SUBCHAPTER K. REGULATION BY CERTAIN POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS

Sec. 1301.551. MUNICIPAL PLUMBING ORDINANCES AND PERMITS. (a) A municipality with more than 5,000 inhabitants shall regulate by ordinance or bylaw the material, construction, alteration, and inspection of any pipe, faucet, tank, valve, water heater, or other fixture by or through which a supply of water, gas, or sewage is used or carried.

(b) Any other municipality may regulate by ordinance or bylaw the matters described by Subsection (a).

(c) A municipality that adopts an ordinance or bylaw under this section shall provide by ordinance or bylaw that a person must obtain a permit before the person performs plumbing, other than the repairing of leaks, the replacement of lavatory or kitchen faucets, the replacement of ballcocks or water control valves, the replacement of garbage disposals, or the replacement of water closets. The municipality may prescribe the terms on which the permit is issued.

(d) A plumbing inspection in a municipality that adopts an ordinance or bylaw under this section must be performed by a plumbing inspector.

(e) A municipality or other political subdivision in this state that requires a plumbing contractor to obtain a permit before the person performs plumbing shall by telephone, fax, or e-mail:

(1) accept permit applications;

(2) collect required fees; and

(3) issue the required permits.

(f) If drawings of proposed plumbing work are required by the municipality or other political subdivision, the municipality or political subdivision shall specify how permit drawings are to be submitted.

(g) A responsible master plumber, plumbing contractor, or other person who is required to obtain a permit under this section is not required to pay a plumbing registration fee or administrative fee in a municipality or any other political subdivision.

(h) A plumbing contractor must register, electronically or in person, with a municipality or other political subdivision that requires registration before performing plumbing regulated by the municipality or other political subdivision.

(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of state law, after January 1, 2009, a municipality may not enact an ordinance, bylaw, order, building code, or rule requiring the installation of a multipurpose residential fire protection sprinkler system or any other fire sprinkler protection system in a new or existing one- or two-family dwelling. A municipality may adopt an ordinance, bylaw, order, or rule allowing a multipurpose residential fire protection sprinkler specialist or other contractor to offer, for a fee, the installation of a fire sprinkler protection system in a new one- or two-family dwelling.

(j) A multipurpose residential fire protection sprinkler specialist may install a multipurpose residential fire protection sprinkler system in a new or existing one- or two-family dwelling in a municipality described by Subsection (a) or (b).

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1421, Sec. 3, eff. June 1, 2003. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1276, Sec. 14A.315(b), eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 804 (S.B. 1410), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2009.

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1380 (S.B. 1354), Sec. 7, eff. September 1, 2009.

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 91 (S.B. 1303), Sec. 27.001(46), eff. September 1, 2011.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 981 (H.B. 2062), Sec. 7, eff. September 1, 2013.