La Mesa, CA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

The City of La Mesa adopts the California Plumbing Code, 2025 Edition (Part 5, Title 24, California Code of Regulations), incorporating the Uniform Plumbing Code, 2024 Edition published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, under LMMC § 14.08.010. A copy is kept on file with the city clerk for public inspection. Permit procedure runs through the city's Uniform Administrative Code (LMMC Chapter 14.11), which the City Council amends locally. Under § 14.11.040 (UAC § 301.2.2), the only listed plumbing exemption is an irrigation system accessory to a Group R Division 3 or Group M occupancy installed with an approved backflow preventer; every other plumbing installation, alteration or repair needs a separate permit even when connected building work is itself permit-exempt.

Permit and plan review fees are set by the City Council's fee resolution under § 14.11.070, with plan review billed at 65 percent of the building permit fee. A plumbing permit expires under § 14.11.050 if work does not commence within one calendar year, is stopped for six calendar months, or runs past three calendar years from issuance; a renewal permit can be obtained for half the new-permit fee if the plans are unchanged. If plumbing work starts without a permit, § 14.11.070 requires the Chief Building Official to conduct a special investigation and collect an investigation fee equal to the permit fee, on top of the permit fee itself, and further unpermitted work draws an additional investigation fee for each follow-up investigation. The Chief Building Official may also deny a permit under § 14.11.060 where the property already carries an unsafe or substandard building violation.