Pasadena, Texas plumbing permits: a $15 water heater line and a $50 floor

This page is about Pasadena, Texas, in Harris County. If you are in Pasadena, California, none of it applies to you.

Pasadena’s code prices a residential water heater at $15.00, plus a $10.00 application fee. The same section of the code also says no permit costs less than $50.00, application fee included. So the code gives you a $25 total in line items and a $50 floor, and it does not say plainly which one wins for a water heater. This page gives you both, every other plumbing fee that matters to a homeowner, and the number to call.

Everything here comes from the City of Pasadena’s own code, pages and forms, read on 16 October 2026, and from the Texas Occupations Code.

Who issues plumbing permits in Pasadena

The City of Pasadena Permit Department, on the first floor of City Hall.

• Office: City Hall, first floor, 1149 Ellsworth Drive, Pasadena, TX 77506
• Phone: 713-475-5575
• Email: permitdept@pasadenatx.gov
• Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and “No permits will be issued after 4:30 p.m. each day.”

The Permits and Licenses page says “Self-serve kiosks and in-person permit assistance is offered between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the first floor of City Hall, 1149 Ellsworth.” The same page links an online self-service portal run on Tyler EnerGov. We did not open the portal, so we cannot tell you what it asks for or what it charges.

The city’s charter begins “The inhabitants of the City of Pasadena, Harris County, Texas”. Inside the city limits, the permit is a city matter. The statewide rules are on Texas plumbing permits.

Does a water heater replacement need a permit in Pasadena?

Yes. Pasadena prices a residential water heater as its own permit line, and its code says any work with a fee needs a permit.

The fee section of the code ties the two together. “The identification of a fee shall determine the requirement for a permit in any discipline in this Code.” And a few lines later: “Mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits shall be required for any category and/or work for which a fee is established.” The plumbing table lists “Water heater - residential” at $15.00. So a water heater swap needs a plumbing permit.

The city’s Gas Turn On procedures sheet, created in February 2026, says the same thing in plain words: “replacing appliances/equipment such as water heaters, furnaces, generators, pool/spa heaters and fire places are required to be permitted accordingly before starting such work.”

Pasadena also tells the installer what the swap must include. Code Sec. 29-83(b): “The replacement of any water heater shall include bringing the vent pipe, gas valve, gas flex, water connections, temperature and pressure relief discharge line, pans and stand (if required) into compliance.” A new water heater on old, noncompliant connections fails.

Two more water heater rules from the same section:

• Relief valve discharge. The discharge line “may extend to the floor with a ninety (90) degree fitting turned toward the back of the water heater with the approval of the authority having jurisdiction.” Otherwise it runs outside or to another approved location. “Mop sinks are not an approved receptor for water heater relief valve drain termination.”
• One per address. “Each address shall have its own independent means of supplying hot water”.

The statewide answer on water heaters is on do you need a permit to replace a water heater in Texas?

What Pasadena says needs no permit

Code Sec. 29-92 is one sentence: “No plumbing permit is required for minor repairs such as the maintenance, repair, replacing of plumbing fixtures” where the rough-in does not change. Swapping a faucet or a toilet on the same rough-in fits that wording. Moving a drain does not.

That sits inside the state floor. Texas Occupations Code §1301.551(c) lets a city skip the permit for “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.” Pasadena’s sentence reaches those jobs. A water heater is different: it has its own fee line, and the city’s Gas Turn On sheet names it as permitted work. Our fixture-by-fixture read is on fixture and faucet permits in Texas.

Can a homeowner pull a plumbing permit in Pasadena?

Yes, if the house is your homestead and you do the work yourself, with one carve-out for gas.

Code Sec. 29-91 lists people other than plumbing contractors who may get a plumbing permit. Item (3) reads: “Any homeowner who is homesteaded and performs the work. Exception: Gas piping work and gas turn on permits will only be issued to registered plumbing contractors.”

That matches the state rule. 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.” The city adds the permit, and it keeps gas for licensed contractors.

Three things the code leaves open, each worth a phone call before you buy anything:

• Gas water heaters. The code does not say whether disconnecting and reconnecting a gas water heater counts as gas piping work. It does say a replacement must bring the “gas valve, gas flex” into compliance. And it bars a registered maintenance worker, a different class of permit holder, from installing “any gas fired water heater”. Nothing says the same of homeowners. An electric water heater is the clear case. For gas, ask first.
• Proof of homestead. The plumbing section says “homesteaded” and stops. The only homestead test the city prints is in its building contractor rules, which exempt “Homeowners with homestead exemptions per the current tax records” from building registration. That clause is not about plumbing. Ask what the counter will accept.
• Scheduling inspections. The city’s online inspection request form requires a “Contractor ID #”. It does not say what a homeowner should enter. Ask when you pull the permit.

Who may legally do plumbing for someone else is on who can legally do plumbing in Texas.

What a Pasadena plumbing permit costs

For a residential water heater: $15.00 plus a $10.00 application fee, against a code floor of $50.00 that includes the application fee.

All figures below are from Code Sec. 9-60 (3), “Building permit department fees”, as codified through Ord. No. 25-198 of 21 October 2025. The city’s Fee Schedule web page prints the same plumbing lines at the same amounts. Neither carries an effective date of its own.

The water heater question

The arithmetic from the plumbing table is $15.00 plus $10.00, which is $25.00.

The general condition at the top of the same subsection reads: “No permit in any case or project discipline will be less than a minimum standard fifty dollars ($50.00) including the application fee, for processing and allows for one site inspection except as specifically identified elsewhere in this Code.”

Read plainly, that makes a water-heater-only permit $50.00. But the clause ends with an exception for fees “specifically identified elsewhere in this Code”, and the water heater line is one. The code does not say which way that cuts. We are not going to pick for you. Budget $50.00, and ask the Permit Department on 713-475-5575 what a stand-alone water heater permit will be invoiced at.

The city’s plumbing application form adds a third figure. It prints “MINIMUM/MISCELLANEOUS FEE 40.00” and, separately, “APPLICATION FEE 10.00”. The form does not say whether the $40.00 is a floor. Its file was created in 2009, but the city still links it today as its plumbing permit application.

If you pay by card, the city’s Credit Card Authorization Form, created in August 2025, says “THERE IS A 4% PROCESSING FEE FOR EVERY TRANSACTION”. On $50.00 that is $2.00. The fee is not in the code or on the Fee Schedule page.

The plumbing lines a homeowner is most likely to meet

Item	Fee
Application fee	$10.00
Water heater, residential	$15.00
Lavatory, commode, bath tub, shower, kitchen or bar sink	$4.00 each
Dishwasher, residential	$4.00
Washing machine, residential	$4.00
Disposal, residential	$5.00
Ice maker	$4.00
Shower pan	$10.00
Thermal expansion device	$5.00
Vacuum breaker (atmospheric)	$10.00
Hose bibb vacuum breakers, 1 to 5	$10.00
Gas, 1 to 5 openings	$10.00
Gas turn on (G.T.O.)	$25.00
Tie in existing sewer, water or gas line	$5.00 each
Sewer line, 0 to 100 feet	$75.00
Water line, 0 to 100 feet	$75.00
Gas line, 0 to 100 feet	$75.00
Each additional 100 feet or portion	$35.00
Sewer disconnect	$20.00
Lawn sprinkler, residential	$50.00
Backflow preventer	$50.00
Miscellaneous	$40.00

The rest of the table covers commercial and site work.

Re-inspection, late permits and overtime

• Re-inspection: $50.00. The code says a reinspection fee of fifty dollars “may be charged for each required subsequent inspection.” A permit with two unpaid re-inspection fees goes on hold, and the rule names “Contractors or homeowners” alike. How Pasadena compares with 25 other cities is on plumbing re-inspection fees in Texas.
• Starting before the permit: double. Work begun before the permit stops, and the property goes on hold, until “a fee equal to twice the fee that would normally be required and a twenty-five dollar ($25.00) administrative fee have been paid”. What else happens if you skip a permit is on skipping a plumbing permit in Texas.
• Fines. A violation with no specific penalty carries a fine of $200.00 to $2,000.00, and each day is a separate offense.
• Scheduled overtime inspection: $240.00 for up to three hours, door to door. It must be booked and paid “by 4:00 p.m. on the business day prior”.
• Emergency inspections follow the overtime rule, and the permit must follow “within two (2) full business days”.

We found no technology fee and no plumbing plan review fee for a house in the code or on the Fee Schedule page. For a cross-city view of permit costs, see what a plumbing permit costs in Texas, city by city.

Who else can pull a Pasadena plumbing permit

A licensed master plumber’s company registered with the city, which the code says costs nothing to register.

The codified fee table opens its plumbing block with “Plumbing contractor annual registration” and prints “No Fee” beside it. The city’s Fee Schedule web page prints the same heading with no amount at all. Free registration is what state law requires. Texas Occupations Code §1301.551(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.” §1301.551(h) still lets the city require the registration itself.

The city’s Plumbing Contractor Checklist for Registration/Renewal, created in November 2021, asks for three things: the city’s State Plumbing License Registration and Update Form, a copy of the master’s driver’s license, and current state records. In its words: “ALL LICENSE AND INSURANCE MUST BE CURRENT ON TEXAS STATE BOARD OF PLUMBING EXAMINERS IN ORDER FOR PERMIT TO BE ISSUED.” If the master does not submit the form in person, it must be notarized.

The city’s insurance sheet, created the same month, sets the plumbing figures at $300,000 per occurrence, $600,000 aggregate, and $300,000 aggregate for products and completed operations. It names the City of Pasadena, 1149 Ellsworth, as certificate holder, and wants the master’s name and state license number on the certificate. The state floor is lower and different in kind: §1301.552 has the city verify a certificate on file with the state board providing “coverage of not less than $300,000 for all claims arising in a one-year period.”

Before you hire, check the license yourself: how to verify a Texas plumber’s license, screen by screen.

How to apply for a plumbing permit in Pasadena

In person at City Hall, by email, or through the city’s online portal.

• In person. First floor of City Hall, 1149 Ellsworth Drive, with self-serve kiosks and staff from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. No permits are issued after 4:30 p.m.
• By email or phone. permitdept@pasadenatx.gov, or 713-475-5575 for permit information.
• Online. The Permits and Licenses page links the city’s Tyler EnerGov self-service portal. We did not open it.
• Contractors with escrow accounts can fax applications. The escrow policy, created in 2021, says a permit is faxed back “within forty-eight (48) hours” and that permits are processed from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.

State law backs the remote routes for contractors. §1301.551(e) requires a city that makes a plumbing contractor get a permit to accept applications, collect fees and issue permits “by telephone, fax, or e-mail”.

The plumbing application itself is a fee grid. You tick the items, add the application fee, and sign. The form has a line for “MASTER PLUMBER SIGNATURE” and one for the owner or tenant’s name and phone number. It has no homeowner line. Ask at the counter how a homeowner signs it.

Pasadena plumbing inspections

Request online through the city’s Permit Inspection Request form. A request made after 7:00 a.m. is scheduled for the next business day.

The form allows one permit and one inspection per request. Its plumbing choices are Ground, Sanitary sewer, Cover, Final, and Gas Turn On. It asks for your email, permit number, project address, a contractor ID number, the name of the person asking, and a phone number. Inspectors cannot promise a time, but you may ask for morning or afternoon.

For a new house, the city’s residential inspection guide lists the plumbing sequence: ground, sanitary, cover with walls and ceilings open, and final. A water heater swap will usually need only a final, but the guide itself says “This form is only a guide: Discuss the required inspections with the respective inspector”.

Gas inspections run faster. Code Sec. 29-86(b): “All gas inspections (GTO) called in before 12:00 p.m. will be inspected that same day.” The escrow policy adds that a vacant home “will not be considered for the same day inspection.” The Gas Turn On procedures sheet sets the test: the whole system pressured to at least 10 p.s.i. with air, held for at least 15 minutes, with all appliance shut-offs closed before the inspector arrives. It also says “Electric water heaters are required to have their safety features properly functioning for a Gas Turn On inspection also.”

The 2009 plumbing application prints a different route: “MUST REQUEST ALL INSPECTIONS REQUIRED THROUGH THE 24 HOUR RECORDER LINE 713-477-2800”. The Permits and Licenses page now points to the online form instead. We did not dial the recorder line.

Which plumbing code Pasadena has adopted

The 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code, in effect from February 2, 2026, with Pasadena’s own amendments.

Code Sec. 29-3, as amended in October 2025, “fully adopts and incorporates herein the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code published by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials”. The Permits and Licenses page carries the banner “2024 Codes go into effect February 2, 2026.”

Pasadena uses the Uniform Plumbing Code, not the International Plumbing Code. That holds for houses too. The city adopts the 2024 International Residential Code in Sec. 9-62, then deletes its chapters 12 through 41, which include the plumbing chapters, and replaces them with: “All construction, modifications or installations must comply with Chapters 9, 12, 16, 16½ and 29 with approved amendments from the City of Pasadena Code of Ordinances.” Chapter 29 is the plumbing code.

One city document is out of date on this. The Residential Permit Submittal Information sheet, created in 2021, still says plumbing “Must comply with the 2015 Edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code”. The code and the city’s banner both say 2024.

Pasadena’s own amendments, in Article VII of Chapter 29, add local rules on drains, water heaters, backflow, grease traps and gas.

What Pasadena does not publish about plumbing permits

The water heater invoice amount. The code prices the line at $15.00 plus $10.00 and sets a $50.00 floor with an exception it does not define. Call 713-475-5575.

Whether a homeowner can pull a gas water heater permit. Homesteaded owners may pull plumbing permits, but gas piping is reserved for registered contractors, and the code does not say whether a gas water heater swap counts.

How a homeowner proves homestead status or schedules an inspection. The plumbing section says “homesteaded” and nothing more, and the inspection form wants a contractor ID.

A dated plumbing application. The form the city links today was created in 2009. Its water heater and application fee lines match the current code.

Permit expiration and refunds. We found no plumbing permit expiration, renewal or refund term in Sec. 9-60 or Chapter 29. The adopted 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code has its own administrative chapter. We did not read the UPC text.

Anything passed in 2026. The city’s codification service lists ten 2026 ordinances not yet folded into the code. We could not read their subjects.

What the online portal asks or charges. We did not open it.

Ordinance No. 2006-322. Code Sec. 29-51 says plumbing fees are “as per adopted Ordinance Number 2006-322 and previous adopted not modified fees.” We did not read it. Our figures come from the newer fee table in Sec. 9-60.

Sources, and when we read them

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 Pasadena, Texas, Code of Ordinances, Sec. 9-60 (3) Building permit department fees, including d. Plumbing fees	Municode Supplement 33, Update 1, codified through Ordinance No. 2025-235, enacted November 18, 2025; Sec. 9-60 cited to Ord. No. 25-198, § 2(Exh. A), 10-21-25	2026-10-16 (section text pulled raw from api.municode.com CodesContent, job 485901, product 10137; the general minimum, application fee, reinspection, failure to obtain permit, plumbing fee table, holds and penalties, overtime and emergency inspection clauses read in full)
City of Pasadena, Texas, Code of Ordinances, Chapter 29 PLUMBING CODE	Municode Supplement 33, Update 1; Sec. 29-3 and Sec. 29-4 cited to Ord. No. 25-197, § 1(Exh. A), 10-21-25; Sec. 29-41, 29-51, 29-83, 29-86, 29-91 and 29-92 cited to Ord. No. 17-009, 1-17-17	2026-10-16 (whole chapter pulled raw from the Municode API and read in full, Sec. 29-1 to Sec. 29-101)
City of Pasadena, Texas, Code of Ordinances, Sec. 9-62 and Sec. 9-63, 2024 International Residential Code adopted and amended	Municode Supplement 33, Update 1; both sections cited to Ord. No. 25-198, § 2(Exh. A), 10-21-25	2026-10-16 (read in full for the R105.2 amendment and the deletion of IRC chapters 12 through 41)
City of Pasadena, Texas, Charter, Article I, Section 1, Incorporation	Municode Supplement 33, Update 1	2026-10-16 (read for the county named in the charter)
City of Pasadena, Texas, Code of Ordinances, OrdBank listing for 2026	listing as served 2026-10-16; Ordinance Nos. 2025-249 to 2025-252 and ten 2026 ordinances, the latest No. 2026-143, shown as not yet codified	2026-10-16 (ordinance numbers read from the Municode OrdinancesToc API; no ordinance text could be read)
City of Pasadena, Permits and Licenses	undated city web page; carries the banner ‘2024 Codes go into effect February 2, 2026.’	2026-10-16 (read as raw HTML with curl and a desktop Chrome user agent, HTTP 200; hours, address, phone, email, portal link and inspection link transcribed)
City of Pasadena, Fee Schedule	undated city web page; no ordinance number or effective date printed; its text follows Code Sec. 9-60 (3)	2026-10-16 (read as raw HTML, HTTP 200; every plumbing line and the general conditions transcribed)
City of Pasadena, SB 1202 (effective September 1, 2025)	undated city web page; refers to SB 1202 effective September 1, 2025	2026-10-16 (read as raw HTML, HTTP 200; read for its plumbing fee lines and its links to the current plumbing application and credit card form)
City of Pasadena, Application Permit for Plumbing Installation (DocumentCenter/View/976)	no date printed on the form; PDF created 19 May 2009 and modified 4 June 2009 (pdfinfo)	2026-10-16 (read as raw PDF text with pdftotext -layout, both sides)
City of Pasadena, Residential Permit Submittal Information (DocumentCenter/View/5895)	no date printed; PDF created 19 November 2021 (pdfinfo); cites the 2015 code editions	2026-10-16 (read as raw PDF text, both pages)
City of Pasadena, Plumbing Contractor Checklist for Registration/Renewal (DocumentCenter/View/5891)	no date printed; PDF created 22 November 2021 (pdfinfo)	2026-10-16 (read as raw PDF text)
City of Pasadena, Insurance Requirements for Contractor Registration (DocumentCenter/View/5887)	no date printed; PDF created 19 November 2021 (pdfinfo)	2026-10-16 (read as raw PDF text)
City of Pasadena, Gas Turn On (GTO) Procedures (DocumentCenter/View/5885)	no date printed; PDF created 25 February 2026 (pdfinfo); cites the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code	2026-10-16 (read as raw PDF text)
City of Pasadena, Basic Required Inspection Process for Single Family Residential Construction (DocumentCenter/View/5897)	no date printed; PDF created 19 November 2021 (pdfinfo)	2026-10-16 (read as raw PDF text)
City of Pasadena, Policies and Procedures for Escrow Accounts (DocumentCenter/View/5892)	no date printed; PDF created 19 November 2021 (pdfinfo)	2026-10-16 (read as raw PDF text)
City of Pasadena, Credit Card Authorization Form (DocumentCenter/View/10432)	no date printed; PDF created 27 August 2025 (pdfinfo)	2026-10-16 (read as raw PDF text)
City of Pasadena, Permit Inspection Request (Google Form linked as ‘Schedule Inspection Here’ from the Permits and Licenses page)	undated form as served 2026-10-16	2026-10-16 (read as raw HTML, HTTP 200; required fields and plumbing inspection types transcribed; nothing submitted)
Texas Occupations Code ch. 1301, §1301.051 Plumbing by Property Owner in Homestead	current online codification; added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1421, Sec. 3, eff. June 1, 2003	2026-10-16 (read as raw HTML, HTTP 200)
Texas Occupations Code ch. 1301, §1301.551 Municipal Plumbing Ordinances and Permits	current online codification; last amended by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 981 (H.B. 2062), Sec. 7, eff. September 1, 2013	2026-10-16 (subsections (a) through (j) read as raw HTML)
Texas Occupations Code ch. 1301, §1301.552 Certificate of Insurance for Plumbing Permit in Political Subdivision	current online codification; last amended by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 526 (H.B. 2376), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2011	2026-10-16 (read as raw HTML)