Richland, WA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

Richland adopts the Uniform Plumbing Code, with the statewide amendments enacted by the Washington State Building Code Council, as one of the building codes for the city under RMC § 21.01.010(K), alongside the International Building, Residential, Existing Building, Mechanical, Fuel Gas and Fire Codes and the state Energy Code. When the city then amended Chapter 1 of the model codes through RMC § 21.01.020, it addressed plumbing specifically at Subsection D.3: items (1) and (2) of the model code's work-exempt-from-permit subcategory for plumbing are not adopted, and instead every plumbing permit, and every exemption from needing one, is set by the plumbing code the city has actually adopted, the Uniform Plumbing Code itself, rather than by the building code's own exemption list.

Fees follow a separate track under RMC § 21.01.020(F): plumbing permit and inspection fees run from Table 1-1 of the 1997 Uniform Plumbing Code, with plan review calculated at 25 percent of the plumbing permit fee, except that plumbing work tied to an active building permit does not draw its own separate permit fee, and plumbing plans submitted with building plans do not draw a separate plan-review fee. As with other trades, RMC § 21.01.020(E) requires the plumbing contractor to carry a current City of Richland business license and a current Washington L&I contractor registration before work starts, and the certificate of occupancy under Subsection G still waits on every agency's sign-off.