Kenosha, WI Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

Section 9.03.C adopts Wisconsin Administrative Code SPS 380-387, Plumbing and Appendices, as part of Chapter IX, the City's Building Code, alongside the other trade codes and statutes on file with the Department of City Inspections. Section 9.06.A then requires a permit before anyone erects, installs, enlarges, repairs, renovates, removes, converts, or replaces any plumbing system regulated by the Code: the owner, authorized agent, or contractor must apply to the Code Official and obtain the permit before starting work.

Section 9.19, Plumbing Qualifications, bars anyone from engaging in plumbing work, or applying for a plumbing permit, without first holding the license, certification, or registration Wis. Stat. ch. 145 requires, covering Master Plumbers, Journeyman Plumbers, Plumbing Apprentices, and Automatic Fire Sprinkler contractors. The Common Council sets permit fees by resolution under Section 9.07. A plumbing permit becomes void if work has not started within sixty days of issuance, and Section 9.06.F gives electric, plumbing, and HVAC work six months to reach completion once started. If permit fees go unpaid after a second billing notice, Section 9.06.E adds a one-hundred-dollar administrative fee and turns the balance into a special charge lien against the property.

Not every plumbing task needs a permit: Section 9.06.H.4 exempts stopping leaks in drain, water, soil, waste, or vent pipes, and clearing stoppages or repairing leaks in pipes, valves, or fixtures, so long as the work does not require replacing or rearranging valves, pipes, or fixtures. Appeals of a Code Official's interpretation of the State Plumbing Code go to the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services under Section 9.29.A, on the state's own forms.