Chapel Hill, NC Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

Section 5-20 sets the plumbing inspection fee schedule owners and contractors pay before a permit for work inside town limits is issued: a fixture charge of two dollars for the first fixture, plus one dollar for each fixture after that, covering any trapped outlet, boiler and heater, and a flat three-dollar charge for every sewer connection made within the town. Those fees apply equally to new work and to old work, including inspections triggered by moving a house to a new location or raising it.

The section carves out one exception: no permit is required to renew a hot water heater or storage tank of the same capacity and design. Work performed outside the corporate limits follows a separate schedule under Section 5-21: a twelve-dollar minimum fee covers a new house with up to eight fixtures, with one dollar for each fixture beyond eight, a five-dollar minimum fee covers inspection of an old house's existing plumbing, and a five-dollar charge applies to each new sewer tap made outside town limits.

The town's current NC Plumbing Code, adopted by reference under Section 5-15, sets the substantive installation standards; Sections 5-20 and 5-21 govern the local permit and fee process layered on top of it.