Sunnyvale, CA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

Section 16.24.020 adopts the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, together with the state amendments in California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 5, known as the 2025 California Plumbing Code, as the plumbing code of the city of Sunnyvale, with the local changes set out in the rest of Chapter 16.24. Section 16.24.025 then amends the plumbing code's administrative chapter, applying it to the construction, alteration, movement, enlargement, replacement, repair, use, and maintenance of every plumbing and drainage system serving a building or structure in the city, with limited exemptions for federal and state property, work primarily in a public way, public utility towers and poles, unregulated mechanical equipment, hydraulic flood control structures, and detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses up to three stories, which may instead comply with the California Residential Code.

Section 104.5, Schedule of Permit Fees, requires payment of a fee for each permit on buildings, structures, electrical, gas, mechanical, and plumbing systems, or alterations requiring a permit, set by the city's current fee resolution. If plumbing work begins before the permit issues, Section 104.5.1 doubles the fee, and Section 104.5.2 authorizes a special investigation with an added investigation fee under 104.5.2.1 equal to the permit fee, collected whether or not a permit is later issued. Section 104.4.3 sets permits to expire if work is not started within 12 months of issuance or is suspended for 12 months, though extensions of up to 180 days each are available in writing for justifiable cause, and Section 104.3.2 covers additional plan review fees when submittals are incomplete or involve deferred items.