BATHROOM REMODEL PERMITS AND FIXTURE RULES IN CALIFORNIA

For most remodels, yes, at least for part of the work. In the version of Section R105.1 of the 2025 California Residential Code that Carlsbad adopted in its municipal code, a permit is required to alter a building or to install, alter, repair, remove, convert or replace “any electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system.” A bathroom packs several of those systems into a small room.

The exceptions are narrow. Carlsbad's version of Section R105.2 exempts “Painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, countertops, and similar finish work.” It also exempts stopping leaks, clearing stoppages and removing and reinstalling a toilet, provided the repair does not involve replacing or rearranging valves, pipes or fixtures. Irvine's Permits Not Required page has a similar plumbing exemption with the same condition. Newport Beach says changing a water faucet typically does not require a permit.

These are three cities' lists as read on October 4, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Each city decides what its list covers, so confirm with your building department.

Going by the code wording above and what the cities publish, plan on permits when the remodel does any of the following:

• Moves a toilet, shower, tub or vanity drain. Carlsbad's code treats replacing a defective concealed trap, drain, water or vent pipe with new material as new work that needs a permit.
• Rebuilds a shower or converts a tub to a shower with a new valve or drain. Irvine's and Carlsbad's plumbing exemptions stop where the work involves replacing or rearranging valves, pipes or fixtures.
• Adds circuits, outlets or permanently wired lights. Newport Beach says moving or adding an electrical outlet requires a permit, and so does adding a permanently wired light fixture.
• Adds or reroutes an exhaust fan and its duct, which changes the mechanical system.
• Replaces a water heater. Newport Beach says this requires a permit, and Irvine lists Residential Water Heater on its Same-Day Permits page.
• Moves or removes a wall, or changes a window opening.

This guide does not cover outlet, wiring, shower glass or waterproofing rules. Ask your contractor and the city inspector how the current codes apply to your plans.

Civil Code Sections 1101.1 through 1101.9, added by SB 407 in 2009, apply to residential and commercial property “built and available for use on or before January 1, 1994.” Section 1101.3 defines a noncompliant plumbing fixture as any of these:

• A toilet manufactured to use more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush.
• A urinal manufactured to use more than one gallon of water per flush.
• A showerhead manufactured to have a flow capacity of more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute.
• An interior faucet that emits more than 2.2 gallons of water per minute.

The same section says noncompliant fixtures in single-family homes were to be replaced by the owner on or before January 1, 2017, and that a seller must disclose in writing whether the property includes any. Section 1101.7 exempts registered historical sites, properties where a licensed plumber certifies that water-conserving fixtures are not technically feasible, and buildings whose water service is permanently disconnected. Multifamily and commercial properties have separate rules in Section 1101.5.

Section 1101.8 lets cities and water suppliers adopt policies that save more water, and Section 1101.9 exempts a city or county that adopted its own fixture retrofit ordinance before July 1, 2009, for as long as that ordinance stays in effect. How a city checks this at final varies. Ask your building department what it will look at before it signs off.

Section 1101.3 defines a water-conserving plumbing fixture as one that complies with “current building standards applicable to a newly constructed real property of the same type.” For newly constructed homes, fixture limits are set in CALGreen, the California Green Building Standards Code (Title 24, Part 11).

The Department of Housing and Community Development's summary of the 2025 CALGreen residential mandatory measures (form HCD SHL 625, revised November 2025, effective January 1, 2026) lists these limits under Section 4.303.1:

• Toilets: no more than 1.28 gallons per flush.
• Showerheads: no more than 1.8 gallons per minute at 80 psi. Where one valve controls several showerheads, their combined flow is held to the same limit.
• Bathroom sink faucets: a maximum of 1.2 gallons per minute at 60 psi and a minimum of 0.8 gallons per minute at 20 psi.
• Kitchen faucets: no more than 1.8 gallons per minute at 60 psi, with a temporary increase to 2.2 allowed.

Newport Beach's plumbing fixture replacement self-certification form, dated September 14, 2026, cites Section 301.1.1 of the 2025 code and lists the same figures for toilets, showerheads and faucets.

HCD's summary of Section 4.506.1 of the 2025 CALGreen code says bathroom exhaust fans “shall be ENERGY STAR compliant and be ducted to terminate outside the building.” Unless the fan is part of a whole-house ventilation system, it is to have a humidity control that can be adjusted, manually or automatically, between a relative humidity of 50 percent or less and a maximum of 80 percent. For this rule, a bathroom is a room that contains a bathtub, a shower or a tub and shower combination.

The scope note above applies here too. By HCD's summary, CALGreen reaches alterations that add conditioned area, volume or size, so whether a fan replaced inside an existing bathroom has to meet Section 4.506.1 is a question for your plan checker.

Lighting has its own rules. The California Energy Commission says the 2025 Energy Code applies to permit applications filed on or after January 1, 2026. Its 2025 Single-Family Residential Compliance Manual says new or altered lighting must meet Section 150.0(k), that a bathroom needs at least one installed luminaire controlled by an occupancy or vacancy sensor that turns it off automatically, and that lighting built into an exhaust fan must be controlled independently from the fan. Lighting that is not altered may stay.

• Irvine: the Minor Plumbing or Electrical Work page offers an automated online permit within limits that include four plumbing fixtures (it gives toilet, sink, drain and faucet as examples) and 10 electrical fixtures or outlets. Other projects go through the IrvineReady! portal. The Interior Remodel/Alteration page says the home must meet current smoke and carbon monoxide detector requirements at final inspection.
• Newport Beach: express permits are for “simple single-scope projects” and “are not for remodels or projects that require multiple permits and plan review.” The city's plumbing fixture replacement self-certification form is returned to the Building Division for final approval of the permit, and says the division reserves the right to verify code compliance after installation.
• Carlsbad: the city says most construction work requires a permit, though some types are exempt. Its residential exemption list is in the municipal code section quoted above. Homeowners, property owners and licensed contractors can obtain select simple, no-plan-check residential permits online.

• Irvine: Minor Plumbing or Electrical Work (opens in a new tab)
• Irvine: Interior Remodel/Alteration (opens in a new tab)
• Newport Beach: Online Permitting (opens in a new tab)
• Newport Beach: Plan Checks, Permits & Inspections (opens in a new tab)
• Carlsbad: Permitting (opens in a new tab)

• Find out when the home was built. If it was on or before January 1, 1994, check the toilets, showerheads and faucets in the whole house, not just this bathroom.
• List every fixture that moves and every one that stays in place, so the city can tell you which permits apply.
• Ask the city whether your scope needs plans or can use an online permit.
• Choose toilets, showerheads and faucets by their listed flush volume and flow rate, and keep the specification sheets for the inspector.
• Decide where the exhaust fan will discharge and how it will be controlled.
• Confirm in the contract who pulls each permit and who meets the inspector.
• Check whether your homeowners association has its own approval process.

If you would like help working out which permits and fixture rules apply to your bathroom, Golden Empire USA offers a free assessment with a written scope.