An educational, cited reference for homeowners — not a claim that ClickSeptic services Michigan today. ClickSeptic has zero live markets anywhere yet.
Short answer: Michigan is the only U.S. state with no statewide septic code; regulation is delegated almost entirely to Michigan's 45 local health departments (covering all 83 counties) operating under the Public Health Code (Act 368 of 1978) and their own local sanitary codes. The state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) provides technical criteria and training through its Onsite Wastewater Management Unit for larger/commercial systems, but typical single- and two-family residential septic systems are governed and permitted locally, not by a uniform state design code.
Last updated: September 2026. This page summarizes public Michigan regulatory information for homeowner reference and is not legal advice — always confirm current requirements directly with the state or local agency cited below. ClickSeptic has not launched in any market and has zero operators onboarded anywhere today; this page does not claim ClickSeptic provides service in Michigan or anywhere else.
Michigan is the only U.S. state with no statewide septic code; regulation is delegated almost entirely to Michigan's 45 local health departments (covering all 83 counties) operating under the Public Health Code (Act 368 of 1978) and their own local sanitary codes. The state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) provides technical criteria and training through its Onsite Wastewater Management Unit for larger/commercial systems, but typical single- and two-family residential septic systems are governed and permitted locally, not by a uniform state design code.
Michigan has no statewide law requiring septic inspection at time of sale; whether an inspection is required depends entirely on whether the local county or township has adopted a Time-of-Sale/Time-of-Transfer (TOS/TOT) ordinance. Examples include Washtenaw County's mandatory Time of Sale Program (approvals valid one year) and Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department's Time of Transfer evaluations, while many other Michigan counties impose no such requirement at all.
Michigan has no codified statewide pumping-frequency mandate; EGLE's SepticSmart guidance is advisory only, recommending professional inspection roughly every 3 years and pumping 'as necessary' (commonly every 3-5 years) once scum/sludge exceeds about one-third of tank volume. Some local health departments impose their own maintenance conditions as part of TOT ordinances, but there is no single state rule dictating a fixed pumping interval.
Septic permits in Michigan are issued exclusively by the local health department with jurisdiction, under that department's own sanitary code (since there is no statewide code to administer); site evaluation, permitting, and inspection standards can therefore differ meaningfully from one county to the next. EGLE is not a permitting authority for typical residential systems, though it does provide model criteria some departments choose to adopt.
Michigan's most distinctive feature is structural rather than a single rule: it is the only U.S. state that has never adopted a statewide sanitary/septic code, a gap that state legislation (e.g., bills like SB 771) has repeatedly tried and failed to close, leaving system standards, inspection triggers, and enforcement to vary by county-level sanitary code.
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