Council Bluffs, IA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

CBMC 13.01.301 sets the baseline: no building, structure, or building service equipment regulated by the technical codes, plumbing included, may be erected, altered, repaired, moved, or converted unless a separate permit for that work has first been obtained from the building official. The section then carves out specific plumbing exemptions rather than a blanket one: stopping a leak in a drain, soil, waste, or vent pipe is exempt, but if a concealed trap or pipe is defective and must be removed and replaced with new material, that work is treated as new work requiring a permit and inspection.

Clearing stoppages or repairing leaks in pipes, valves, or fixtures is also exempt, provided the repair does not involve replacing or rearranging valves, pipes, or fixtures. On the substantive side, CBMC 13.12.010 adopts the Uniform Plumbing Code, 2021 Edition, as published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, as the city's Plumbing Code, on file for public inspection in the building official's office, governing installation, alteration, addition, replacement, repair, and maintenance of plumbing systems citywide. That local code must coincide with the State of Iowa Plumbing Code administered by the Iowa Public Safety Administration Department under Iowa Admin.

Code 641, Chapter 25. CBMC 13.12.012 separately amends Section 906.7 to require vent terminals of at least three inches in cold-climate locations, and CBMC 13.12.013 bars private sewage disposal systems where a public sewer is within 200 feet by gravity flow of the structure. Administrative procedures for permit applications, plans, and inspections follow the same Chapter 13.01 process used for all building trades.