Arlington plumbing in numbers
| What we measured | Arlington, VA |
|---|---|
| Plumbing permits, three years | 6,454 |
| Firms | 448 |
| Firms with a permit in the last 12 months | 280 |
| Firms matched to a current DPOR license | 93.1% |
| Usual filed value | $3,000 |
| Middle half of firms' usual value | $1,650 to $6,800 |
| Usual days from permit to final | 75 |
| Finaled (permits a year or more old) | 83.3% |
| 10th / 90th-percentile firm (10+ permits) | 60.9% / 95.9% |
| Firms under 70% finaled | 19 of 106 |
Filing peaks in March (index 117) and is lowest in June (89). Prices by job size are on the Arlington plumbing cost page.
Which license an Arlington plumber needs
Virginia's Board for Contractors licenses the firm. The Board says the specialty "determines what type of work is allowed" and the class "determines the monetary value of contracts/projects that may be performed"; it also licenses plumbers as tradesmen (read 23 October 2026). The class lines are in Code of Virginia 54.1-1100: Class C covers a single job "over $1,000 but less than $30,000", Class B $30,000 to under $150,000, Class A $150,000 or more. Most plumbing jobs are Class C work; a whole-house repipe or a bathroom gut can cross $30,000.
The five-minute check: ask for the firm's DPOR number, search it on DPOR License Lookup, and check the status, a plumbing specialty, and a class that covers your contract. DPOR warns its data "may not be up to date at all times", so check the week you sign. More in the Arlington contractor license lookup.
The permit rule for plumbing in Arlington
The County's residential permits page says kitchen or bathroom work that only replaces fixtures in the same location needs no permit ("there are no permits required and you may begin work immediately"), as long as the appliances are "not fueled by gas or oil". Moving pipes, adding a bathroom or changing the water service is permit work, and the County says "Failure to obtain the required permit is a violation of the law" (read 23 October 2026).
To see what was permitted at your address, use Permit Arlington's Look Up by Address; the same page has "Look Up by Licensed Professional" to see a plumber's other jobs. Other cities: do I need a permit for plumbing repairs.
Red flags in the Arlington record
- A finaled share under 60.9%. That is the 10th-percentile line among the 106 Arlington plumbers with 10 or more permits; 19 final under 70%. Ask about the open ones by address.
- No plumbing specialty on the DPOR record, or a Class C license on a job of $30,000 or more.
- One permit and gone. 144 plumbing firms (32.1%) filed exactly one Arlington permit in three years.
- A firm that stopped filing. 23 firms with 5 or more permits filed none in the last 12 months.
- A quote with no DPOR number on it. Without it there is nothing to look up.
The busiest Arlington plumbers in the last 12 months
Ranked by Arlington plumbing permits in the last 12 months of the window; firms trading under a person's name are left out of this table and are on the compare list. Volume, not quality: compare the finaled column.
| Firm | Permits, last 12 months | Permits, three years | Finaled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sila Services LLC | 110 | 198 | 86.7% |
| Re RY LLC | 89 | 213 | 90.5% |
| Interstate Enterprises Inc | 81 | 160 | 95.7% |
| Continuum Home Solutions L.L.C | 80 | 250 | 92.3% |
The five busiest hold only 17.5% of the County's plumbing permits. The compare list shows every firm's DPOR match, finaled share and usual filed value.
See every Arlington plumber by DPOR match and permits finaled →
What the Arlington record does not tell you
"Finaled" means the County finaled or closed the permit; expired permits and "Closed: No Inspection" count against a firm. Our license match uses DPOR's lists of current licenses by business name and address, so expired or revoked licenses cannot be flagged here, and 6.9% of plumbing firms did not match; DPOR's own lookup can show both. Repairs done under the fixture exemption leave no permit. The national checklist is in hiring a plumber, and state rules in how to check a contractor's license in Virginia.
How we know this
Permits are Arlington County plumbing permits on homes from the County's permit feed, 2023-10 to 2026-09; repeated copies of one permit are counted once. "Finaled" uses permits a year or more old; days to final is the median from issue to closed. Percentile and under-70% figures use plumbing firms with 10 or more permits; the filed-value range uses firms with 3 or more. The busiest-firm table ranks by permits in the last 12 months. License status is our match against DPOR's current-license lists. DPOR, Code of Virginia and County text is quoted from their own pages, read 23 October 2026.
Numbers come from Arlington County, VA building and trade permits, data through October 14, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Questions
- How do I choose a plumber in Arlington, VA?
Check the firm's DPOR contractor license has a plumbing specialty and a class that covers your price, make sure it holds the County plumbing permit, and read its Arlington record: 83.3% of plumbing permits a year or more old were finaled, and the 10th-percentile busy plumber finaled 60.9%.
- Does a plumber need a license in Arlington, VA?
Yes. Virginia's Board for Contractors licenses the firm, with a class (A, B or C) that caps the job size and a specialty that sets the type of work, and separately licenses plumbers as tradesmen. Arlington County issues the permits.
- Do I need a permit to replace a toilet or faucet in Arlington, VA?
Not when you only replace fixtures in the same location. Arlington County says that kitchen or bathroom work that only replaces fixtures in place needs no permit, as long as the appliances are not fueled by gas or oil; moving pipes is permit work.
- How much does a plumber cost in Arlington, VA?
The usual Arlington plumbing permit was filed at $3,000, and the middle half of plumbers usually file between $1,650 and $6,800. That is the value written on the permit, not a quote.
- Who are the busiest plumbers in Arlington, VA?
By permits in the last 12 months, Sila Services LLC led with 110. The five busiest hold only 17.5% of Arlington's plumbing permits.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
Related guides
- Hiring a plumber: 5 red flags and 10 questions, checked against plumbing permits in 43 cities
- Hiring a plumber in Minneapolis: the DLI license, the permit, and what 20,000 plumbing permits show
- Hiring a plumber in Nashville: the master plumber's certificate, the permit, and what 27,000 plumbing permits show
- Arlington, VA building permit search: Permit Arlington lookups and FOIA requests
For one city
- License Lookup — Virginia DPOR (2026-10-23)
- Board for Contractors — Virginia DPOR (2026-10-23)
- Code of Virginia 54.1-1100 Definitions (Class A, B, C) (2026-10-23)
- Residential permits — Arlington County, VA (2026-10-23)
- Look Up by Address — Arlington County Accela Citizen Access (2026-10-23)