Walla Walla County, WA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

Walla Walla County Code § 15.04.150 adopts the current edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code, as amended by the state of Washington and published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, excepting Chapter 12 on fuel gas piping, which the county instead covers under its adopted fuel gas codes. § 15.04.160 then requires every applicant for a plumbing permit covering work regulated by that code to pay the fee set in Chapter 3.08 for each permit. Anyone who starts plumbing work before obtaining the required permit, and is later granted one anyway, must pay double the permit fee for the work already performed.

The chapter carves out one exception: the double-fee penalty does not apply to emergency work where getting a permit first is not practical. Beyond the permit itself, § 15.04.036's application-fee and plan-review deposit requirements apply to plumbing permit applications that require plan review, and the application is treated as vested once that fee is paid to the community development department. The building official enforces plumbing compliance with the same tools used chapter-wide: right of entry to inspect under § 15.04.250, a stop-work order under § 15.04.260 if plumbing work is proceeding contrary to code, and referral for misdemeanor prosecution under § 15.04.034 and RCW 36.43.040 if corrective action is not completed.