Do I need a permit to replace a toilet or a faucet?
Usually does not need a permit
Taking a toilet out and putting one back is specifically named as exempt — provided the work does not involve replacing or rearranging the valves, pipes or fixtures it connects to.
What changes the answer
- Removing and reinstalling a water closet in the same place — named as exempt, with that proviso attached
- Replacing a faucet, a shower head or a supply stop — ordinary repair, generally nothing required
- Clearing a blockage or stopping a leak — explicitly exempt
- Replacing a defective concealed trap, drain or vent pipe — the code treats that as NEW work and it needs a permit
- Moving the fixture to a different location — new drain and vent, which is permitted work
These thresholds come from the model code and are commonly amended locally, which is usually where people get caught.
Why it matters
Low, and the exposure is water rather than enforcement. The flange height after a new floor goes in, and whether the closet bolts pull the seal down evenly, are what decide whether a toilet weeps quietly into the subfloor for a year. A supply line failure while nobody is home is the most common expensive water claim on a house.
Confirm the requirement with the authority that would issue the permit before deciding.
The version of this people actually ask
Do I need a permit to replace a toilet?
Generally no. It is one of the few items the code names outright: removal and reinstallation of a water closet is exempt, as long as you are not replacing or rearranging the pipes and valves behind it. Swap the flange, re-pipe the supply or move the drain and you are outside the exemption — but a straight replacement onto a sound existing flange is exempt work.
Do I need a permit to replace a faucet or a shower head?
No. Repairing or replacing a fixture in place is ordinary repair. A shower valve is the one to watch: replacing a valve body rather than the trim is closer to plumbing work than to a fixture swap, and modern valves carry a scald-protection requirement that a very old one may not have.
Do I need a permit to install a garbage disposal or dishwasher?
This is the boundary case in the category. If a dedicated receptacle and the drain connection already exist, adding the appliance is close to a fixture swap. If a new circuit has to be run, or the drain has to be re-piped to take a disposal, both of those are permitted work in most jurisdictions — the appliance is not the regulated part, the circuit and the drain are.
Do I need a permit to fix a leaking pipe?
Stopping a leak is exempt by name. The code then draws a line most people never see: if a concealed trap, drain, waste or vent pipe is defective and has to be replaced with new material, that counts as new work and needs a permit. Tightening a joint is repair; cutting out a rotten drain line inside a wall is not.
This is the typical rule, not your answer
This is the typical rule in the United States and not a decision about your property — permitting is run by more than 22,000 separate authorities and any of them can amend the code it adopts, so confirm with your local building department before you start. Put a ZIP in to see what applies in that state, and how to reach the office that decides.
IRC R105.2 exempts the clearing of stoppages and the repairing of leaks in pipes, valves or fixtures, and the removal and reinstallation of water closets, provided such repairs do not involve or require the replacement or rearrangement of valves, pipes or fixtures. The same section states that replacing a defective concealed trap or drain pipe with new material is considered new work requiring a permit.
Other projects
- Build a deckA permit is usually required once a deck is more than 200 square feet, more than 30 inches above grade, serves an exit door, or is attached to the house.
- Put up a fenceFences under 7 feet are typically exempt from a building permit — but height limits, corner-visibility rules and pool-barrier requirements are set locally and catch people constantly.
- Add a shed or small outbuildingOne-story detached sheds are typically exempt up to 200 square feet under the residential code — but the number people quote is 120, and both are right depending on which code your jurisdiction adopted.
- Replace a water heaterReplacing a water heater almost always requires a permit, even though it is routinely done without one.
- Remove or open up an interior wallIf the wall is load-bearing, a permit and engineered drawings are required. If you are not certain whether it is load-bearing, assume it is.
- Upgrade or replace an electrical panelPanel and service work always requires a permit, and in most places must be done by a licensed electrician.