The Arkansas Septic Permit Process, Step by Step
The homeowner is not the applicant. The forms have numbers, the signatures have owners, and two of the deadlines are short enough to derail a build if nobody is watching them.
Arkansas rules and county contacts. Verified August 10, 2026.
Most explanations of septic permitting stop at “apply to the health department.” That is not wrong, but it leaves out who fills in the form, who signs which line, what has to happen twenty-four hours before a machine arrives, and what closes the file afterwards. Those details are where a build stalls.
Arkansas rules are statewide. The Arkansas Department of Health sets policy; county health units implement it. That is genuinely good news for anyone comparing parcels across county lines — the rules do not change between Melbourne and Newport. What changes is the desk, the person, and the local workload.
The sequence
1. Soil evaluation and design
A licensed Designated Representative evaluates the soil and designs the system. This is not a formality attached to the permit; it is the step that determines what the permit will be for. Act 402 qualifies professional engineers, registered professional land surveyors, registered professional sanitarians and licensed master plumbers, among others, to hold the licence.
The evidence is a soil pit, not a percolation test. That distinction has its own page because it is the most consequential misunderstanding in the whole process.
2. The application — EHP-19
The EHP-19 Individual Onsite Wastewater System Permit Application is completed by the Designated Representative, not by the homeowner and not by the installer. There is a separate EHP-19N for non-individual applications.
It is then signed on line 21 by the county Environmental Health Specialist. Arkansas also runs an online permit portal, which is worth knowing exists.
The permit plat drawing submitted with it has to show the house, the property lines and setbacks, the tank and any pump tank locations, the solid pipe, cleanouts and distribution box, and the absorption trenches drawn on contour.
3. The permit runs one year
An issued permit is valid for one year without revalidation. Within that year, no changes or substitutions may be made without the Designated Representative's authorisation — including apparently minor ones. A different tank, a shifted trench line or a substituted material is a change to a permitted design.
Installation and closing the file
4. Twenty-four hours' notice
The county Environmental Health Specialist must be given at least 24 hours' notice before installation begins. This is the deadline most often missed by a crew arriving early because the weather turned good, and it is the cheapest one to honour.
5. A licensed installer, present throughout
A licensed installer must be on site during the entire installation — not dropping in, not supervising by phone. Homeowners may not install their own systems in Arkansas, and operating without the required licence is a misdemeanour carrying a maximum fine of $1,000.
Installer licences expire on 31 December and renew from 1 January, with a fifty percent late fee after 1 March and an annual training requirement. A licence delinquent by more than a year requires retesting. Anyone vetting a contractor can ask when their licence was last renewed; a gap followed by a retest is a fair question, not an accusation.
6. Final inspection
Final inspection is carried out by the county Environmental Health Specialist, or by the Designated Representative who originally submitted the permit where the Specialist authorises it.
7. The five-working-day form
The installer must sign and submit the EHP-6 Installation Specification Sheet — the “shot sheet” — to the local health unit within five working days.
Where there is no final inspection, the installer instead completes Part 2 of the EHP-19 and signs the System Installation Verification section.
This paperwork is what makes a system provable later. A homeowner selling in ten years, or refinancing, or arguing with an insurer, is relying on this file existing. It is worth asking for a copy at handover rather than assuming the county will always be able to find it.
The forms, by number
Nobody else publishes these locally, and knowing the number makes a phone call to a county desk dramatically shorter.
| Form | What it is | Who completes it |
|---|---|---|
| EHP-19 | Individual onsite wastewater system permit application | Designated Representative |
| EHP-19N | Non-individual permit application | Designated Representative |
| EHP-6 | Installation specification sheet (“shot sheet”) | Installer, within 5 working days |
| EHP-17 | Cost estimate worksheet | Designated Representative |
| EHP-66 | Designated Representative licence application | Applicant for the licence |
| Opt-A | Optional system utilisation verification | As applicable |
The department also publishes an Authorized Onsite Wastewater Products List and searchable public databases of licensed Designated Representatives, installers, monitoring personnel, septic tank cleaners and manufacturers. Those databases are the reliable way to confirm a licence rather than taking a business card at face value.
One note on the state contractor database
A licensed septic installer will often not appear in the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board's contractor search, and that absence is expected rather than a warning sign. Arkansas Code § 17-25-513(5) exempts from residential contractor licensing anyone licensed by another state agency who is working within the scope of that licence — and an onsite wastewater installer is licensed by the Department of Health. The Department of Health's own licensee database is the authoritative check. Where a contractor also does broader construction work above the residential threshold, that separate work can require its own licence.
Where to call — the county health unit for each town
The Department of Health's standing instruction is direct: call the health unit in the county where the property is located and ask for the Onsite Environmental Specialist. That office will also give a caller the list of licensed local individuals who do soil tests and design systems — note that the county refers people to licensees, not to contractors.
| County | Town served | Health unit | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independence | Batesville | 120 Weaver Ave, Batesville 72501 | (870) 793-8848 |
| Sharp | Ash Flat, Cave City | 724 Ash Flat Drive, Ash Flat 72513 | (870) 994-7364 |
| Izard | Melbourne | 149 Haley Street, Melbourne 72556 | (870) 368-7790 |
| Stone | Mountain View | 204 Whitfield Ave., Mountain View 72560 | (870) 269-3308 |
| Jackson | Newport | 1505 North Pecan, Newport 72112 | (870) 523-8968 |
| Cleburne | Heber Springs | 2319 Hwy. 110 West – Suite C, Heber Springs 72543 | (501) 362-7581 |
Addresses and numbers as published by the Arkansas Department of Health, retrieved August 10, 2026. The department's records for these units were last updated in March 2025, so confirming a number before relying on it is sensible. The department does not publish the name of the Onsite Environmental Specialist for any county; ask for the role by title.
Retrieving a permit on an existing house
To find the septic permit for a property that already has a system, call the county health unit and ask for the Onsite Environmental Specialist. It helps to know the year the home was built, the subdivision name and the lot number before calling. That is pre-purchase due diligence worth doing early — before closing, not after.
Two situations that change the process
A system that discharges to the surface adds a second agency and a 30-day lead time. Aerobic units, sand filters and similar designs need coverage under the Division of Environmental Quality's NPDES general permit ARG550000, with a Notice of Intent submitted at least thirty days before coverage is needed and signed by the homeowner personally. That requirement is unaffected by acreage, and it is set out in full on the ten-acre exemption page, which is where the two-agency structure is explained.
A single residence on ten or more acres may be exempt from the permit itself, if every part of the system sits more than 200 feet from any property line including roads. The exemption removes the permit, not the construction standards — same page.
Everything else on this page applies either way: the design still has to be right, the installer still has to be licensed, and the ground still decides what is buildable.
Common questions
Neither, strictly. The permit application, form EHP-19, is completed by the Designated Representative who designed the system. It is then signed on line 21 by the county Environmental Health Specialist. The homeowner is not the applicant and the installer is not the applicant.
One year, without revalidation. No changes or substitutions may be made to the permitted design without the authorisation of the Designated Representative who submitted it.
The county Environmental Health Specialist must receive at least 24 hours' notice before installation begins. A licensed installer is required to be on site for the entire installation.
The installer must sign and submit the EHP-6 Installation Specification Sheet to the local health unit within five working days. Final inspection is carried out by the county Environmental Health Specialist, or by the submitting Designated Representative where the Specialist authorises it. Where there is no final inspection, the installer completes Part 2 of the EHP-19 and signs the System Installation Verification section.
Call the health unit in the county where the property is located and ask for the Onsite Environmental Specialist. It helps to know the year the home was built, the subdivision name and the lot number before calling.
Starting a build and need the design and permit handled?
Send the property details and a licensed local professional can take it from there.
Sources
- Arkansas Department of Health, Rules Pertaining to Onsite Wastewater Systems, and departmental installer training materials — EHP-19 and line 21, one-year validity, no substitution without DR authorisation, 24-hour notice, installer presence, final inspection, EHP-6 within five working days, EHP-19 Part 2, plat drawing contents, licence renewal mechanics and enforcement. Verified August 10, 2026.
- Arkansas Department of Health onsite wastewater program — form index (EHP-19, EHP-19N, EHP-6, EHP-17, EHP-66, Opt-A), licensee databases, online permit portal, Authorized Onsite Wastewater Products List.
- Arkansas Department of Health local health unit directory — county unit addresses and phone numbers. Retrieved August 10, 2026.
- Arkansas Code § 17-25-513(5) — exemption from Residential Building Contractors Committee licensing for persons licensed by another state agency working within that licence's scope.
Process details are statewide, but county desks differ in workload and scheduling. Nothing here replaces a direct conversation with the county health unit or an evaluation by a licensed Designated Representative.