Gordon County, GA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

Sec. 4-38(a)(1) of the Gordon County Code requires an owner, authorized agent or contractor to apply to the building inspection department and obtain the required permit before erecting, installing, enlarging, altering, repairing, removing, converting or replacing any electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system regulated by the technical codes. Sec. 4-26(a) adopts the International Plumbing Code, with the other State of Georgia minimum standard codes and chapter 1 (Scope and Administration), in the latest editions as adopted and amended by the state. Sec. 4-36(c)(1)e applies the plumbing provisions to every plumbing installation, including alterations, repairs, replacement, equipment, appliances, fixtures, fittings and appurtenances, and when connected to a water or sewerage system. That subsection still names the Standard Plumbing Code.

The application, with the required fee, goes on the department's form, signed by the owner or authorized agent, with a general description of the work and its location. Work not shown on the drawings and specifications filed with the application needs a separate permit. Ordinary minor repairs can be made with the building inspector's approval and without a permit if they do not violate the technical codes (Sec. 4-38(a)(3)). An application is deemed abandoned six (6) months after filing unless a permit has issued, and the inspector can grant extensions of not more than ninety (90) days each on written request. Where the state requires a contractor license, the contractor supplies the license number before receiving the permit.

Plumbing work gets the three inspections quoted above: underground before backfill, rough-in with a pressure test performed by the contractor, and final. Sec. 4-38(h)(6) and (7) bar further work, or covering plumbing work, without a written release from the building inspector. Permit fees are set by the Board of Commissioners and posted in the building inspection department, and no permit issues until they are paid. Utility connections wait for the building inspector's release and a certificate of occupancy or completion (Sec. 4-38(i)(3)).