Campbell Water Heater Replacement, From MGO Filing to Final

Permits and local rules

The Campbell pages a plumber works from

Residential Water Heater Replacement Application Checklist
The Building Inspection Division's checklist covers residential replacements only and limits the permit to C-36 plumbing contractors or owner-builders. Applications go in electronically through MyGovernmentOnline after the applicant creates an account, and a public kiosk at the Community Development Department serves anyone who needs an accommodation. Its inspection points run from the garage platform and seismic bracing to the vent, the exterior relief valve drain, the ban on sleeping rooms and manufacturer instructions for electric units.
Source: City of Campbell Building Inspection Division (campbellca.gov)
General Trade Permits (MEP) Application Guide
The guide sets the details an inspector holds a replacement to, from strap positions to a base 3 inches above grade outdoors, and it requires an approved expansion tank on any water system with a check valve, backflow preventer, pressure regulator or other normally closed device. It also has the contractor keep a current City of Campbell business license for the length of the job, and it lets an application or an issued permit expire, without a refund, if the permit is not secured or an inspection passed within 180 days.
Source: City of Campbell Building Inspection Division (ci.campbell.ca.us)
Municipal Code Chapter 6.13, Air Quality
Ordinance No. 2316 removed electrification requirements from Campbell's building code chapter and placed its appliance limits in a new air quality chapter instead. The NOx limit applies only to newly constructed structures, including new ones reusing parts of an existing building, and it exempts outdoor appliances running on a gas tank of 5 gallons or less and emergency equipment. Limited exemptions are decided by the Building Official on the city's form, using criteria such as a ten-year life-cycle cost at least 50 percent higher for the compliant appliance.
Source: City of Campbell (campbellca.gov)
Air District Rule 9-6
Campbell lies inside the Bay Area Air District, whose water heater standard works at the point of purchase. As adopted, small heaters manufactured after January 1, 2027 must emit zero NOx, a working heater may stay until it fails, and a home sale does not trigger anything. The district says the rule covers natural gas equipment, not propane. On November 4, 2026 its Board considers amendments that would add exemptions and move the small water heater date to January 1, 2028.
Source: Bay Area Air District (baaqmd.gov)

State license for this work: C-36 Plumbing, C-20 Warm-Air Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning, C-10 Electrical. Look up a contractor's license on the CSLB website (cslb.ca.gov).

The work

Where Campbell's requirements change from one install to the next

Gas for gas in the garage
Most replacements go in where the old tank stood, and Campbell treats that as a routine permit filed online with a limited number of inspections. Its checklist names what usually decides the inspection: a gas vent in place and in good working condition, seismic bracing, and a relief valve piped to the exterior. The trade-permit guide puts the two sheet metal straps within the upper and lower thirds of the tank, at least 4 inches clear of the controls and inspection panels, fastened so they cannot loosen or work free.
A heater that stands outdoors
Where a heater sits on the ground outside, along a side yard or behind the house, Campbell's guide wants it on level concrete or another structural base 3 inches above the adjacent ground, strapped like any other. The vent, the relief valve drain and the gas connection go through the same inspection. Putting a heater where none stood before is a different case: the guide lists new water heaters, as opposed to replacements, among the jobs that need plans.
Gas tank out, heat pump in
Campbell does not require the switch in an existing house, and its Electrify Your Home page points owners to Silicon Valley Clean Energy's free Go Electric Advisor for help with equipment, contractors and incentives. The work still needs a permit, and the city's checklist has electric water heaters installed according to the manufacturer's listed instructions. If the switch calls for a bigger electrical service, the guide asks for a load calculation when the existing panel is 125 amps or less, and the service upgrade is C-10 Electrical work.
Rebuilding after a fire, or from the ground up
Chapter 6.13 of the Municipal Code, added by Ordinance No. 2316 in 2024, limits water heaters, boilers, furnaces, stoves and dryers to zero nanograms of NOx per joule in newly built houses and in new structures that reuse parts of an old one. A house damaged by fire or another involuntary event can keep NOx-emitting appliances if restoring it costs no more than 75 percent of a comparable new building and permits are filed within twelve months. Wherever an exemption is granted, the city still requires electric service at the appliance location.

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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.

Two wall-mounted tankless water heaters plumbed with copper supply lines. Photo: Behrat, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The houses here

A town that doubled in the 1960s, and where its heaters sit

Campbell's population roughly doubled during the 1960s, from 11,863 to 23,797, so a large share of its houses come from that decade, alongside 1920s bungalows near downtown and a mix of condominiums, duplexes and apartments. The city writes its water heater rules around the places a heater ends up in those homes. A gas unit in a garage stands on a platform that keeps the flame 18 inches off the floor. One that sits outside rests on level concrete or another structural base 3 inches above the surrounding ground. No water heater may go in a sleeping room. Wherever it stands, a free-standing heater is braced against earthquakes, and its temperature and pressure relief valve drains to the outside of the building.

Questions

What Campbell owners ask when the water heater gives out

Does Campbell make us switch to an electric water heater when the gas one fails?

Not by city rule. Campbell's Electrify Your Home page says the city does not regulate existing buildings; the zero-NOx limit in Chapter 6.13 applies to new construction and rebuilds. The Air District's rule is the one that reaches existing houses, and only through which new heaters may be sold and installed after its compliance date, a date its Board may move to 2028 at the November 4, 2026 hearing.

Our Campbell house was damaged in a fire. Can the rebuilt home keep a gas water heater?

Possibly. Chapter 6.13 lets a structure damaged involuntarily keep NOx-emitting appliances when restoring it costs no more than 75 percent of a comparable new building, as the Building Official determines, and permits for the reconstruction are filed within twelve months. Otherwise a rebuild that counts as a new structure needs zero-NOx appliances, unless another limited exemption is approved, and any exemption still brings electric service to the appliance.

Can a water heater go in a bedroom closet in Campbell?

Not in the bedroom itself: the city's checklist says water heaters are not permitted in sleeping rooms. A closet that opens off a bedroom or bathroom can hold a fuel-burning unit only if the unit is direct vent, or if the closet serves the heater alone, has a listed gasketed door with a listed self-closing device and takes all its combustion air from outdoors.

Can a homeowner replace their own water heater in Campbell?

Yes, as an owner-builder. Campbell limits water heater permits to C-36 plumbing contractors and owner-builders, and an owner files the same MyGovernmentOnline application and passes the same inspections. The applicant and the property owner both sign the guide's acknowledgement, which includes keeping the work within the city's construction time and noise limits and its air quality and stormwater rules.

Who supplies the electricity a heat pump water heater would use in Campbell?

Silicon Valley Clean Energy, the city's official electricity provider, a community-owned agency governed by thirteen Santa Clara County communities, Campbell among them. PG&E still delivers the power, maintains the lines and sends the bill, with SVCE's generation charges in place of its own. SVCE's FutureFit Home Rebates and Go Electric Advisor are the programs the city points residents to.

Before you hire

What to confirm with whoever files the Campbell permit

Will you file the MyGovernmentOnline application under your own C-36 license, which we can look up at cslb.ca.gov, and is your Campbell business license current?
Is the existing vent sound enough to pass inspection, or does the quote include replacing it?
Where outside the house will the relief valve drain end, and does the current one already run there?
If the heater sits outdoors, will it stand on a level concrete base 3 inches above the ground?
For a heat pump, has the SVCE rebate been reserved, and will a panel of 125 amps or less need a load calculation?

Keep exploring

More on water heater work and Campbell

Water heaters in other cities

Other trades in Campbell

Guides and smaller jobs

Where this page belongs

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.

campbellca.gov: Water Heater Checklist document (campbellca.gov)
ci.campbell.ca.us: General Trade Permits MEP Application Guide (ci.campbell.ca.us)
campbellca.gov: ORDINANCE NO 2316 ZERO NOX STANDARDS (campbellca.gov)
campbellca.gov: Electrify Your Home (campbellca.gov)
campbellca.gov: Silicon Valley Clean Energy (campbellca.gov)
baaqmd.gov: building appliances (baaqmd.gov)
baaqmd.gov: 20261002 staff report rule 9 6 pdf (baaqmd.gov)
svcleanenergy.org: home rebates
cslb.ca.gov: Licensing Classifications Detail (cslb.ca.gov)
en.wikipedia.org: Campbell, California

Swapping a water heater in Campbell: garage, closet or side yard

The Campbell pages a plumber works from

Residential Water Heater Replacement Application Checklist

General Trade Permits (MEP) Application Guide

Municipal Code Chapter 6.13, Air Quality

Air District Rule 9-6