Jefferson Parish, LA Building Safety: Plumbing Permits (2026)

Chapter 8-1 of the Jefferson Parish Code of Ordinances is the parish's Building and Related Construction Code, and it names the International Plumbing Code as the technical standard for every plumbing installation, including alterations, repairs, replacement of equipment, appliances, fixtures, fittings and appurtenances, whenever the work connects directly or indirectly to the parish water or sewerage system. That adoption sits in Sec. 3 alongside the parish's parallel adoptions of the International Building Code, National Electrical Code, International Fuel Gas Code and International Mechanical Code, and one- and two-family dwellings fall under the International Residential Code instead of the IBC while still answering to this chapter.

The permit mechanism itself is set out in Sec. 1(b): before any plumbing system is erected, installed, enlarged, altered, repaired, removed, converted or replaced, including propane or natural gas generator work, the contractor performing it must be properly licensed and must first file an application for inspection with the appropriate section of the department. Filing is required for every job that touches the plumbing system, not only large remodels, and it must happen before the work begins. Work is unauthorized once it deviates from what was filed, and additional separate filings are required for anything not clearly shown on the submitted plans under Sec.

2. Minor repairs that do not touch a standpipe, water supply, sewer, drain, drain leader, gas, soil, waste or vent line can proceed without a permit under Sec. 3, but anything affecting those systems cannot. This regime applies in the unincorporated parish, including Metairie and Terrytown, which have no separate city hall of their own; Kenner, Gretna, Harahan and Westwego enforce their own incorporated building codes.