Leominster, MA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

c. 142. Before starting work on any building, other than repairing leaks, the plumber must file a notice of the work with the board of health on the office's prescribed forms, submit plans if the inspector of plumbing requires them, and obtain a permit; the code specifically limits issuance of plumbing permits to master plumbers, so a journeyman cannot pull the permit himself. Fees are set by project type and fixture count. New construction runs forty dollars plus five dollars per fixture for a single- or two-family home and its additions, fifty-five dollars plus eight dollars per fixture for a commercial or industrial building, and fifteen dollars plus three dollars per fixture for a church or schoolhouse.

Remodeling, repair and renovation work is billed at twenty-eight dollars plus five dollars per fixture for a single- or two-family dwelling and fifty-five dollars plus eight dollars per fixture for commercial buildings, with a flat twenty or thirty dollar charge to swap a hot water heater depending on the building type. A reinspection costs fifty dollars per visit, a residential backflow preventer permit is thirty-eight dollars, and a written opinion from the inspector costs thirty dollars plus thirty dollars for any related inspection. The section carries its own penalty: if a permit application is not filed before construction has already started, every fee on the job is doubled.

Plumbing connects to the city's separate sewer-connection rule in § 17-4, which requires an independent connection to the public sanitary sewer unless the board of health finds that infeasible.