OCEAN CITY — Ocean City officials this week clarified residents and homeowners should be able to replace a toilet or repair a dripping sink without a master plumber’s license and without pulling a permit from the town during a larger debate about proposed amendments to the city’s code.
During a larger debate about the formula for calculating occupancy standards for seasonal housing on Tuesday, Planning and Community Development Director Bill Neville and Building Code Official Kevin Brown brought to the council’s attention an outdated section of the code that could need amending. The existing code requires all plumbing and gas fitting services in the resort to be completed by a licensed professional and in many cases, only after pulling the requisite permit from the city.
Naturally, all projects involving gas lines and fittings should be handled by a licensed professional and would need a permit from the city. Similarly, any plumbing project that required moving lines and pipes that connect into the city water and sewer system should also require a licensed professional and the requisite permit, but what about the simple replacement of a toilet or bathroom fixture? Neville said the current code as written requires the simplest home improvement job be completed by a professional after pulling the appropriate license and sought guidance from the council on a proposed amendment that would relax the rules somewhat.
“The current code says only an approved master plumber can complete a plumbing job,” he said. “Can someone go in and replace a toilet on their own, or do they need a plumbing permit? That’s what we’re trying to address with this code amendment.”
Councilman Wayne Hartman said the current plumbing code might go too far in terms of the master plumber and permit requirements for even the simplest jobs.
“I have a problem with needing a permit to replace an old pink toilet with a new white one,” he said. “It sounds like we’re discouraging people from keeping up their property. We need to follow the plumbing code, but we also need to keep this simple. Simplify the process and encourage people to maintain better care of their units.”
Council President Lloyd Martin agreed and pointed to other examples, such as removing a sink to replace a countertop and putting the same sink back in the same position without moving other pieces of equipment or fixtures around. Another example is replacing a toilet or kitchen sink fixture, essentially simple home improvement projects that can and probably should be allowed without going to City Hall and pulling a plumbing permit.
For his part, Brown supported relaxing the permit process for some simple home improvement plumbing jobs, but voiced concern about easing the master plumber requirement, particularly on larger projects.
“I’m okay with no permit in many cases, but I still believe it should be done by a master plumber,” he said. “We see situations where someone replaces a fixture and it leaks down to the units below. Mr. Homeowner might not know how to do it properly.”
Councilman Dennis Dare agreed to some degree, pointing out a simple botched plumbing job in a condo building, for example, could leak down and damage dozens of units on the floors below. All agreed any project involving gas fitting and lines should be handled by a licensed professional after pulling the requisite permits. After considerable debate, the council passed a motion to allow property owners or licensed plumbers to replace plumbing fixtures in the same place without a permit as long as the project did not involve any major changes to the drains or pipe systems.