Bessemer, AL Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Code adopted
- 2015 International Plumbing Code (ICC)
- Local amendment
- Sec. 605.3 fire service main piping
- Allowed pipe
- Ductile Iron Pipe, or AWWA/NFPA 24 listed
- Permit fees
- Set in city clerk's fee schedule
- Authority
- Code of Ala. 1975, § 11-45-8
Summary
Bessemer adopts the 2015 International Plumbing Code by reference under Sec. 18-122, with a local amendment to section 605.3 requiring listed, fire-rated piping for underground fire service mains in the city. Sec. 18-123 leaves plumbing permit and construction fees to the fee schedule the city council keeps in the city clerk's office.
Sec. 18-122. - Adoption. The 2015 edition of the International Plumbing Code, published by the ICC is hereby adopted by reference pursuant to Code of Ala. 1975, § 11-45-8 and is incorporated as is set out and fully herein with the following modifications, amendments and additions to the below sections: (1)605.3. Amend section 605.3(1) as follows:
Section 605.3 Water service pipe. That no pressure rated piping as listed in Tables 605.3 and 605.4, except for Ductile Iron Pipe, shall be used in new underground piping for fire service mains within the fire jurisdiction in the City of Bessemer, both private and public, and shall be listed for fire protection service and comply with AWWA standards and NFPA 24. ... Sec. 18-123. - Plumbing permit fees. The plumbing permit and construction fees shall be established by the city council, from time to time, and made available for public examination in a fee schedule maintained in the office of the city clerk and attached as an appendix to this Code.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Republication).
Full Breakdown
Article V of Chapter 18 governs plumbing work. Sec. 18-122 adopts the 2015 edition of the International Plumbing Code, published by the ICC, under the authority of Code of Ala. 4 except Ductile Iron Pipe, and requires the piping to be listed for fire protection service and to comply with AWWA standards and NFPA 24. That amendment traces to Ordinance No. 3531 in 2015, the same ordinance that folded the mechanical, gas, electrical and residential codes into their 2015 editions. Sec. 18-123 sets plumbing permit and construction fees by reference to the fee schedule the city council maintains, from time to time, in the office of the city clerk and attaches as an appendix to the Code, the same mechanism Chapter 18 uses for building, mechanical, electrical and gas permits.
Because the plumbing code is adopted by reference rather than reprinted, a contractor pulling a Bessemer plumbing permit is bound by the full 2015 IPC text plus this local fire-main amendment, and the building-inspection office administers plumbing permits alongside the rest of the technical codes in Article II through Article VI of this chapter.
Violations & Fines
Chapter 18's general building-inspection enforcement extends to plumbing work performed without the required permit or contrary to the adopted 2015 International Plumbing Code and its section 605.3 fire-main amendment. Sec. 18-13 makes the responsible city or county official, under the corresponding title in the adopted technical code, the enforcing authority, and unpermitted or noncompliant fire-main piping installed underground in the city's fire jurisdiction is a direct violation of the amended section 605.3 standard itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Sources & Official References
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