Yes. San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection requires a plumbing permit “before cutting into or replacing pipes, particularly pipes that will be covered by a wall or buried in the ground.” A contractor with a qualifying license files it on PermitSF, the house permit is $549, or $809 with underground work, and the new pipe is inspected before any wall is closed.
Hilltop Repipe San Francisco manages repipes under that permit across San Francisco, Daly City and South San Francisco, with the work carried out by licensed and insured contractors who hold the C-36 or C-4 license a San Francisco plumbing permit requires and who pull the permit. This guide covers what needs a permit, who can file it, what it costs, how inspection works and how the two neighboring cities differ.
What needs a permit
DBI’s rule is short: a permit is needed before cutting into or replacing pipes. A repipe always does both. San Francisco’s plumbing code lists the work that is exempt, and the exemptions all turn on not cutting pipe:
- Repairing a leak that does not require cutting into or removing pipe.
- Replacing or repairing a faucet, angle stop or hose bibb without cutting into or removing pipe.
- Replacing a toilet, unless it uses alternate water piping.
- Removing piping, but only after its supply has been disconnected under a permit.
So clamping a pinhole is exempt, while cutting out a section and splicing in new pipe is not; the pipe repair page covers both. The repipe vs repair guide covers where that line falls in practice.
Who can file the permit
DBI lets contractors holding a C-4, C-16, C-20, C-36, C-54, B or A license apply for plumbing and mechanical permits. For plumbing, that means C-36 plumbing or C-4, with a B general contractor allowed after the scope is reviewed. An owner may pull a plumbing permit and do the work only in a stand-alone single-family house the owner lives in, and only after talking with an inspector, who may still require a licensed contractor. Owners of flats, condos and apartment buildings cannot pull their own.
Since September 14, 2026, new plumbing and mechanical permits that need no plans are applied for, and inspections scheduled, only on PermitSF. Paper applications are no longer accepted and there is no paper job card.
What it costs
DBI prices plumbing permits by category, set by the number of units and whether underground work is included. The fees below apply to permits issued on and after July 12, 2026.
| Category | What it covers | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 1P | Single residential unit: water service, sewer replacement, a single fixture or a single kitchen or bath remodel (up to two inspections) | $290 |
| 2PA | Residential, six or fewer units, without underground plumbing (up to three inspections) | $549 |
| 2PB | The same, with underground plumbing (up to four inspections) | $809 |
| 3PA | 7 to 12 units (up to five inspections) | $1,045 |
| 3PB | 13 to 36 units (up to eight inspections) | $2,104 |
| 3PC | More than 36 units (up to 30 inspections) | $8,679 |
| Re-inspection | A failed or additional inspection | $259 per half hour |
| Hourly | Work not covered by a category, regular hours | $519 per hour |
| Off-hours inspection | Two- or four-hour minimums | $555 per hour |
Which category a particular repipe falls under is confirmed when the permit is filed. On the record, practice varies: among 273 DataSF permit descriptions from 2021 to 2025 that describe a water repipe, 106 were filed as 1P, 29 as 2PA, 30 as 2PB and 102 with no category stated. Fees are paid before final signoff. The repipe cost guide shows how the permit fits into the total.
One permit or several
DBI requires a separate permit for each structure, each condominium unit and each existing apartment unit. In a three-flat building, that can mean three permits; recent PermitSF filings include a run of per-unit repipe permits at a single apartment building. Plumbing and mechanical work need separate permits, and a kitchen or bath remodel filed on PermitSF generates its own plumbing and electrical permits. Gas piping is covered in the gas line permit guide.
Some repipes touch other agencies. Where plastic replaces metal water pipe, a licensed electrician confirms the electrical bonding, possibly under a separate electrical permit. Replacing the owner’s service line and opening the public sidewalk needs a Public Works excavation permit, about $802 for a small project. The water service line replacement page covers that line.
Inspection
The rule is simple: inspect before covering. The new system is pressure tested first (how long a repipe takes shows where this falls in the schedule), with water at working pressure or air at 50 psi or more held for at least 15 minutes without leakage, and the inspector sees it before any wall closes. Each permit category includes a maximum number of inspections, and a failed or extra inspection costs $259 per half hour.
The inspector checks the work against the 2025 San Francisco Plumbing Code, the state code with local amendments, in force since January 1, 2026. For a repipe, the local amendments that matter most are:
- A fullway valve where the supply enters, a separate valve for each building on the lot and a valve on each water heater’s cold supply.
- Shutoffs in each dwelling unit, so its hot and cold can be turned off without interrupting the others; a remodeled unit has to meet the rule.
- A control valve ahead of each fixture’s hot and cold supply.
- Dielectric or insulating fittings, or brass nipples at least 6 inches long, where copper meets steel.
- Air chambers at quick-closing valves such as single-handle faucets and shower valves.
- A backflow assembly near the meter for buildings four or more stories tall, or where the supply rises more than 40 feet above the meter.
State code adds a pressure regulator with a strainer and an expansion tank where static pressure exceeds 80 psi, and water heater straps in the upper and lower thirds of the tank. Material choice is not restricted locally: PEX and copper are both listed in the state code, as the guide to whether PEX is allowed in California explains.
Planning a permitted repipe?
The written scope names the permit category, who files it and when the inspection falls, before any wall is opened.
Rules that come with opening walls
Two other sets of rules travel with the permit in older buildings. Paint in pre-1979 buildings is presumed to contain lead, and the San Francisco Existing Building Code requires containment, signs, three business days’ notice to residents and HEPA cleanup for work that disturbs it in rentals and shared buildings. In buildings of one to four units, the air district requires asbestos sampling before textured or skim-coated walls are disturbed. In an occupied rental, if a unit would be uninhabitable during the work, the Rent Board requires permits to be issued before any temporary-eviction notice is served. The apartment building repiping page covers those jobs.
Daly City and South San Francisco
San Francisco’s permit, fees and local amendments stop at the county line.
Daly City. The Building Division’s online portal lists a “Water Pipe Replacement” permit type for water pipe repair and replacement at a residential property. Fees under the city’s master fee schedule include $101 to issue a plumbing permit, $56.50 for each water piping item and $14 per fixture. The rough plumbing inspection comes after the water piping is installed and tested, before walls are covered. Plumbing outside the building, including the service line, is inspected by the city’s water and wastewater department rather than the Building Division. Contractors need a Daly City business license. The Daly City page covers repipes there.
South San Francisco. The Building Division requires a plumbing permit to install, alter, repair or replace any plumbing system, and treats replacing defective concealed water pipe as new work needing a permit and inspection. Permits are applied for online, priced per trade by job valuation, and a repipe is not on the city’s over-the-counter list, so the application path is confirmed per project. Work stays exposed until it is approved, and contractors need a South San Francisco business license. The South San Francisco page covers repipes there.
Across California, plumbing permits are issued by the city or county where the building is, so the answer to whether a repipe needs one is given locally; in all three cities here, it does.
Looking up a permit
DataSF publishes DBI’s plumbing permits, and DBI’s legacy permit tracking system still holds older permits and inspection scheduling for them. A past repipe permit shows what was replaced and when, which helps when buying a house with galvanized pipes or deciding how much of a system is original.
For a repipe scoped, permitted and inspected in San Francisco, Daly City or South San Francisco, call or send the form. The whole-house repiping page describes the work.
