New bathrooms, moved fixtures, repiping, water heaters.
Contractor?
Open the plumbing takeoff: materials, your prices, the permit and inspection checklist, an estimate your client signs.
For homeowners
The plumbing Sheet is for licensed pros
Here’s what the job involves, what to ask and how to hire a licensed plumber.
Why this is a pro job
New drain, vent and water lines need a permit, a test and an inspection before the walls close. A plumbing mistake hides in the wall until it leaks, backs up or lets sewer gas in. Water heaters add gas or power, venting and a relief valve that must work. Most places require a licensed plumber; a few let you work on the house you live in under a permit.
Hire this out: licensed work with a permit.
How it goes
5 stages
1
Plan the fixtures
What goes where. The drain size and slope and the vent decide where a toilet, shower or sink can go.
2
Permit
The plumber pulls it. Swapping a water heater for one of the same size is quicker in many towns, but it still gets a permit and an inspection.
3
Rough-in
Drains, vents and water lines with the walls open, then tested with water or air and inspected.
4
Close up
Drywall and tile after the rough inspection passes.
5
Set fixtures
Toilets, sinks, faucets, the water heater; then the final inspection.
What you can do yourself
Once the pros are done, these parts are DIY. Each has a Sheet: the materials counted, the tools and the steps.
Licensed plumber? Who pulls the permit, and who is there for the inspections?
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Are the drain and vent sizes and the slope planned for every fixture?
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What’s included: opening the walls, patching, setting the fixtures?
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For a water heater: same size, or should it change? Expansion tank and relief line included?
These are the general rules. Your state, province or town may add its own: check with your local building department before you start.
Licenses and registration
Hire a plumber licensed for your area — most states license plumbers, some through the city or county — who pulls the plumbing permit from your local building department. A home improvement contractor’s registration doesn’t cover plumbing. Some places let the owner of a single-family home do the plumbing in the home they live in under a homeowner permit — ask your building department before you start. Rules change — your building department has the last word.
How to hire a licensed plumber
This is licensed work: only a licensed plumber should do it. Ask these questions and check the license before you sign.
Ask before you hire
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Your license number? Look it up on your state’s (or city’s) licensing board website before you sign.
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Will you pull the permit in your name and be there for the inspections?
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Can I have the price and the scope in writing, with the license number on it?
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Is opening and patching the walls included, or is that on me?
Check the license
Look the license up with your state or local licensing board before you sign.
Permit and inspections
The plumber pulls the plumbing permit from your local building department. New pipes are tested and inspected before the walls close; the final inspection comes once the fixtures are in. Keep the approval with your house papers — buyers and insurers ask for it.
Get quotes from local pros
Describe the job once. Up to 3 verified local pros see it with this page, and your contact goes only to the pros who answer.
Pros see the job and your town. Your name and contact go only to the pros who answer.
ZIP code of the job
Verified pros who cover it can answer.
When do you want it done?
What do you want done?
Rooms, sizes, what’s there now. Leave out your phone, email and street address.
Town
Pros see it with the ZIP. Town only, no street.
Your name (optional)
Only the pros who answer see it.
Phone or email
Only the pros who answer see it. It’s never posted.
Photos help. Send them to the pros who answer.
Pros see this page with it, so they know the job.
Free. Up to 3 verified pros can answer. It stays open 30 days; close it any time in My quote requests.
After the work
Painters can patch and paint the holes the work leaves. Never the licensed work itself.