The rule in Baltimore City
| Rule | Text | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Permit first | "no plumbing work may be undertaken before the Building Official has issued a permit" unless the plumbing regulations except it | City code §2903.1 |
| Who gets the permit | Only "a master plumber licensed to do business in the City", a licensed master gas fitter, or (for on-site utilities) a licensed on-site utility contractor | §2903.3 |
| Insurance | No permit to a master plumber without "certification of insurance, as required by State law" | §2903.4 |
| Emergencies | A master plumber may start work on a health hazard first, notify the City promptly and get the permit within a reasonable time | §2903.5 |
| Who does the work | "Electrical, Mechanical, Gas, and Plumbing Work: Requires a licensed contractor" | DHCD building permits page |
Neither page names a homeowner exception. The City's Work Exempt From Permit list (rev. 09/24) has no plumbing items at all in its section for one- and two-family dwellings. Its plumbing exemptions sit in the section for other buildings: "The clearing of stoppages or the repairing of leaks in pipes, valves or fixtures" and "the removal and reinstallation of water closets", provided the repair does not "involve or require the replacement or rearrangement of valves, pipes, or fixtures", and a replaced concealed pipe or trap "shall be considered as new work". For a house, call DHCD before assuming any plumbing job is exempt.
How it is applied for and inspected
- The master plumber applies online in the City's E-Permits portal. On a renovation, plumbing usually rides on the one residential combination permit with the building work.
- DHCD's pages do not publish the fee amounts; ask for the permit fee line on the quote.
- Inspections, from DHCD's Inspection Guidelines (January 2026): "Most Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing and H.V.A.C.R. permits require a rough-in inspection", and all require a final. Schedule in E-Permits by 2:30 p.m. the day before; mechanical and plumbing inspections are on 410-396-3470.
What 6,597 Baltimore plumbing permits show
| Measure | Baltimore plumbing |
|---|---|
| Issued June 2025 to September 2026 | 6,597 (18% of City permits) |
| October 2025 to September 2026 | 4,874 |
| City permit type | Residential combination 6,319 (96%); commercial combination 265 |
| Usual declared value (middle half) | $2,094 ($500–$4,895) |
| Busiest / quietest month (index, 100 = average) | April (122) / February (80) |
| ZIPs with the most | 21218 (600), 21215 (500), 21230 (499), 21213 (467), 21229 (432) |
Plumbing permits peak in April and are quietest in February. Half of them are declared at under $2,094 and a quarter at under $500, so most are small jobs, not repipes; the top quarter starts near $4,900. Monthly counts are on Baltimore plumbing permits, all kinds of work on Baltimore permit statistics, ZIP pages on Baltimore permits by ZIP, and rows on Baltimore permits.
Before the plumber starts
Ask for the master plumber's license number; you can look it up, and the permits already on the house, in the City's portal as described in the Baltimore building permit search. Baltimore County addresses follow different rules, in Baltimore County plumbing permit. Elsewhere: do I need a permit for plumbing repairs, a water heater and a sewer line; labor rates in plumbing labor cost.
What this does not tell you
Baltimore files most work as combination permits with no trade field, so we count a permit as plumbing when its description names plumbing and only plumbing; a renovation that includes plumbing counts as a remodel. The file has no status, final date or contractor. The window starts in June 2025, after the City's move to a new permit system.
How we know this
The permit rules are quoted from Section 2903 of the Baltimore City Building, Fire, and Related Codes, DHCD's permits page, its Work Exempt From Permit list and its January 2026 Inspection Guidelines, read 24 October 2026. Our counts are Open Baltimore's Housing and Building Permits layer, read 18 October 2026: permits issued June 2025 to September 2026 whose description we classify as plumbing.
Numbers come from public permit records in 57 cities, data through October 18, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- Can a homeowner pull a plumbing permit in Baltimore City?
Not under the City code. Section 2903.3 says a plumbing permit may be issued only to a master plumber, a master gas fitter or an on-site utility contractor licensed to do business in the City, and DHCD says plumbing work requires a licensed contractor.
- Is any plumbing work exempt from a permit in Baltimore?
Not on a house, by the City's list. Its Work Exempt From Permit list has no plumbing items for one- and two-family dwellings; the stoppage and leak-repair exemptions it lists are in the section for other buildings, and even there replacing pipes, valves or fixtures is new work.
- Can a plumber start emergency work before the permit in Baltimore?
Yes. Section 2903.5 lets a licensed master plumber begin emergency work on a health hazard first, then promptly notify the City and get the permit within a reasonable time.
- What inspections does a Baltimore plumbing permit need?
DHCD's inspection guidelines say most electrical, mechanical, plumbing and HVAC permits require a rough-in inspection, and all of them a final. Schedule in your E-Permits account by 2:30 p.m. the day before.
- How many plumbing permits does Baltimore issue?
6,597 from June 2025 to September 2026, 18% of all City permits; 4,874 of them in the last 12 months. 96% were residential combination permits that named plumbing.
Build your own list
Pick your city and the kind of work. Every firm with a permit on record, sorted by what you value.
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- Baltimore City Building, Fire, and Related Codes, Part II, Section 2903 Permits (plumbing) (2026-10-24)
- Building Permits — Baltimore City DHCD (2026-10-24)
- Work Exempt From Permit (rev. 09/24) — Baltimore City DHCD (2026-10-24)
- Inspection Guidelines (January 2026 update) — Baltimore City DHCD (2026-10-24)
- Open Baltimore: Housing and Building Permits 2019-Present (DHCD) (2026-10-18)