Copper pipe fittings: elbows, a tee, reducers and couplings
Copper pipe fittings: elbows, a tee, reducers and couplings. Photo: Torsten Bätge, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Plumbing Concord

Where the city's pipe ends and yours begins: plumbing in Concord

In Concord, the plumbing detail that decides who pays for a sewer backup is a cleanout at the curb. In its own sewer system, the city maintains the lower lateral, from its main to a separately installed curbside cleanout it has approved and accepted; the rest of the line, and any lateral without such a cleanout, is the owner's. In most of town the city's Building Division also permits and inspects exterior sewer work; Central San does so in its pockets inside city limits.

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  • Rules on this page checked against 15 public sources, October 2026
City-kept lateral
Main to an approved curbside cleanout; the rest is the owner's
Exterior sewer permits
City of Concord in most of town; Central San in its pockets
Water supplier
Contra Costa Water District, chloraminated since the early 1980s
Gas shutoff rule
CMC Chapter 15.95: new buildings and large remodels

The work

Plumbing calls that come with a Concord rule attached

  • Swapping a gas water heater

    Concord's permit bulletin IB-022 lists a water heater as permit work whether it is new or a replacement. A newer bulletin, IB-037, sets out the two routes for going electric. If the existing circuits can carry the new heater, no plans or calculations are needed and an auto-issued permit may be used. If a new circuit or a service upgrade is needed, the application must include plans showing the unit and its location, an electrical load calculation and product specifications, and auto-issued permits are not allowed.

  • Fixture swaps that need no permit

    The same bulletin draws a useful line for small jobs. Replacing a sink, toilet, lavatory, tub, shower or laundry tray needs a permit only if the fixture moves. A replacement dishwasher or water softener needs one only if there is no existing air gap, and a garbage disposal only if the plumbing changes. New water piping, extensions, gas piping and sewer lines need a permit every time, including replacements.

  • Backflow assemblies for wells and canal water

    CCWD requires a backflow prevention device where a home has a second water supply, such as a well or the canal, and owners are asked to tell the district when they dig a well or add a fire sprinkler system. CCWD supplies and installs the device, the customer pays, and district inspectors test it every year. New or replacement residential devices go above ground, and the district notes a double check valve lowers pressure by roughly 6 to 9 psi.

  • Rusty hot water from part of the house

    CCWD's troubleshooting guide explains that hot water running brown or orange for a minute or two usually means galvanized iron pipe whose zinc lining has worn thin, worst first thing in the morning. If only a few taps do it, only part of the house is still galvanized. Replacing those runs is new water piping under Concord's permit list, so the job is inspected before walls close.

  • Adding a cleanout at the curb

    In the city's sewer service area, Concord takes on the lower lateral only once a separately installed curbside cleanout has been approved and accepted, so a lateral repair is the natural time to add one. Ask the plumber to build it to the standards the city's Building Division inspects against, and to confirm the city's acceptance in writing, so the street end of the pipe is no longer yours to clear.

The street clock at Todos Santos Plaza in downtown Concord
The street clock at Todos Santos Plaza in downtown Concord. Photo: Geraoma, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The houses here

Clay mains outside, mixed pipe and chloramine inside

Concord's sewer management plan describes a city system that is about half six-inch pipe, most of that vitrified clay with cement mortar joints. When a backup is reported, city crews first work out whether the overflow came from the public main or from a private lateral, and that answer decides whose plumber digs. Inside the house, the water itself leaves clues. The Contra Costa Water District, which treats water at its Bollman plant in Concord, has used chloramines as its disinfectant since the early 1980s and warns that they break down certain rubber hoses and gaskets, such as those on washing machines and water heaters, shedding black or greasy particles. A plumber chasing specks at a faucet should look at those parts before the pipes.

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Free to request, and you agree the scope and price with the person you hire before work starts. In California, a job over $1,000 in labor and materials, or one that needs a building permit, must be done by a contractor licensed by the CSLB in the right class. Ask for the license number and check it at cslb.ca.gov.

Permits and local rules

Concord ordinances and bulletins behind the bid

  • Who maintains which part of the lateral

    The city's Sewer System Management Plan states that Concord will maintain lower laterals from the city main to a separately installed curbside cleanout that the city has approved and accepted, and that city staff then maintain that portion. The entire upper lateral, and any lateral without an approved cleanout, remains the responsibility of the private property owner. The plan cites Concord Municipal Code Section 13.05.100 and a Public Works department order as the authority defining lateral ownership.

    City of Concord, Sewer System Management Plan (opens in a new tab)

  • City or Central San: which one permits your sewer

    Most properties inside Concord's limits are in the city's sewer service area, where Concord's Building Division plan checks, permits and inspects exterior laterals from buildings, and Central San does not. In Central San's pockets within the city, Central San reviews the sewer work, issues its own permit and inspects it, and the city does not. Both follow Central San's Standard Specifications. The city also permits and inspects sewers in Clayton, and its Current Development Engineering Division can say which side an address is on.

    City of Concord Building Division (opens in a new tab)

  • Gas shutoff devices, CMC Chapter 15.95

    Concord requires an approved seismic, motion-sensitive gas shutoff or an approved excess-flow shutoff downstream of the meter on each fuel gas line serving a new building, or an existing building that is substantially altered or added to under a permit. The ordinance leaves "substantially" to the Building Official, whose bulletin IB-028 defines it by a construction valuation threshold. Re-roofing and solar systems are not counted toward that valuation.

    City of Concord, Information Bulletin IB-028 (opens in a new tab)

  • Time-of-sale weatherization disclosure, CMC 13.20.030

    A seller of a one- to four-unit residential building must tell prospective buyers whether seven energy-saving measures are in place. Two are plumbing: an insulation blanket on the water heater tank, and flow restrictors or low-flow heads on every accessible shower. The buyer then sends a signed acknowledgement to the city's Energy Coordinator, in care of the Chief Building Official, within 14 days after close of escrow.

    City of Concord Building Division (opens in a new tab)

State license for this work: C-36 Plumbing, C-42 Sanitation System. Look up a contractor's license on the CSLB website (opens in a new tab).

Timing

Tank water heaters and the zero-NOx date

Concord's bulletin IB-037, in effect since August 5, 2026, gives January 1, 2027 as the Air District's zero-NOx date for water heaters under 75,000 BTU per hour, the size of a typical home tank. That date may move: an October 2026 Air District staff proposal would push it to January 1, 2028 and add exemptions, and the Board's public hearing is set for November 4, 2026. The rules do not force out a working heater. They apply when a unit is newly installed or replaced, and the bulletin links the city's residential load calculator for owners checking whether an electric unit fits the existing service.

Before you hire

Questions for a Concord plumber before work starts

  • Is the address in the city's sewer service area or a Central San pocket, and whose permit does the quote include?
  • If the lateral has no curbside cleanout, will you add one the city can approve and accept?
  • For a heat pump water heater, do the existing circuits suffice, or will the permit need plans and a load calculation?
  • On a large remodel, does the scope trigger the Chapter 15.95 gas shutoff device, and which type will you fit?
  • Is the C-36 Plumbing license on cslb.ca.gov in the same business name as the contract?

Questions

Concord plumbing questions, from the curb to the tap

Will the City of Concord clear my sewer lateral under the sidewalk?

Only the stretch from its main to a separately installed curbside cleanout that the city has approved and accepted. Above that cleanout the line is yours, and if the lateral has no approved cleanout, the whole pipe to the main is yours. When an overflow is reported, city crews determine whether it came from the public main or a private lateral. In a Central San pocket, ask Central San instead.

Do I need a permit to replace a toilet or kitchen faucet in Concord?

Not if it stays where it is. Concord's bulletin IB-022 requires a permit for replacing a toilet, sink, lavatory, tub or shower only when the fixture is moved. A water heater, water piping, gas piping and sewer line need a permit even as like-for-like replacements, and a replacement dishwasher or softener needs one only where there is no existing air gap.

What are the black specks coming out of my washer hose or water heater?

Often degraded rubber. The Contra Costa Water District has disinfected with chloramines since the early 1980s and says they react with certain rubber hoses and gaskets, such as those on washing machines and water heaters, which then shed black or greasy particles. Replacement parts are common at plumbing supply stores, and a plumber can swap them.

Could my Concord house have a lead water service line?

CCWD says no. Its 2024 inventory of the customer-owned side found no lead or galvanized-requiring-replacement service lines, after physically checking 1,699 lines and prioritizing homes built in the 1940s. The district owns the pipe from the main to the meter; from the meter to the house it is yours.

We're selling. What does Concord's weatherization form ask about plumbing?

Two of its seven questions are plumbing ones: whether the water heater tank has an insulation blanket, and whether every accessible shower has a flow restrictor or a low-flow head. The seller fills in the form for buyers under CMC 13.20.030, and the buyer returns a signed acknowledgement to the city within 14 days after close of escrow.

Where these facts come from

Checked against these public sources in October 2026. Rules and programs change: confirm permit requirements with the city before work starts, and a contractor's license on the CSLB website.

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