreviations (e.g., “Bobs Creek”, “Bob Creek”, “Bobs Creek Rd”, “Bobs Creek Road”). If this results in a long list of results, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F (control find) to search for text within the web page.
  • If the road had a different name in the past, try searching using the previous road name.
• Using multiple search fields will narrow results

• You can use the name of an individual along with the directions to find a permit, for example: owner’s name "Smith", and directions "Howard Gap".

If there is a permit record, it will be listed as a PDF attachment at the bottom of the page.

Difficult to find properties:

• Has the road name changed?
• Consider abbreviations
• Check for multi-part names to see if they have been combined
• Misspellings

If the permit is not available online and you have tried the search tips above, unfortunately, we do not have the permit on file.