Do You Need a Permit to Replace a Hot Water Tank in Richmond, BC?

A leak guide on the City of Richmond’s website lists “Hot water heater leaking” among the common causes when a water meter’s leak indicator comes on. Our guide to the signs of a hidden water leak covers how to find one. Replacing that tank needs a City plumbing permit.

Do you need a permit to replace a hot water tank in Richmond?

Yes. Richmond’s Building Regulation Bylaw requires “a plumbing permit prior to undertaking any plumbing.” Its exemption for clearing stoppages and repairing leaks applies only when the repair does not involve “the replacement or rearrangement of valves, pipes or fixtures or hot water tanks.”

The City’s plumbing permit application lists “Hot Water Tank” among its plumbing fixtures, and fees are calculated from the fixtures listed.

What a plumbing permit costs in Richmond

From Richmond’s Consolidated Fees Bylaw:

• $33.00 per plumbing fixture
• $87.50 minimum plumbing fee

One tank at $33.00 falls under the minimum, so a one-item plumbing permit comes to $87.50.

What re-inspections cost in Richmond

The second inspection of a stage carries no re-inspection fee. Richmond charges one when an inspector finds that non-compliant work means a stage needs more than two inspections:

• 3rd inspection $106.00
• 4th $145.00
• 5th $280.00

After the fifth, each inspection costs double the one before it.

Who can apply for the permit

Richmond issues plumbing permits to two kinds of applicant: the owner of a one-family dwelling, or a certified plumber. The City’s application form describes the homeowner route as a single family home owner-occupier who personally does the work and signs a declaration.

The bylaw defines a one-family dwelling as a detached building with one dwelling unit, or one dwelling unit and a secondary suite, so a detached house with a suite still counts. Duplexes, townhouses and apartment condos fall outside that definition, so on a plain reading their owners have to hire a certified plumber. If that affects you, confirm it with the City before you plan around it.

Does Richmond’s flood plain bylaw affect where a tank can go?

Possibly. Richmond designates all land in the city as floodplain (Flood Plain Designation and Protection Bylaw No. 8204, s.1.1), and s.3.4 bars using any area below the flood plain construction level for installing “fixed equipment susceptible to damage by flood water.”

The bylaw’s general exemptions cover only its floor-elevation rule. Anything else, s.3.4 included, can be exempted only case by case by the City’s Director. The bylaw does not say how s.3.4 applies to a tank replaced in the same spot, so if yours sits low, ask the City before you replace it.

Does a hot water tank have to be strapped in Richmond?

Yes. Sentence 9.31.6.2.(3) of the BC Building Code says that wherever Smax for Site Class C is greater than 0.37, a water heater has to be strapped or otherwise fixed to the building so it can’t tip over. Table C-3 lists Richmond at 0.924 for Site Class C, second only to Ladner (0.971) among the twelve locations under its Vancouver Region heading. How many straps, and where, is left open; the code’s explanatory note shows one strapping method and points to a California bracing guideline.

Applying and booking inspections

• Apply online through MyPermit, which takes plumbing permits that don’t need plan review.
• Book inspections at inspections.richmond.ca. Requests made before 8:00 pm are scheduled for the next business day, and the cut-off to cancel is 7:00 am.
• The permit expires if an inspection you request hasn’t confirmed the work started within 180 days of issue, or if the work stops for more than 180 days after the last inspection. It also expires if work on a one- or two-family home isn’t finished within two years of the permit’s original date, or such other period as the City specifies in the permit.
• The final plumbing inspection is booked once all the plumbing is complete.

If you are replacing an electric tank in Richmond, get in touch and we can tell you what the job needs before any work starts.