Do you need a plumbing permit in Tennessee?
By Mario Bailey Last checked
- Always required
- 2
- of 3 jurisdictions
- Conditional
- 1
- depends on size or scope
- Not required
- 0
- exempt outright
Plumbing Permit rules nationwide, beyond Tennessee.
Requirements and size thresholds for plumbing permits vary by locality. The table below compares what each Tennessee county or city requires. Always confirm with the local office before starting.
Comparing states? See plumbing permit rules across every locality we cover.
The application steps and inspection sequence for plumbing permits come from the model code rather than from Tennessee law, so they read the same wherever you build. We keep that walkthrough in one place: how a plumbing permit application and its inspections work, start to finish. What changes between Tennessee jurisdictions is below: who requires a permit, what they charge, and which office you file with.
Swipe sideways to see thresholds and confidence.
| Locality | Permit required? | Typical threshold | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | Conditional | whether the work only stops a leak or clears a stoppage without replacing, rearranging or removing pipe, valve or fixture components | Confirmed on official page |
| Nashville | Yes | Not specified | Confirmed on official page |
| Williamson County | Yes | Not specified | From an official source |
| No localities match your filter. | |||
What a plumbing permit costs in Tennessee
3 Tennessee jurisdictions we cover publish a fee figure for this work. Each line is quoted from that office's own schedule and linked to its citation. The figures are not comparable to one another: some are flat minimums, some a percentage of job value, some charged per fixture, so what you pay depends on which schedule applies and on your job's valuation.
Permit issuance $20.00, plus $4.00 for issuing each permit (data processing) and a $1.00 residential surcharge, then unit fees of $7.50 for each plumbing fixture or trap or set of fixtures on one trap including water and drainage piping, $7.50 for each electric water heater, $30.00 for a residential sewer connection and $30.00 for a residential sewer repair or replacement, $20.00 for a 1 inch water service and $30.00 for 1-1/4 inch through 2 inch, per the 2022 Fee Schedule, Plumbing Permit and Inspection Fees Schedule.
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Flat minimum of $75 per permit plus $11 per plumbing fixture, per Metro Code 16.12.220 in the Codes fee schedule (Dec 2025)
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Plumbing Permit Fee Schedule: $10.00 for issuing each permit, plus $5.00 for water and $5.00 for sewer; $2.50 for each additional plumbing fixture, floor drain, or trap; $2.50 for each water heater or vent (Schedule of Building Permit Fees).
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Jurisdictions not listed publish no dollar figure we could quote. Absence does not mean a permit is free.
Common questions about plumbing permits in Tennessee
- Do I need a plumbing permit in Tennessee?
- In most of Tennessee, yes. Permits are issued locally, so the answer comes from your Tennessee city or county rather than a single statewide rule. Of the 3 Tennessee jurisdictions we have verified for plumbing work, 2 require a permit outright, 1 depends on the size or scope of the job, and 0 require none.
- Is there a plumbing permit exemption in Tennessee?
- 1 of the 3 Tennessee jurisdictions we cover sets a threshold rather than a flat rule, so the same job can be exempt in one Tennessee county and permitted in the next. The table above lists each Tennessee jurisdiction's published threshold in its own words, with the source and the date we verified it.
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