Water heaters Fremont

Keeping Fremont's hot water running on Hayward Fault ground

Fremont issues an express Residential Plumbing permit online for a water heater replaced in the same spot, whether the new unit is a tank, a tankless heater or a heat pump. The Hayward Fault branches off the Calaveras in Warm Springs and runs north through town, so every tank has to stay strapped. The open question is fuel: on November 4, 2026 the Air District votes on moving its zero-NOx date for small gas heaters to 2028.

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  • Rules on this page checked against 13 public sources, October 2026
Mission Peak above Lake Elizabeth in Fremont
Mission Peak above Lake Elizabeth in Fremont. Photo: Oleg Alexandrov, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Permit for a swap
Express Residential Plumbing, issued automatically in Citizen Access
Electricity
Ava Community Energy; Renewable 100 default for homes since August 2025
Water supplier
ACWD: groundwater, desalinated, San Francisco and Delta supplies
Fault line
Hayward Fault branches off the Calaveras in Warm Springs

Permits and local rules

The rules a Fremont water heater quote has to work around

  1. Express permits in Citizen Access

    Fremont's permit types page describes express permits as issued automatically through Citizen Access and limited to small scopes. The Residential Plumbing record covers repairing, altering or replacing an existing water heater, named as tank, tankless or heat pump, in the same location. A heat pump unit that needs a new receptacle or panel work can use the Residential Electrical express record, which covers main panels, subpanels and receptacles. A heater moved to a new spot, or any job beyond those scopes, goes in as a full building permit.

    Source: City of Fremont Planning, Building & Permit Services (fremont.gov)

  2. Rule 9-6 exemption certificates, as proposed

    The October 2026 staff report would let an owner install a gas unit only with an exemption certificate obtained before installation. Owners at or below 80 percent of area median income could use that path whenever they qualify. One-time exemptions, a single use per address even after a sale, cover cramped spaces and electrical limits a licensed contractor certifies: knob-and-tube wiring needing more than 50 feet of conduit, service below 100 amps, a new 240-volt run over 50 feet, or a panel with no breaker space. In the first phase, complete requests are planned to be issued immediately.

    Source: Bay Area Air District, Rule 9-6 staff report (baaqmd.gov)

  3. Health and Safety Code Section 19211

    California requires all new and replacement water heaters, and all existing residential ones, to be braced, anchored or strapped against falling or horizontal displacement in an earthquake, a rule in state law since 1989. At a minimum the heater is secured as the California Plumbing Code describes, or as a city's own amendments to it require. The section applies to standard heaters of up to 120 gallons, and a seller must certify compliance to the buyer in writing.

    Source: California Legislative Information (leginfo.legislature.ca.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).

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

The houses here

Two building booms, and the tanks they left behind

The housing needs chapter of Fremont's Housing Element counts 32,139 homes built from 1960 to 1979 and another 30,330 from 1980 to 1999, together 79 percent of the city's housing. It says the houses from 1960 to 1990 are getting to the point where substantial renovation or retrofit is required to keep them livable. The ground under them moves, too. UC Berkeley's Seismological Laboratory notes that slow creep on parts of the Hayward Fault cracks pavement and bends curbs and water lines, and the fault begins near Arroyo Agua Caliente Park in Warm Springs. State law answers that risk directly: every residential water heater, new or existing, must be braced, anchored or strapped so an earthquake cannot topple it or push it sideways.

Part by part

Which water fills the tank depends on the part of Fremont

  • Central and south Fremont

    ACWD's 2025 water quality report says these customers get treated surface water, imported through the South Bay Aqueduct from the Delta or Lake Del Valle and purified at Water Treatment Plant No. 2, an ozone plant on Mission Boulevard near the I-680 interchange.

  • North Fremont, toward Union City

    Here the report describes blended water: San Francisco supply mixed with groundwater from the Peralta/Tyson and Mowry wellfields at ACWD's Blending Facility, which the district opened in 1992 to bring down the hardness of its well water. That groundwater is pumped from the Niles Cone basin, which lies under the whole Tri-City area.

The work

What usually brings a plumber to a Fremont water heater

  1. Hot water that smells like rotten eggs

    ACWD traces a sulfur or rotten-egg odor in hot water to bacteria growing inside the water heater. It usually follows a heater left off during a vacation, a long stretch without hot water use, or a thermostat set too low. The district says the bacteria are not a health threat but must be eliminated to end the smell, and the cure it describes is heat disinfection: draining the tank, running it overnight at its top setting, and draining it again. For anyone uneasy doing that, ACWD's advice is to hire a licensed plumber.

  2. A gas tank that dies after the zero-NOx date

    Under the Air District's October 2026 proposal, a licensed contractor could put in a temporary gas water heater when a unit fails and a compliant one cannot be installed right away. The loaner would have to come out within 12 months, or be replaced or approved under one of the new exemptions, and the contractor would report its serial number and location and tell the Air District when it is removed. None of that is law before the Board's November 4 hearing.

  3. Switching to a heat pump on Fremont's default power

    Fremont's City Council voted in June 2024 to make Ava Community Energy's Renewable 100 plan the default across the city, and residential accounts moved to it in August 2025. Ava gives that plan a greenhouse gas emissions factor of zero, so a heat pump water heater in most Fremont homes draws on generation Ava counts as fully renewable. CARE, FERA and Medical Baseline customers default to Bright Choice, and PG&E still delivers both the electricity and the gas. Ava's water heater page sends customers to its incentive finder to see which rebates they qualify for.

  4. Straps on a tank before a sale

    Selling a Fremont house means the seller must certify in writing to the buyer that the water heater meets Health and Safety Code Section 19211. That certification can go in the transfer disclosure statement or the sales contract. The section covers standard heaters up to 120 gallons for which a pre-engineered strapping kit is readily available, and it sets the California Plumbing Code as the minimum method. Straps that are loose, rusted or missing are worth correcting before that disclosure is signed.

Before you hire

Questions for the plumber before the old tank comes out

  • Will this go in as Fremont's express Residential Plumbing permit, and does a heat pump circuit need a Residential Electrical record as well?
  • If our gas tank fails after the zero-NOx date, would you use a temporary loaner, and who reports it to the Air District?
  • Does our garage or closet give a heat pump unit enough air, or would we need an exemption certificate instead?
  • Will you check the seismic straps, since we have to certify them in writing when we sell?
  • Is your C-36 Plumbing license, or C-20 for a heat pump installer, current on cslb.ca.gov?

Questions

What Fremont owners ask about their water heaters

After ACWD worked on the main, our cold water ran clear but the hot stayed brown. Should the heater be drained?

Usually not. ACWD says that once discolored water has been drawn into the hot side, you can keep using it until the color fades, which it generally prefers to draining and refilling the heater. Hot water turned yellow or brown by rust building up in the tank, or sand-like mineral grit in it, is different: the district treats that as a sign the tank needs flushing, a job for a plumber if you are not comfortable with it.

Who supplies the electricity for a heat pump water heater in Fremont?

Ava Community Energy generates it and PG&E delivers it, both on the PG&E bill. Since August 2025 Fremont homes are on Ava's Renewable 100 plan by default, after a June 2024 City Council vote, unless they are on CARE, FERA or Medical Baseline, which default to Bright Choice. You can change plans at any time.

Can a plumber still install a new gas water heater in Fremont after New Year's 2027?

As the rule stands, small gas water heaters manufactured after January 1, 2027 must meet the zero-NOx standard, and it applies when a heater is replaced, not to one already working. The Air District's October 2026 package would move that date to January 1, 2028 and add exemption certificates. The Board decides at its November 4, 2026 hearing; comments close November 1.

What should we do about the water heater after a big earthquake in Fremont?

ACWD suggests closing the main household shutoff right after a major disaster so contaminated water cannot be drawn into your pipes and water heater, and turning the water heater off if service is interrupted. The tank itself is one of the emergency water sources the district lists, which is one more reason to keep it strapped.

Can we move the water heater from the garage to an indoor closet on the express permit?

No. Fremont's express Residential Plumbing record is limited to replacing an existing water heater in the same location. Moving it is outside that scope, so the plumber applies for a regular building permit, and the new location has to work for venting, gas and, for a heat pump, enough surrounding air.

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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