Verified against the city’s published rules · page updated October 27, 2026 · rules change — confirm with the city before applying
A Tyler plumbing permit is priced by the fixture. The city’s Schedule of Fees charges $6.00 per fixture, with a $50.00 minimum and a $50.00 re-inspection fee. There is no separate water heater line.
The city code prints different numbers. Section 6-72 of the Tyler Code of Ordinances lists the same $6.00 per fixture, but a $30.00 minimum and a $30.00 re-inspection. We print both below and do not pick one.
A homeowner can pull the permit, according to the city’s Winter Weather FAQs: “A licensed plumber or homesteaded homeowner may pull a permit and replace their water heater.” That page is the only city page we found that says it.
Everything here comes from the City of Tyler’s own pages, PDFs and Code of Ordinances, and from the Texas Occupations Code, read on 23 October 2026.
The City of Tyler’s Building Services department issues plumbing permits for work inside the city limits, through the eTRAKiT portal.
PermitTechs@TylerTexas.com, the address on the city’s Master Registration Formtrakit.cityoftyler.net/etrakit/Tyler’s plumbing code names the office. Section 6-71 of the city code amends the plumbing code to say: “The Building Services Department is the code compliance agency.”
Tyler is the county seat of Smith County. The city’s own history page says so. If you are not sure your address is inside the city, the city’s FAQ sends you to SmithCountyMapSite.org to check. The statewide rules are on Texas plumbing permits.
Yes. The city’s Winter Weather FAQs say a licensed plumber or a homesteaded homeowner “may pull a permit and replace their water heater.”
The answer sits on a Tyler Fire Department page written for freeze damage, under the question “My water heater is not working, can I replace or repair it myself?”
State law points the same way. Texas Occupations Code §1301.551(c) requires a city with a plumbing ordinance to provide that a person must get 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.” A water heater is not on that list. Subsection (a) names the water heater among the things a city must regulate.
Attic water heaters have a Tyler rule. Section 6-71 adds this to the plumbing code:
When a water heater is accessed with a pull-down stairway, such pull-down stairway shall be rated for 250-pound capacity for water heaters up to fifty (50) gallons. For water heaters over 50 gallons, the stairway must be rated for 350-pound capacity.
The same amendment sets the attic passageway to the water heater at no less than 36 inches high and 22 inches wide, and no more than 20 feet long.
Apartments. The same FAQ answer adds that “an apartment maintenance employee shall not replace a water heater” and attributes the rule to state plumbing law. The state plumbing board’s rules read differently. Their definition of a maintenance man, 22 TAC §361.1(25), says maintenance work “includes the repair, maintenance and replacement of” existing piping, fixtures and “existing water heaters”, but not “the installation of gas fueled water heaters.” If you work apartment maintenance, ask the city before you rely on either. None of this changes the homestead route.
The statewide picture on this job is on do you need a permit to replace a water heater in Texas?
$6.00 per fixture with a $50.00 minimum, on the city’s Schedule of Fees. Section 6-72 of the city code prints a $30.00 minimum.
Tyler counts fixtures. Section 6-72 defines one as “each water closet, sink, lavatory or basin, laundry or wash tray, bathtub, shower, grease trap, drinking fountain, urinal, sand trap, floor drain, beer or soda bar, fixed washing machine”. It adds “every other plumbing element” commonly called a fixture. Both documents also charge $6.00 each for a sewer service, a water service and a wall heater. Section 6-72 adds a building sewer line at $6.00.
Here are the two documents side by side.
| Line | Schedule of Fees page | Code sec. 6-72 |
|---|---|---|
| Each fixture | $6.00 | $6.00 |
| Gas openings, first 10 | $20.00 | 20.00 |
| Each gas opening above 10 | $0.50 | 0.50 |
| Additional gas meter | $15.00 each | 15.00 |
| Boiler | $50.00 | 30.00 |
| Sand, grease or grit trap | $50.00 | 30.00 (sand trap) |
| Yard irrigation / yard sprinkler | $50.00 | 50.00 |
| Temporary service / temporary gas inspection | $50.00 | 30.00 |
| Re-inspection | $50.00 | 30.00 |
| Minimum fee | $50.00 | 30.00 in city, 40.00 out of city |
Where the two documents name a line differently, the pairing is ours: the page’s temporary service against the code’s temporary gas inspection, and the page’s sand, grease or grit trap against the code’s sand trap.
The page has no date of its own. The city’s site search lists it as published October 1, 2026. The code on American Legal’s site includes amendments through September 9, 2026, and the last ordinance in section 6-72’s history is Ord. No. O-2023-105, dated October 25, 2023. We found no ordinance that moves section 6-72 up to the page’s figures. The council’s agendas since then list two fee ordinances for chapter 6, in September 2024 and September 2026, and both amend section 6-3, the building permit fee schedule, not section 6-72.
Section 6-3 as amended on September 9, 2026 does print a $50 floor. Its paragraph on residential alterations and repairs says: “The minimum fee for any type of permit shall be fifty dollars ($50.00).” It does not say whether that reaches a plumbing permit priced under section 6-72. Ask which figure the counter charges before you budget.
No water heater line. Neither document prints one. The page’s electrical table does list “Electrical Water Heater” at $3.50. Whether an electric water heater swap needs an electrical permit too is not stated. The smallest plumbing permit the page prints is the $50.00 minimum. We cannot give you a water heater total.
Re-inspections. The page charges $50.00 for a plumbing re-inspection. The code says 30.00. Neither escalates for repeat failures. How Tyler compares with other cities is on plumbing re-inspection fees in Texas.
Water and sewer taps are separate. The Schedule of Fees sends tap and meter questions to the Water Business Office at (903) 531-1230. The water utility’s New Construction page says: “Before requesting meters or taps, ensure that your Plumbing/Irrigation permit has been pulled.”
Section 6-72 doubles the fee: “In the event work is started without a permit, the above fees will be increased one hundred (100) percent.” It adds: “No fees will be refunded or transferable.”
Section 6-71 says other penalties “are set forth in City Code Section 1-4.” We did not read section 1-4.
One exception is on the Winter Weather FAQs: “In an emergency situation, the repairs can be made, and the permit applied for on the next business day.” More on what skipping a permit costs is on skipping a plumbing permit in Texas. How other cities price a permit is on what a plumbing permit costs in Texas, city by city.
Yes, if the house is your homestead. The city says so on its Winter Weather FAQs, and nowhere else we found.
Under “Who can repair my leaks and pull a permit?” the city answers: “A licensed plumber, a homesteaded homeowner working on their own property, or a maintenance employee working on a property in which they are employed to serve.”
That matches state law. Texas Occupations Code §1301.051: “A property owner is not required to be licensed under this chapter to perform plumbing in the property owner’s homestead.” A rental or a house you are flipping is not your homestead, so neither the city’s wording nor the statute covers it. The city’s word is “homesteaded”. It does not say what proof it asks for.
What the city’s permit pages do not say:
So the route exists, but how a homeowner gets an eTRAKiT login is not written down. Call Building Services at (903) 531-1151 before you start. Who may legally do plumbing for someone else is on who can legally do plumbing in Texas.
Small jobs. The Winter Weather FAQs answer two common ones. Replacing faucets or hose bibbs needs no permit, “as long as you are not relocating them.” A concealed line does: “Per the 2015 International residential code R105.2, any repair of a concealed water line or drain that must be replaced with new material must be permitted and inspected.” The city then says: “Pipes in cabinets, attics, or a crawl space under a pier-and-beam house are not considered concealed and can be repaired without a permit.”
Those answers cite the 2015 IRC. The city’s other pages say Tyler now follows the 2021 codes.
A licensed plumber registered with the city, or an employee the company has authorized on its registration form.
The Winter Weather FAQs say: “Contractors must register with the City of Tyler.” The Development & Planning FAQs say how: “Fill out the Master Registration Form” and email it with a copy of your license or licenses and “A certificate of insurance”. Then “Permit Technicians will process your registration and send next steps.”
The form has a plumbing line for the master’s name, “MASTER LICENSE NO.” and expiry. Its second page lists “COMPANY PERSONNEL AUTHORIZED TO OBTAIN PERMITS”, with a printed name and signature for each.
Each trade pulls its own permit. From the FAQ: “You must have your own permit. Once approved, it will be linked to the general contractor’s permit.”
Registration fee. The form marks “ARCHITECT/DESIGNER/ENGINEER (No Registration Fee Required)”. Neither the form nor the Schedule of Fees prints a plumbing registration fee. State law speaks to it. Texas Occupations Code §1301.551(g) says a plumber who must get a permit “is not required to pay a plumbing registration fee or administrative fee in a municipality or any other political subdivision.” Subsection (h) still requires the plumber to register. How other cities handle this is on plumber registration fees in Texas.
Insurance. The city asks for a certificate and prints no amount. Section 1301.552 requires the city to verify that the responsible master plumber has insurance on file with the state board of “not less than $300,000 for all claims arising in a one-year period.”
On a freeze-warning page, the city’s Building Inspections department reminds residents “to use only qualified registered plumbers to fix any broken pipe issues.”
Register first, wait for staff to set up your eTRAKiT login, then apply online.
The city’s eTRAKiT page sets out five steps for a permit, “Building, Pool, Roof, Electrical, Plumbing, etc.”:
Fees are paid in eTRAKiT. The FAQ says that if a “Select Payment” task appears after you paid, “This task must be marked complete before your permit can be issued.”
Texas law also obliges a city to take a plumbing permit application “by telephone, fax, or e-mail” under §1301.551(e). Tyler’s pages describe eTRAKiT for the permit and email for registration. If the portal does not work for you, ask Building Services at (903) 531-1151 how else it takes an application.
Request the inspection in eTRAKiT. The FAQ says an inspection called in before 7 a.m. will most likely happen the same day.
From the Development & Planning FAQs:
“If your inspection was called in before 7 a.m. to the inspections line and meets all the requirements to proceed, it will most likely take place the same day.”
We did not find the inspections line’s number on any page we read. The FAQ’s eTRAKiT route is spelled out: “Log in to eTRAKiT, select your permit, click on Request Inspection, choose the type and date, select Add Inspection, and then Submit.”
If you fail, the corrections are in eTRAKiT under the permit’s Inspections tab, in “the Notes section”. If your plumber works under a general contractor’s job, “Each trade must schedule its own inspections.”
For repairs, the Winter Weather FAQs set the condition: “The work will need to remain uncovered to verify work quality, material type, connections, and have full working water pressure to check for leaks.”
One Tyler amendment matters at inspection. Section 6-71 adds to the plumbing code: “No joints shall be allowed under concrete slabs.” Another requires cross-linked polyethylene piping to be “installed with an approved factory manifold system and all fittings shall be readily accessible.”
The 2021 International Plumbing Code, adopted by section 6-70 of the city code, with Tyler’s amendments in section 6-71.
Section 6-70 reads: “The 2021 edition of the International Plumbing Code, as amended in section 6 71, is hereby adopted by reference and incorporated herein.” The history line ends with Ord. No. O-2023-105, dated October 25, 2023. Gas follows the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code under section 6-50.
The city’s pages agree. The Development & Planning FAQs say: “Tyler follows the 2021 International Code Council (ICC) standards and the 2023 National Electrical Code, with local amendments listed in Chapter 6 of the Tyler Code of Ordinances.” The Current Code References page lists “2021 International Plumbing Code, January 2024”.
The statewide picture is on Texas plumbing code by city.
Six months from issue, by the FAQ’s answer about building permits, and staff can extend it if you are working.
The Development & Planning FAQs: “Building permits are valid for six months from the issue date. If you are actively working and scheduling inspections, staff can extend the permit.”
The answer is written about building permits. We found no separate rule for plumbing permits. The statewide pattern is on plumbing permit expiration in Texas.
Several things a homeowner would want are not on any city page, PDF or code section we read.
Whoever pulls the permit, the city’s Schedule of Fees and section 6-72 of the city code are the two documents to check a figure against. The Winter Weather FAQs are where the city answers the homeowner question in its own words.
Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, each published by the body that sets, measures or administers the thing it describes. We record the document’s own date and the date we read it, because published pages change without notice.
| Source | Document date | We read it |
|---|---|---|
| City of Tyler — Schedule of Fees (Development & Planning, Property Owners) | no date on the page itself; the city’s own site search lists it as ‘Published on October 01, 2026’. The commercial section is headed ‘Effective October 1, 2024’; the Plumbing Permits table carries no date | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; cityoftyler.org answers curl with HTTP 403; every accordion expanded and the rendered text read with document.body.innerText; every Plumbing Permits line transcribed; recon figures of 2026-10-13 re-read and confirmed) |
| City of Tyler Code of Ordinances, Chapter 6, Article IV (Plumbing Code), sections 6-70, 6-71 and 6-72 | American Legal Publishing, ‘September 2026 (current)’, ‘Including amendments through September 9, 2026’; sec. 6-70 history ends ‘Ord. No. O-2023-105;10/25/23’; sec. 6-72 history ends ‘(Ord. No. O-2023-105;10/25/23)’ | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; codelibrary.amlegal.com answers curl with HTTP 403; the article page rendered and read in full with document.body.innerText; the article holds three sections, 6-70 to 6-72) |
| City of Tyler Code of Ordinances, Chapter 6, Article III (Gas Code), section 6-50 | same code version; sec. 6-50 history ends ‘(Ord. No. O-2023-108; 10/25/23)’ | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; sec. 6-50 read; sec. 6-51 skimmed for permit, owner and homestead text, none found) |
| City of Tyler — Development & Planning FAQs | no date on the page; the city’s site search lists it as ‘Published on April 17, 2026’ | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; all 36 accordion questions expanded and read with innerText; every quoted string matched) |
| City of Tyler — Winter Weather FAQs (Tyler Fire Department, Emergency Alerts) | no date on the page; the city’s site search lists it as ‘Published on October 23, 2025’ | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; accordions expanded; every plumbing, permit and water heater answer read with innerText; every quoted string matched). Found by the city’s own site search for ‘homestead’ and ‘water heater’ |
| City of Tyler — Additional Winter Weather Resources | no date on the page; the city’s site search lists it as ‘Published on June 25, 2025’ | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; the ‘Plumbing reminders from your Building Inspections department’ paragraph read; quoted string matched) |
| City of Tyler — eTRAKiT and ProjectDox | no date on the page; the city’s site search lists it as ‘Published on April 29, 2026’ | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; read in full; portal link https://trakit.cityoftyler.net/etrakit/ read from the page’s own href) |
| City of Tyler — Development & Planning (department page, Contact Us block) | undated city web page | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; Contact Us block read: Permits and Building Inspections (903) 531-1151, 423 W. Ferguson St., Tyler, TX 75702, Building Services hours) |
| City of Tyler — Current Code References | no date on the page; the city’s site search lists it as ‘Published on July 21, 2025’; the code list reads ‘2021 International Plumbing Code, January 2024’ | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; code list read) |
| City of Tyler Building Services — Master Registration Form (PDF) | header ‘5/3/2019’; PDF created 14 May 2019, modified 4 January 2022 | 2026-10-23 (curl answered HTTP 403; fetched in the built-in browser from the city origin and its text layer extracted with pdf.js 4.0.379; both pages read in full) |
| City of Tyler Building Services — Residential Permit Checklist (PDF) | undated 3-page PDF created 2 February 2024 | 2026-10-23 (fetched in the built-in browser, text layer extracted with pdf.js; read in full) |
| City of Tyler — Forms and Applications (Property Owners) | undated city web page | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; every form link listed; no homeowner, homestead or owner-builder form among them) |
| City of Tyler — New Construction (Water Utilities, Utility Billing) | no date on the page; the city’s site search lists it as ‘Published on March 12, 2026’ | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; ‘Important Notes’ read; quoted string matched) |
| City of Tyler — Tyler History | undated city web page | 2026-10-23 (built-in browser; county-seat sentences read for the county assignment) |
| Texas Occupations Code ch. 1301, §1301.051, §1301.053, §1301.551 and §1301.552 | current online codification; §1301.551 last amended by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 981 (H.B. 2062), Sec. 7, eff. September 1, 2013 | 2026-10-23 (curl with a desktop Chrome user agent, HTTP 200; the four sections read in full; every quoted string matched against the HTML-stripped text) |
| City of Tyler Code of Ordinances, Chapter 6, Article I (Building Code), section 6-3, Schedule of Permit Fees | same code version (amendments through September 9, 2026); sec. 6-3(a) lines end ‘(Ord. No. 0-2026-48;9/9/26)’ | 2026-10-23, fact gate (built-in browser; sec. 6-3 read with innerText; the only ‘plumbing’ in it is the exclusion in (a)(2); (a)(3) quoted) |
| City of Tyler — City Council agendas and packets (PrimeGov public portal, tylertx.primegov.com, embedded on the city’s Agendas and Notices page) | 69 City Council meetings, 25 October 2023 to 28 October 2026 | 2026-10-23, fact gate (meeting lists from the portal’s ListArchivedMeetings and ListUpcomingMeetings API; 122 agenda and minutes PDFs fetched and pdftotext’d; the 11 Sept 2024 and 9 Sept 2026 packets read at the Chapter 6 fee ordinances) |
| Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners rules, 22 TAC §361.1(25) (Maintenance Man or Maintenance Engineer) | board’s ‘March 13, 2026 (unofficial version)’ compilation of 22 TAC ch. 361-367; LII’s copy of §361.1 shows the last amendment eff. 2/2/2025 (50 TexReg 0552) | 2026-10-23, fact gate (curl, HTTP 200, pdftotext; §361.1(25) read; text identical in Cornell LII’s copy of 22 Tex. Admin. Code §361.1, fetched the same day; the whole compilation searched for ‘apartment’, ‘maintenance’ and ‘shall not replace’) |
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