Santa Clara County, CA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Applies in
- Unincorporated Santa Clara County only
- Code adopted
- 2025 California Plumbing Code
- Fee basis
- Set by Board of Supervisors resolution
- Unpermitted work
- Separate investigation fee applies
- Effective
- Dec. 9, 2025 (Ord. NS-1100.138)
Summary
Plumbing work in unincorporated Santa Clara County requires a permit under the 2025 California Plumbing Code, with plan-review and permit fees set by Board of Supervisors resolution rather than a fixed fee table.
104.5. Fees. A plan review fee shall be paid when plans or documents are required to be submitted for review prior to issuing a plumbing permit. A plumbing permit fee shall be collected when the plans or documents have been approved for permit issuance. The fees shall be in an amount established by resolution of the Board of Supervisors.
(b)Table 104.5 (Plumbing permit fees) and all references thereto are deleted in their entirety.(c)Section 104.5.2 (Investigation fees) is amended to read as follows:
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 65).
Full Breakdown
The County Plumbing Code adopts the 2025 California Plumbing Code, based on the Uniform Plumbing Code, for the unincorporated area of Santa Clara County. Local amendments to CPC Section 104.5 delete the code's standard fee table and instead require a plan-review fee before permit issuance plus a plumbing permit fee upon approval, both set by resolution of the Board of Supervisors, along with a separate investigation fee if work begins without a permit. This does not apply within any of the fifteen incorporated cities, which administer their own plumbing permitting.
Violations & Fines
Violations are misdemeanors subject to penalties under Ordinance Code Sec. C1-72; each day a violation continues is a separate offense (Sec. C11-3(d)).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a fixed plumbing permit fee in Santa Clara County?
Does this fee rule apply in San Jose or Sunnyvale?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santa Clara County
California rules heatmap·Compare Santa Clara County to another location·View the California building safety overview
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