San José environmental health help for food permits, inspections, septic, wells and business compliance
When someone searches for the Santa Clara County Health Department because they need a restaurant permit, pool approval, septic record, body art permit, food inspection or hazardous-materials answer, the office they usually need is the County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health, commonly shortened to DEH.
This is not the same office as the Santa Clara County Public Health Department. DEH is the regulatory side that works with restaurants, property owners, pools, tattoo shops, septic systems, wells, hazardous materials, complaints and other environmental-health programs across Silicon Valley.
Which Santa Clara County health office do you actually need?
For food permits, restaurant inspections, swimming pools, body art, septic systems, wells, environmental complaints and many hazardous-materials programs, start with the County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health. Its main number is 408-918-3400.
Food facility permits and inspections, mobile food, temporary food events, pools and spas, body art, onsite wastewater, wells, environmental complaints and regulated business programs.
Vaccines, communicable disease programs, WIC, maternal-child programs, clinical public-health programs and other population-health services.
Santa Clara County has many city, county and special-district jurisdictions. A San José restaurant, a rural septic property and a hazardous-materials facility in Sunnyvale can follow different regulatory paths.
Santa Clara County Environmental Health phone, address and office hours
The main DEH office is on Berger Drive in San José near the County’s central service campuses. The general office schedule is broad enough for walk-in business, but plan-check intake, payments and other transactions can have earlier processing cutoffs.
| Contact item | Current detail | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Agency | County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health | Environmental-health regulation, permitting, inspections and records. |
| Main phone | 408-918-3400 | General questions, permit routing, inspection and program information. |
| Address | 1555 Berger Drive, Building #2, Suite 300, San José, CA 95112 | Main Environmental Health office and front-counter business. |
| General email | dehweb@deh.sccgov.org | General non-emergency Environmental Health questions. |
| Office hours | Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | General office access except County holidays. |
| Transaction timing | Some plan-check transactions stop around 4:15 p.m. | Do not arrive at closing time with a permit packet or payment. |
What Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health handles
The department’s service directory covers dozens of programs. For most residents and small businesses, these are the routes that matter most.
Food facility plan review, operating permits, restaurants, grocery stores, cafés, commissaries, catering, home-based food programs and inspections.
Mobile Food Facility permitting, plan review, annual renewal and inspection requirements.
Festival, fair, community-event and event-coordinator permits with risk-category fees and submission deadlines.
Recreational-health plan review, remodel approval, equipment changes and operating requirements.
Practitioner registration, tattoo/body-piercing facility permits, plan review and inspection.
Feasibility testing, design review, construction-related approvals, inspections, repairs, upgrades and records.
Environmental Health clearance and water-quality/location review where the County’s process applies.
CUPA-related programs, hazardous waste, storage tanks, business plans and construction/closure compliance within applicable jurisdictions.
Food problems, pools, septic complaints, hazardous-materials concerns, body art, tobacco, drinking water, stormwater, garbage and other supported categories.
Restaurant, grocery, café and food-facility permits
Opening a food business in Santa Clara County is not just a matter of getting a business license. DEH handles the environmental-health plan review and health permit side, while building, planning, fire and other approvals can belong to separate jurisdictions.
If you are converting a non-food tenant space into a restaurant, making a substantial remodel or changing a menu in a way that affects equipment or operations, the County’s new-food-facility process can require plan review before construction or operation.
What goes in a new food-facility plan-check packet?
The County states that complete new-food-facility submissions are reviewed in the order received and that DEH has 20 business days to review new submissions or revisions. Incomplete packets are not placed into the queue, and plan-review work does not begin until applicable fees are paid.
Food booths, festivals and temporary-event deadlines
If you’re organizing a street fair, school fundraiser, festival, farmers-market-style event or community gathering with food vendors, DEH’s temporary-food process matters before event day.
The County’s current temporary-event page tells coordinators to submit event applications, vendor paperwork, supporting documents, a site plan and payment at least two weeks before the event starts. If the organizer wants to arrange debit or credit-card payment through the specified process, the page says to contact the office at least three weeks before the event.
| Temporary food category | Current listed permit fee | Practical meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Risk Category 1 | $121 | Lower-risk temporary food operations. |
| Risk Category 2 | $225 | Moderate-risk temporary operations. |
| Risk Category 3 | $282 | Higher-risk temporary food operations. |
Mobile food facilities already holding the appropriate Santa Clara County annual permit can follow different temporary-event fee treatment. Nonprofit and veteran exemptions also have specific conditions, so do not assume an event is fee-free just because it is community-based.
How to check restaurant inspection results with SCCDineOut
Santa Clara County publishes food-facility inspection information through SCCDineOut. The web application lets consumers search facilities and review recent inspection activity, placard status and scores.
A facility’s current inspection status may appear as Pass with its score and inspection date.
Inspection records can show follow-up activity, violations or conditions that required correction.
SCCDineOut also provides food-facility closure information when enforcement resulted in closure.
Septic systems, OWTS records, building projects and wells
In Santa Clara County’s land-use program, the modern term for a septic system is an Onsite Wastewater Treatment System (OWTS). The County uses that terminology because newer systems are designed to treat wastewater, not simply dispose of it.
DEH’s Land Use program performs site evaluations, oversees soil testing, reviews OWTS designs, issues permits where applicable, conducts inspections, reviews setbacks for building projects, investigates failing or unpermitted systems and maintains program records.
New development using septic/OWTS
Site assessment, soil analysis, percolation testing and an approved water supply are core feasibility items. Challenging sites can require additional technical reports.
The County requires a plan-review application, scaled OWTS design and supporting building, grading, drainage or technical information that applies to the project.
DEH states that work does not begin until applicable fees are paid. Multiple revisions can create additional charges.
Inspections can include pre-construction, septic-tank setting and watertightness, dispersal-field installation and final inspection.
Environmental Health approval is one part of the project. Final building-permit issuance or occupancy also involves the applicable building jurisdiction.
Need an old septic layout?
For an existing system, the County calls the final installed-layout record an as-built. The public-record request should include the property address, Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) and the requester’s contact information. The County says these requests can take up to 10 days to process.
Pool plan review and tattoo/body-art permits
DEH’s Recreational Health Program reviews plans for new public pools/spas and certain remodels or equipment changes. Construction or remodeling may require plan approval before work starts.
Santa Clara County regulates body-art facilities and practitioners, including tattooing, body piercing, permanent cosmetics and other regulated body-art activities.
Pool/spa remodels
The County’s recreational-health guidance requires plan materials such as the application, checklist, design plans, finish information, plumbing and equipment details. For remodel projects, the County states that DEH has up to 30 calendar days to review new or revised submittals.
Body art practitioner registration
Current County guidance requires body-art practitioners working in Santa Clara County to hold a valid registration. The application package can include practitioner information, bloodborne-pathogens training, hepatitis B vaccination proof or declination, identification and a photo. Practitioners must work at an appropriately permitted facility.
Hazardous materials jurisdiction can change by city
This is one of the most important local distinctions on the page. Santa Clara County DEH’s Hazardous Materials Compliance Division regulates hazardous-materials and waste programs in applicable jurisdictions, but it does not regulate every hazardous-materials facility in exactly the same way throughout all incorporated cities.
The County specifically notes that it does not regulate hazardous waste and materials facilities located in the cities of Gilroy, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale under the same HMCD jurisdiction described on its general compliance page. Other program-specific boundaries also apply.
Hazardous Materials Business Plans, hazardous waste generators, underground storage tanks, aboveground petroleum, CalARP, tiered permitting and local hazardous-materials ordinances.
Facilities can need separate review before installing, modifying, repairing or closing regulated storage or handling systems.
Give DEH the facility address and describe the chemicals, waste stream, tank or operation. Do not assume the same CUPA route applies in every city.
Food complaints, septic problems, pools, trash and other environmental concerns
DEH’s official Report a Problem service accepts environmental-health concerns by online route, mail or in person. Response time depends on the nature and urgency of the complaint.
Food illness, unsafe food handling and problems involving regulated retail food operations.
Garbage and trash, OWTS/septic complaints, drinking-water issues, stormwater and certain lead hazards.
Swimming pools/spas, body art and certain tobacco-permit concerns.
Spills, illegal disposal or mishandling within the County’s regulatory jurisdiction.
Certain animal and psittacosis-related environmental-health complaints are listed by DEH.
DEH investigates noise only within certain areas and circumstances, so verify jurisdiction before filing.
How Santa Clara County Environmental Health invoices are paid
The department publishes a current fee schedule and accepts invoice payments online, in person and by mail. Have the account or invoice number ready before paying.
The County lists credit cards, debit cards and electronic checks through its secure payment route and currently states that these online options carry zero transaction fees.
At the Berger Drive office, current payment guidance lists check, cash and cashier’s check during business hours.
The County says mailed payments must be by check. Make the check payable to County of Santa Clara and include the invoice number.
Environmental Health is not Santa Clara County Public Health
This distinction matters because the phrase “Santa Clara County Health Department” can lead to two different County systems.
| You need | Better starting office | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant or food permit | Department of Environmental Health | DEH regulates retail food facilities and inspections. |
| Restaurant inspection score | DEH / SCCDineOut | The County inspection database is an Environmental Health service. |
| Septic system or rural property OWTS | Department of Environmental Health | DEH Land Use handles onsite wastewater regulation and records. |
| Pool or tattoo-shop permit | Department of Environmental Health | Recreational Health and Body Art are DEH regulatory programs. |
| Vaccination or communicable disease program | Santa Clara County Public Health Department | These are public-health clinical/population-health functions, not DEH permit services. |
| WIC | Public Health / designated WIC agency | Santa Clara County has multiple WIC providers; the County Public Health WIC line is separate from DEH. |
What to have ready before going to the Berger Drive office
Santa Clara County’s permit system is detailed because restaurant builds, septic work, pools and hazardous-materials projects are not interchangeable. Bring the information staff need for your specific program.
Map to Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health
The main office is at 1555 Berger Drive, Building #2, Suite 300, San José, CA 95112. Call before traveling when you need a specialist, plan-check consultation or time-sensitive transaction.
How to use Santa Clara County Environmental Health without getting bounced between offices
Identify whether you need food permitting, an inspection, pool/spa review, body art, OWTS, a well clearance, hazardous-materials compliance or a complaint route.
Use the exact property or facility address. Jurisdiction matters especially for hazardous materials, building approvals, wells and unincorporated land.
Check the current application, checklist, required technical documents, deadline and fee instead of relying on an old form.
Several DEH programs do not place applications into review until required documents and payment are complete.
Retain approved plans, permits, correspondence and inspection results for renewals, remodels, property transactions and future enforcement questions.
Official Santa Clara County Environmental Health resources
Use these County pages before paying fees, sending project files or relying on a permit deadline. DEH programs change as regulations, fee schedules and County processes are updated.
Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health FAQs
What is the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health phone number?
The main County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health phone number is 408-918-3400.
Where is Santa Clara County Environmental Health located?
The main office is at 1555 Berger Drive, Building #2, Suite 300, San José, CA 95112.
What are Santa Clara County Environmental Health office hours?
The department lists Monday through Friday office hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except County holidays. Some plan-check and business transactions have earlier cutoff times, so call before arriving late in the day.
Is Santa Clara County Environmental Health the same as the Public Health Department?
No. Environmental Health focuses on regulatory programs such as food facilities, pools, body art, septic systems, wells, hazardous materials and environmental complaints. Vaccines, WIC and communicable-disease programs generally use Santa Clara County Public Health or another designated healthcare/provider route.
Who issues restaurant health permits in Santa Clara County?
The County of Santa Clara Department of Environmental Health regulates retail food operations and issues applicable Environmental Health permits. New construction, certain remodels and major operational changes can require plan review before approval.
How do I check a Santa Clara County restaurant inspection?
Use the County’s SCCDineOut web application. It publishes food-facility inspection dates, placard status, scores and inspection details.
Who handles septic systems in Santa Clara County?
Santa Clara County Environmental Health’s Land Use program regulates Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems, also called OWTS or septic systems. Services include feasibility evaluation, design review, permits, inspections, complaints and records.
Does Santa Clara County Environmental Health regulate tattoo and piercing businesses?
Yes. DEH regulates body-art facilities and practitioner registration under California’s Safe Body Art Act and local requirements.
Does Environmental Health regulate hazardous materials everywhere in Santa Clara County?
Not every hazardous-materials program follows identical jurisdiction throughout the county. DEH’s official Hazardous Materials Compliance guidance specifically notes that it does not regulate hazardous waste and materials facilities in Gilroy, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale under the same general HMCD jurisdiction. Confirm the exact facility address and program.
How do I report an environmental health complaint?
Use the County’s Department of Environmental Health Report a Problem page or call 408-918-3400. Supported topics include food concerns, pools, OWTS/septic, hazardous materials, body art, trash, drinking water and other listed environmental issues. Call 911 for an emergency.