Clay, NY Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

Town Code § 185-18, in Chapter 185, Sewers, ties the town's building permit process directly to the county's plumbing approval: no permit for constructing a dwelling or other structure requiring sanitary facilities can be issued for a Clay property where a public sewer is available until the Health Department has issued a plumbing permit. That connection permit itself is required under § 185-11, issued from the Onondaga County Health Department's office on Hiawatha Boulevard in the City of Syracuse before anyone may uncover, connect to, or disturb a public sewer.

Fees for the permit and any related inspection match whatever the Health Department charges for the same service at the time, payable to the county, and § 185-16 bars the town from layering on any additional fee or permit requirement of its own. Where no public sewer is available, § 185-7 instead routes the property to a private sewage disposal system permitted under Chapter 182. If a violation of the sewers chapter is found, § 185-33 generally requires the town to first serve written notice describing the violation and a deadline to fix it; continuing the violation past that deadline is an offense punishable by a fine not exceeding $250, imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or both, for each continued violation.