Spokane County, WA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)
Key Facts
- Code adopted
- Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC)
- Permit sequencing
- No plumbing permit before building permit
- Deleted UPC chapters
- UPC Ch. 12 and 15
- Fee review
- Adjusted every Jan. 1 by CPI
- Unpermitted work penalty
- Investigation fee = full fee stack
- Appeals body
- Board of appeals, SCC 3.02.070
Summary
Unincorporated Spokane County adopts the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) and requires a separate plumbing permit for any plumbing installation tied to a permitted building project. The county Building and Planning Department will not issue that plumbing permit until the building permit itself has been issued, and the director can set added procedures to speed processing.
Permits. Permits for plumbing installations in projects requiring building permits shall not be issued prior to the building permit. The director may develop procedures other than those specified in the UPC to facilitate the issuance of plumbing permits.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 63).
Full Breakdown
07 adopts the UPC with local modifications: Chapters 12 and 15 of the UPC are deleted outright, and the venting, combustion-air and building-sewer portions of UPC Chapter 5 are not adopted in the county, leaving those governed by other adopted codes. Appendix D of the UPC is adopted for drain sizing, with a minimum design rainfall of two inches per hour used to size drains under that appendix. 030, permits for plumbing installations tied to a project that requires a building permit cannot be issued before that building permit is issued, sequencing plumbing work behind the structural review.
The Building and Planning director may develop alternate procedures beyond the UPC's own permitting text to streamline how plumbing permits move through the office. 08, and are recalculated once a year every January 1st using the September Consumer Price Index for the West B/C region, benchmarked against a December 1996 base value of 100. 070, hears disputes over application of the plumbing code. Because the plumbing permit is legally bound to the building permit sequence, a homeowner or contractor who tries to schedule plumbing rough-in inspections before the structural permit is active will be turned away until the paperwork catches up.
Violations & Fines
Working without the required plumbing permit triggers the investigation-fee provision in SCC 3.08.010(g): before any permit can be issued after work has already started, the county performs a special investigation and charges an investigation fee equal to the application processing fee, plan review fee and inspection fee combined, on top of the permit fees themselves. Paying the investigation fee does not excuse the applicant from any other penalty or code requirement. Permits are also nontransferable between properties once issued under SCC 3.08.010(b).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a plumbing permit before my building permit is approved?
Does Spokane County use the full Uniform Plumbing Code?
What happens if I start plumbing work without a permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Spokane County
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