Do I need a plumbing permit in San Diego? Water heaters, repipes, sewer repairs and the Simple Permit fees

The San Diego rule

Information Bulletin 103 (May 2026, read 23 October 2026) points to SDMC §129.0403 and §129.0404 for the exemptions. The City's When is a Permit Required? sheet summarises it, and the Simple Permits page lists the plumbing jobs that go through without plans:

The fixture line needs care. The City's sheet says in-kind replacement of plumbing fixtures "requires a permit", then lists "plumbing fixtures" among replacements that "do not". If the job is a toilet or faucet swap with no change to the pipes, call Development Services on 619-446-5000 and ask. Anything that opens a wall or moves a drain is permit work either way.

Two San Diego specifics. IB 103 says water heaters and other plumbing equipment "shall not be installed in required side or rear yards of Residential Zones" unless they meet SDMC §131.0461(a)(5), so an outdoor water heater on the side of the house is a zoning question too. And IB 203 says drywall replaced to repair plumbing needs no building permit up to 100 square feet.

Who can pull it

A licensed plumber. California's plumbing contractor class is C-36 (CSLB). 66.1% of the San Diego plumbing firms in our file matched an active CSLB license and 12 one that was not active; 30.7% had no match by name, so search the license number on the quote rather than the company name.

You, as owner-builder. Homeowners can get a Simple Permit by uploading form DS-3042. The City says homeowners "will receive their Simple Permit normally within two business days" after the form is in; licensed contractors get theirs when they submit and pay.

How to apply and what it costs

Apply in the City's Accela portal under Simple Permits, pay the invoice, then schedule the inspection there. From IB 103, Table 3B (items that qualify as Simple Permits on a house, duplex or townhouse):

A whole-house repipe is one $264.25 line per dwelling unit; a repipe plus a new water heater is $387.22 before any other fees on the invoice (our arithmetic). Plan check, inspection and records fees are non-refundable. San Diego's plumbing permits carry no job value; national figures are in plumbing labor cost and water heater replacement cost.

What 1,844 San Diego plumbing permits show

Plumbing permits close faster than electrical in San Diego (41 days against 71) but less often: 65.0% reached final, against 75.5%. The spread between busy firms is wide, from 35.1% to 84.0%, and five firms hold 48.3% of the permits. Filing peaks in January and is lowest in September, so a planned repipe is easier to book in the quiet month.

See every San Diego plumber by finished permits →

Check it in five minutes

1. Search the plumber's C-36 on CSLB Check a License (steps).
2. Once the job is booked, find the permit on your address in Permit Finder or Accela (how).
3. Compare plumbers on the San Diego plumber list, and see counts by year on San Diego permit statistics.

Other cities: do I need a permit for plumbing repairs, for a water heater and for a sewer line.

What this does not tell you

This covers the City of San Diego only; the unincorporated county is in San Diego County plumbing permit. Our plumbing count is the City's no-plan plumbing permits on homes; plumbing inside a remodel permit sits in the remodel count. Owner-builder permits are left out of the firm lists. The City's fixture rule reads both ways, so we do not tell you a fixture swap is exempt.