I bought a water heater from Home Depot.?

Question

The sales guy asked if I pulled my permit. I said not yet. I didn't plan to pull a permit. Why do you need a permit for a water heater? It has been running fine for over a year now. I installed it myself.

Answer 1

Maybe in your area you do, but I've replaced several in my rentals and never pulled permits because my city didn't require one. They do require that they are strapped, however, as we live in an earthquake zone. I wouldn't worry about it.

Answer 2

Consider the source. Home Depot hires street people for christ's sake.

If you are replacing a water heater and doing the work yourself, even a strict local building dept will say you don't need a permit unless you are changing supply lines "dramatically"..

I wouldn't pull a permit to replace a damned water heater.. I am in process of doing some major remodeling, I've pulled permits because exterior changes to walls in an old garage we are converting to family room. But this is major, if they can't see it from the outside, it doesn't exist. :D

Answer 3

I had a gas water heater replaced and found that the codes required certain type of venting. It was inspected when I sold the place and would not have passed otherwise. A neighbor had to pay big bucks to have all the venting installed because she did not have a licensed plumber. The city of Anchorage has inspectors who go out and look at the installations.

Answer 4

Worried about what the clown said in the plumbing department of Home Depot? I NEVER ask them for help. They usually are clueless. Sir, can you tell me the differences in the weir of these traps? Or, can you show me where the dielectric nipples are? What is the difference between an L.A. P trap and a New York standard?

Sort of like the assistants at Best Buy. Next time ask one of the Best Buy guys what the clock speed of the cpu is in a certain computer. He'll disappear like a roach.

Answer 5

Permits may or may not be required by your city or state codes. Inspections are supposedly to insure against unsafe installations. In some localities, however, it seems more important to insure an inspection fee because inspections are at times inadequate to say the least. But, when dealing with gas or electricity, better safe than sorry makes sense.

Answer 6

You do not need a permit to replace an existing water heater. Remember, you should strap the water heater to the wall to prevent it falling in an earthquake.

Answer 7

Is it a gas water heater? Sometimes you are required to have it checked to make sure it isn't leaking carbon monoxide. I've never heard of needing a permit though - usually the gas company does the check.

Answer 8

Most city's allow repairs to be grandfathered in if made by the home owner replacing a part if it was originally installed to code at the time, otherwise home depot would be out of business,

Answer 9

Many areas of the country now require expansion tanks as part of the code requirements. One way they can enforce that code is to require a permit be issued so that an inspector follows up to enforce the code requirements.

Answer 10

For insurance purposes, on all gas fired appliances you need a gas permit, to get a gas permit you would need a gas licence, to get a gas licence you need to be a certified gas fitter, or you need a friend with all these to pull a permit for you. Good luck it's illegal and your friend could have his gas fitter's ticket revoked, and the company he works for could be sued from the insurance company.