Do I need a plumbing permit in Howard County, MD? The express permit, the homeowner permit, fees and 9,666 permits

Which permit you need

Howard County has no incorporated towns, so DILP permits plumbing everywhere in the county, Columbia and Ellicott City included. DILP's online plumbing handout (April 2026, read 24 October 2026) sorts residential work into four permit types:

A plumbing permit for an existing condo unit is filed as a commercial addition/alteration permit.

Who can pull it

The county's plumbing and gas permit application is signed by the plumber, gas fitter or utility contractor with a Maryland State plumbing licence number, who agrees to notify DILP 24 hours before each inspection and not to cover work until it passes.

A homeowner can pull a plumbing permit with DILP's Homeowner Request for Plumbing Work (March 2026), with these conditions written on the form:

• You are "the owner and occupant" and it is your personal residence.
• You do the work yourself: "I am certifying that I am doing this work myself and not employing anyone to do the plumbing work for me."
• "No connection between the dwelling and a public or private water or disposal system, any exterior work or any gas work will be performed under this Homeowner's plumbing permit."
• The fee is $50 plus a $5 technology fee, $55 in all.

So gas work, a water or sewer connection, and any exterior plumbing go to a licensed plumber or gas fitter.

What it costs

From DILP's FY2027 plumbing fee schedule (Council Resolution 83-2026, effective 1 July 2026):

Express permits are non-refundable and "expire one year from the date of issuance if no inspection has occurred."

Inspections

DILP's Inspection Requirements page lists residential plumbing inspections in three stages, Ground Work, Rough-In and Final, plus Gas Rough-In and Gas Final for gas piping. The homeowner form says inspections are scheduled with the Plumbing Inspections Office at 410-313-1840 or the 24-hour automated line at 410-313-3800, and must be called "prior to concealing any of the work in a wall, floor or ceiling, or within two (2) days of completing the work." A reinspection fee, once charged, must be paid before more inspections are booked.

How to apply

Licensed plumbers file online in DILP's Accela Citizen Access portal, typing the description in capitals in the handout's format (for example, "SFD/ INSTALL PLUMBING FIXTURES – 1ST FLOOR: 1-KITCHEN SINK, 1-DISPOSAL, 1-TOILET"). Homeowners send the homeowner request form with a plumbing permit application marked as a homeowner's permit to the Permits Office (410-313-2455, option 4; 3430 Court House Drive, Ellicott City).

What 9,666 Howard County plumbing permits show

From Howard County's open permit file, December 2023 to November 2025 (plumbing permits):

Plumbing is 29% of all residential permits in the file and changes little with the seasons: no month is more than 13% above or 12% below an average month. Two in three are express jobs of five fixtures or fewer. The file has no job value, so national figures are in plumbing labor cost; other cities' rules are in do I need a permit for plumbing repairs and do I need a permit to replace a water heater.

Checking the permit and the plumber

Look up permits on your address, or by a contractor's licence number, with Howard County building permit search. The year and month counts are on permit statistics, every ZIP on permits by ZIP code, and the rows on browse permits.

What this does not tell you

The county's open file is updated once a year, in December, so our counts stop at November 2025, and it holds no permits from December 2022 to November 2023. It names no plumber and has no value, status or final date, so we cannot say how many plumbing permits passed final.