Alpharetta, GA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

Section 8-29 of the Code of Ordinances adopts, 'unless otherwise provided for by subsequent ordinance,' the latest editions of the state minimum standard codes enumerated in O.C.G.A. § 8-2-20(9)(B)(i), a list that runs from the International Building Code and National Electric Code through the International Fuel Gas Code, International Mechanical Code, and the International Plumbing Code, each as adopted, amended or supplemented from time to time by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. Because the state's edition controls whenever it is stricter than the city's own listed version, a contractor pulling a plumbing permit in Alpharetta is bound by whichever Plumbing Code edition the state has most recently adopted, not a fixed year fixed permanently in the municipal text.

Section 8-3 assigns enforcement of 'the provisions of this chapter,' plumbing included, to the building official and the fire marshal, and requires that 'all fees provided herein shall be paid to the city clerk' and that, except where otherwise provided, 'all permits shall be issued by the building official.' Section 8-5 reinforces this: if any adopted publication is less stringent than the state minimum code, the state minimum code governs, and a copy of each publication as adopted by the state is filed in both the city clerk's office and the building official's office for public review.

A plumbing job performed without the required permit, or outside the terms of an issued permit, is treated the same as any other unpermitted building work under this chapter, including a stop-work order under Section 8-182.