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Public Health updates for Plumbing & Gas Piping





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Protecting Public Health Plumbing and Gas Piping Newsletter




January 2025






Staffing Announcement

Nate Isaacson
Nate Isaacson, Plumbing Plans Examiner

"I’m Nate Isaacson, the new Plumbing Plans Examiner for PHSKC. I’ve lived in the south Puget Sound area my whole life and have chosen to keep my family here for the long run. I have a lot of love for Seattle and Washington as a whole. Most of my people are here and there is so much outdoor fun to be had here! I love to kayak, hike, swim (polar plunge), off-road, BBQ and whatever else get’s me and my family outside playing. I’ve been in plumbing since 2011 on many commercial jobs, majors and TI’s including several med-gas installs. I’ve gotten to know a lot of great people in this seemingly small plumbing community. I’ve been a Plumbing Inspector for 2 years now and look forward to serving this plumbing community as a Plans Examiner. I am a people person and very approachable so feel free to reach out with questions or just to chat."   



General Announcements

*2024 Year-End Totals *

During 2024, the Plumbing & Gas Program: 


* Performed *30,341 inspections *(up from 29,900 in 2023)
* Approved *283 plans *(up from 220 in 2023)
fireworks

*Impact of Plumbing & Gas Fee Changes on Existing Projects*

As was previously announced, rates associated with the King County Public Health's Plumbing and Gas Program, including permit fees, plan review fees, administrative fees, etc. were adjusted at the beginning of 2025. There have been some questions surrounding how this will impact existing projects currently under review or construction.

*Plan review fees:* Projects subject to plan review will continue to be billed at the rate in effect at the time the original intake fee was paid for the life of the project. If an initial project intake fee was paid prior to January 1, 2025, all drawing resubmittals and revisions for that project that are subject to additional plan review fees will be billed at the 2024 plan review rates ($201/hr). If the initial intake fee was paid on or after January 1, 2025, then the 2025 rates will apply to all plan review related billing.

*Permit fees*: All permit related fees such as change of contractor, change of address, change of fixture count, reinspection fees, renewal fees, etc. will be billed based on the rate in effect at the time the fee is assessed. At this point, any permit related fee will be assessed at the 2025 rates.

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Plan Review Updates

*Espresso Makers in Office Environments*

Many have asked what the jurisdictional requirements are for espresso makers in office tenant spaces. The primary concerns are regarding 1) backflow preventer requirements and 2) grease interception.

*Backflow preventers *

As of right now, our jurisdiction does not require any type of backflow preventer for espresso machines regardless of size or type. This may change in the future as newer regulations surrounding the use of backflow preventers for various appliances are beginning to take shape in newer versions of the model plumbing codes.

*Grease interceptors*

When it comes to grease interceptors, we have not required them to serve espresso or coffee bar areas in office spaces. We do require grease interceptors to be installed to serve fixtures in actual coffee shops that serve coffee drinks to the public. Somewhere in that spectrum is a line at which an espresso bar in an office space may be large enough to justify the installation of a grease interceptor because it approaches the type and frequency of use that one would find in a traditional coffee shop.

In coordination with Seattle Public Utilities’ Fats, Oils and Grease (F.O.G.) program, we have drawn that line at self-service versus staffed. If an office espresso bar and the equipment therein is intended to be used directly by employees (self-serve), then a grease interceptor will not be required. If however an office espresso bar is staffed either full time or part time by a barista (either complimentary or with direct sales), then a grease interceptor will be required to serve any related espresso drains or dump sinks associated with the coffee area.

In either case, if the facility is found to be in violation of the F.O.G. discharge requirements listed within the Seattle Municipal Code, then the facility may be issued a Notice of Violation and be required to reconfigure the existing plumbing system in such a way as to reduce the amount of F.O.G. discharge to acceptable levels.

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Inspection Updates

*Change to King County Code Allows for Consultation without a Permit*

As part of the fee update that went into effect on January 1st 2025, language was added to King County Code (KCC) that creates a pathway for interested parties to request consultation with Plumbing & Gas Program staff without an open or valid permit. The code now includes a provision allowing inspection services to be requested and paid for on an as-needed basis (Section 2, Part B of KCC 16.32.095). The cost of this service is equal to the hourly operating rate multiplied by the number of hours needed to accommodate the request. These requests are most commonly made for pre-inspection site visits and similar activities. For practical purposes, minimum billing for this service will be (1) hour.

Please note that Plumbing & Gas program staff will not assist with the design of a plumbing system or be involved in troubleshooting an existing system or brainstorming ideas for how to work with certain site conditions. Our staff will only serve in the capacity of noting compliance requirements associated with written code or jurisdictional policy. Travel time, including logistics and coordination between staff, is considered billable activity for the purposes of assessing fees for this service. Because an open permit is not required to make such a request, and a permit number not necessarily available, a billing contact will need to be provided to a senior staff member at the time the request is made.

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Featured Article: Application Process for Re-pipe Projects

"By Dave Price, Assistant Chief Plumbing Inspector, Public Health - Seattle & King County"

Re-pipe projects are different than normal plumbing projects in a number of ways. In a normal plumbing project, there are generally plumbing fixtures being removed, installed, or relocated. Our codified Fee Schedule includes a per-fixture fee that is intended to roughly account for the time it takes to process the permit and conduct the associated field inspections. In a re-pipe, there are often no fixtures involved, only piping. We do request permit applicants to add a line item to their permit stating ‘re-pipe – domestic hot’ or similar, but this only applies a single per-fixture fee which does not account for the number of inspections that might need to take place during the re-pipe project.

To address this discrepancy, we have developed a re-pipe policy [ https://kingcounty.gov/-/media/63d99ac30bb94b778fe32487a453deb7.ashx ] and a unique fee structure for re-pipe projects subject to plan review. This is outlined in the updated Fee Schedule that was published as part of KCC 16.32.080.

*Non-plan reviewed projects*

Non-plan reviewed projects may continue to use standard permit application inputs and enter a single line item for each type of plumbing system being replaced (domestic hot water, domestic cold water, sanitary waste & vent, roof drainage, etc.). For these smaller projects, the number of inspections required does not usually exceed what would be considered a normal amount of inspections for a few fixtures.

*Projects subject to plan review *

For projects subject to plan review, the process is a little different. In these projects, there may be a large network of plumbing being replaced, and if within an occupied building, inspections are often called at a frequency that far exceeds that of a normal plumbing project. To fulfill our ‘fee for service’ mandate and recoup the cost associated with conducting these extra inspections, we have developed a supplemental fee worksheet referred to internally as the R20 document [ https://kingcounty.gov/-/media/7bc1c6d2a90b4724ae40572c61ebceda.ashx ]. You may be familiar with the nomenclature as it is used for multiple guidance documents our program provides for public reference.

*R20 document *

The R20 document is intended to initially be completed by the permit applicant during the plan review process and includes spaces for project information, contractor information, permit number, and importantly, the anticipated number of inspections. This partially completed document is then submitted to a senior staff member (through the plan reviewer) who will review the scope of the project and the number of anticipated inspections listed by the applicant. If the number of inspections listed is in line with the number of inspections needed for similar prior projects, then program staff will complete their portion of the document along with an estimate of the total permit fee and provide an unsigned copy to the applicant prior to generating an invoice. If the number of anticipated inspections appears to be lacking, a senior staff member will work with the applicant to determine an appropriate inspection estimate based on prior experience and project conditions.

Because of existing software limitations, the plan review must be complete, the plan review fee paid in full, and the permit generated and paid for by the plumbing contractor listed on the permit before the final re-pipe invoice can be generated and presented to the applicant or contractor. After the supplemental re-pipe fee invoice has been paid, a signed copy of the R20 worksheet noting the date the fee was paid will be provided to the applicant and attached to the permit record in our permitting database. At that time, inspections may be called. Inspections will not be conducted until the signed R20 worksheet has been attached to the permit record.

If the number of anticipated inspections is overestimated during this process, no refund will be provided for any inspections listed on the R20 worksheet that were not conducted. However, if the number of anticipated inspections was underestimated, additional inspections needed to close out the permit will be billed separately at the hourly operating rate with payment due prior to receiving final.

*Resources for more information*

This process and its nuances might sound confusing at first, but we have created a handy reference guide [ https://kingcounty.gov/-/media/a2adf445131c4aceb49cb99c7371107d.ashx ] for permit applicants that should help guide you through the it. As always, if you have any outstanding questions about this or other plumbing & gas policies or procedures, please send an email to: planreviewinfo@kingcounty.gov.

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