Shoreline, WA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

SMC § 15.05.010(F) makes the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) and its companion Uniform Plumbing Code Standards, as adopted by the Washington State Building Code Council in Chapters 51-56 and 51-57 WAC, the plumbing code that governs every water supply, drain, waste and vent installation inside the City of Shoreline. The city's amendment excludes any UPC provision covering sewers or fuel gas piping, which fall instead under the surface water and fuel gas chapters the city separately adopts, and it limits which UPC appendices apply: only Appendix A (sizing the water supply system), Appendix B (combination waste and vent systems), Appendix D (sizing storm water drainage systems), Appendix I (installation standards), and Appendix M (the peak water demand calculator adopted through WAC 51-56-003) carry the force of law.

Because a Peak Water Demand Calculator appendix is specifically adopted, plumbers sizing a water service for a new single-family home or a multifamily building must use that calculator rather than an older fixture-unit table when the WAC 51-56-003 provision applies. Every plumbing permit fee runs through the general fee schedule adopted under Chapter 3.01 SMC and administered by SMC § 15.05.020(A), which lets the city manager or designee refund up to 80 percent of a paid fee when no work has started, or the full fee if it was paid in error, on a written request filed within 180 days of payment.

SMC § 15.05.020(B) directs that any UPC reference to a 'code official' means the city manager or designee, so plumbing inspections and permit decisions run through the same Planning and Community Development staff who administer the building and mechanical codes.