Service areas, sorted by the county line
We cover the Front Range foothills and plains in Jefferson, Larimer, and Boulder counties, where homes on septic systems are common and a county transfer document is required to sell. Each city page carries its county specifics.
Colorado delegates septic permitting to county public health agencies under the statewide OWTS framework maintained by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, so the transfer document, the exemption, and the clock all change at the county line. Find your county below, then open your city page for the local specifics. The transfer guide compares all three programs side by side.
Jefferson County
Use Permit
Required on a covered transaction unless the system was installed and approved less than one year before closing, an exemption cut from five years on June 15, 2026. Tank pumped and inspected, application in at least 10 working days before closing, valid until closing or six months.
- Golden: the county seat, foothills and canyon properties on septic.
- Arvada: city sewer inside the utility, septic in the unincorporated pockets.
- Evergreen: mountain subdivisions outside the sanitation districts.
Issued by Jefferson County Public Health
Larimer County
Acceptance Document
A county-licensed, NAWT-certified inspector reports to the health department before the transaction is finalized. The document is valid until the closing date or for up to 12 months, whichever comes first.
- Fort Collins: home of the county health department's main office.
- Loveland: served by the county's own Loveland office.
Issued by the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment
Boulder County
Property Transfer Certificate
A licensed inspection with the tank pumped, then a certificate before closing, valid one year. Exempt when the entire system received final approval less than five years before closing.
- Boulder: the on-septic ring around the city and the mountain canyons.
Issued by Boulder County Public Health; current fees in the county's OWTS fee resolution (PDF)
Not sure which side of a county line you sit on?
City limits and county lines rarely match, and an in-town mailing address can reach deep into unincorporated county. Arvada is the clean example: the city utility serves most addresses, while the surrounding unincorporated Jefferson County pockets stay on septic and face the use permit at sale. The county assessor record or a call to the county health office settles it, and the transfer inspection page explains what happens once you know.
Outside the six city pages?
The rules are countywide, so the same documents govern Conifer in Jefferson County, Berthoud in Larimer County, and Longmont or Niwot in Boulder County; use the county section above that matches your address. Get a free quote and tell us where you are in Colorado's Front Range, or browse every service we cover.
What it costs, and what happens after you send it
- What does septic work cost on the Front Range?
- It depends which job you need, and the three are not close. A new system or a full replacement is the five-figure one: Tri-Lakes Contracting (contractor-published) lists conventional systems at $10,000 to $20,000 and pressure distribution at $15,000 to $25,000, with engineered and advanced-treatment systems sit above those ranges, putting most Colorado projects at $10,000 to $50,000 or more. A transfer inspection is a different appointment at a different scale, published from $475 per system, with more for travel time or difficult access (Johnston Sanitation, contractor-published, Loveland). Routine pumping runs $250 to $895 by tank size in the Boulder area, with a Fort Collins average of $388 to $509, both aggregator estimates rather than contractor quotes. County permit fees are separate and each county publishes its own schedule. Soil, lot access and county requirements decide where any real quote lands.
- How fast will someone get back to me?
- Your request goes to an independent local septic contractor, usually within about an hour during the day. That contractor then contacts you to look at the system and price the work on their own schedule.
- What work is covered?
- Septic installation and replacement, septic repair, transfer and point-of-sale inspections, routine inspections, and pumping. See every service.
Only a contractor standing at your tank and soil treatment area can price your actual system.
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