Illinois — plumbing code & licensing

Verified

The code

Code family	state-written
Edition in force	Illinois Plumbing Code, 77 Ill. Adm. Code Part 890 (state-written minimum plumbing code promulgated by the Illinois Department of Public Health under Section 35 of the Illinois Plumbing License Law, 225 ILCS 320); comprehensive revision at 28 Ill. Reg. 4215
Effective date	2004-02-18
Adopted by	Illinois Department of Public Health, under the Illinois Plumbing License Law, 225 ILCS 320
Adoption source	https://www.ilga.gov/ftp/JCAR/AdminCode/077/077008900I12000R.html
State amendments	State amendments at their own official document — https://www.ilga.gov/commission/Jcar/admincode/077/07700890ZZ9996amR.html

Licensing

Model	State individual licensing plus registration: licensed plumbers and licensed apprentice plumbers; plumbing contractors are registered (not licensed); irrigation contractors registered under Section 2.5. Split: under Section 16, a city of 500,000 or more may license plumbers under its own ordinance, and the Act then does not apply within that municipality except as the Act provides
Authority	Illinois Department of Public Health (Illinois State Board of Plumbing Examiners advises), under 225 ILCS 320
Licensing source	https://ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=1343&Chapter=PROFESSIONS,%20OCCUPATIONS,%20AND%20BUSINESS%20OPERATIONS&ChapterID=24&MajorTopic=REGULATION&Print=True
License classes	https://ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=1343&Chapter=PROFESSIONS,%20OCCUPATIONS,%20AND%20BUSINESS%20OPERATIONS&ChapterID=24&MajorTopic=REGULATION&Print=True

Permits & inspections

225 ILCS 320/18: local governments with water supply or sewage systems are to provide by ordinance for the materials, construction, alteration, and inspection of plumbing and to appoint plumbing inspectors, who must be licensed plumbers; a local unit that requires a permit for plumbing installation or repair may not issue it without verifying the applicant holds a valid plumbing license or is the owner-occupant of the single-family residence that is the subject of the permit.

How this record was verified

Adoption	Verified
Amendments	Verified
Licensing	Verified
Permits & inspections	Verified

Working notes

Part 890 is amended section by section; the 2004-02-18 date is the comprehensive revision (28 Ill. Reg. 4215), and later amendments include Appendix A at 38 Ill. Reg. 9940, effective April 24, 2014. IDPH published a second-notice rulemaking for Part 890 in 2019 (JCAR770890-1824640r01); its final adoption was not separately confirmed from an official source in this pass - the JCAR-published text as retrieved is the codified code. Section 16's large-city carve-out is the Chicago split; Section 18 contemplates local plumbing ordinances and inspectors alongside the state minimum code.

Compiled from the official sources above; retrieved 2026-10-31. Record basis: official text read firsthand.

Reference only. Compiled from the cited official sources as of the date shown; adoptions and rules change. Confirm with the authority having jurisdiction before designing or permitting work.