Rebuilding After the Eaton Fire: A Plumbing Permit Checklist for Altadena and Pasadena Homes
If you are rebuilding after the Eaton Fire, the plumbing has to be planned early, and it is one of the last items signed off before you can move back in. This checklist is written by a working plumber under Well Plumbed Home and is current as of November 2026. Confirm the details with Los Angeles County or the City of Pasadena before you rely on them.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through those links, Well Plumbed Home may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I would actually specify on a rebuild like this. Prices change, so check the current price before you buy.
First, confirm which office is in charge
Altadena is unincorporated Los Angeles County. Rebuild permits go through LA County Recovers. File online through EPIC-LA or in person at a county field office. The county will accept applications when you are ready, but Phase 1 and Phase 2 debris clearance have to be finished before permits are issued.
Pasadena is a separate city. Do not file a county package for a Pasadena address. Start with the city’s Eaton Fire Recovery page and the Permit Center. As of November 2026, Pasadena has adopted the 2025 California Building Codes, including the 2025 California Plumbing Code, effective January 1, 2026. For Eaton Fire rebuilds, the city also lists the 2022 codes as an optional path.
Like-for-like, and what it does not waive
For unincorporated areas, including Altadena, Los Angeles County defines a like-for-like rebuild as a structure of the same size, in the same location, and for the same purpose as the one that was damaged or destroyed. In the Eaton Fire area, a like-for-like replacement may grow, but the increase in floor area, size, height, or building footprint cannot be more than 10% or 200 square feet, whichever is greater.
Like-for-like projects do not have to meet current Zoning Code requirements. They do have to meet current Building, Fire, and Health and Safety Code requirements. That matters for plumbing: new supply, drain, gas, and water-heater work is built to current code, even if the house goes back in the same footprint.
If you are rebuilding in Pasadena, ask about the fee waiver
As of November 2026, Pasadena waives city plan-check and permitting fees for eligible Eaton Fire rebuilds. You must have owner-occupied a single-family home or condominium as of January 7, 2025, and the property must have had a structure red-tagged because of the fire. The work has to meet the city’s Rebuild Ordinance, including like-for-like or like-for-like plus 10% or 200 square feet. Properties sold after that date generally do not qualify unless the new owner is a family member. Homes listed for sale, and yellow-tagged properties, are not eligible.
Pasadena Water & Power water-service fees and a $1,000 Construction & Demolition Waste Management deposit are not waived, nor are outside-agency fees or new structures that did not exist before the fire. Apply for a waiver or refund as the city directs. Los Angeles County also waives building plan-review fees for qualifying owners rebuilding a single-family home in unincorporated areas if the owner both owned and lived in the home before January 7, 2025. Confirm eligibility on the county permit process page.
A practical plumbing checklist
1. Utilities, will-serve letters, and water service
Start with your water company. In unincorporated Eaton Fire areas, Los Angeles County requires proof of a potable water source — a will-serve letter or a prior water bill — before a building permit can move forward. A will-serve letter is still required for a like-for-like rebuild, because water demand, hydrant flow, meter size, and interior fire sprinklers may change (county fact sheet, revised June 26, 2025). Contact your water agency early, then go in once full building plans have been submitted, with a PDF of the plans. Use the LA County Public Works service locator if you are not sure who serves the lot. Agency contacts are on the county permit process page and the will-serve fact sheet. Private wells use a different Public Health well-reuse process.
Water lines must be at least 10 feet from septic tanks, sewer laterals, and leach fields. A new one- or two-family dwelling will require interior fire sprinklers, and a USC-approved double-check valve assembly at the riser if they connect to the domestic meter. In Pasadena, Pasadena Water & Power handles water service, and those fees are not part of the city permit waiver. Call PWP early about meter size, the service line, and fire-flow requirements.
This is also the moment to plan a pressure-reducing valve if street pressure is high, and to decide whether you want a whole-home leak detector or automatic shutoff. If you add an in-line shutoff, it has to go on the domestic line after it diverts from the fire-sprinkler takeoff — never upstream of the sprinklers. I cover specific models in the gear list below.
2. Gas service, and water heater or tankless choices
Contact SoCalGas during planning, before construction starts. As of November 2026, SoCalGas is not charging to restore previously existing natural gas service, and only SoCalGas personnel (or agents it authorizes) may reconnect the meter. Start with the form on socalgas.com/Rebuild. Before any digging, call 811.
If the house was a complete loss, look at SoCalGas’s Residential Energy Efficient Fire Rebuild Program. As of November 2026, applications may be submitted through December 31, 2026, and you must apply before construction begins. Homes being rebuilt to exceed energy-efficiency standards may qualify for increased rebates. A tank or tankless water heater can both work when sized, vented, and permitted correctly. Tankless often needs a larger gas line and a different vent, and in this area it should be installed with isolation valves so it can be descaled. A brand-neutral kit such as the Webstone Isolator E-X-P E2 service valve kit (View on SupplyHouse) makes that flush a lot simpler later. I have a specific tankless unit, and the rest of the rebuild gear I would specify, listed below.
3. Rough-in and inspections
Plumbing is usually inspected in stages: underground or trench work, rough-in before insulation and drywall, and a final inspection before occupancy. Los Angeles County says you will schedule inspections at specific milestones, then obtain a Certificate of Occupancy. Do not cover work before it has been signed off.
4. WaterSense fixtures and the SoCal Water$mart fire-rebuild exception
As of November 2026, Metropolitan’s SoCal Water$mart program lists base rebates that start at $40 for a qualifying premium high-efficiency toilet, $85 for a qualifying high-efficiency clothes washer, $100 for a qualifying leak-detection device, and $80 for a qualifying weather-based irrigation controller.
For properties in the 2025 wildfire impact zones, SoCal Water$mart waives the usual one-rebate-per-address limit. You may receive another turf-replacement or device rebate even if you already used a rebate at that address before 2025. The living-grass requirement for turf replacement is also waived in those zones. Apply and wait for approval before work starts. After approval, you have 180 days to finish. Projects already completed are not eligible. See the Fire Rebuild FAQ. Pasadena Water & Power has posted the same idea for its customers, including devices lost in the Eaton Fire.
When you pick toilets, do not assume every WaterSense model qualifies. Premium high-efficiency toilets on the SoCal Water$mart list are 1.1 gallons per flush or less, and the model has to appear on the official qualifying products list (as of March 1, 2026). One model I like for a rebuild is the TOTO Drake II CST454CUFG#01 (View on Amazon) — it uses 1.0 gallons per flush, and the C454CUFG bowl with the ST453U tank is on that list as of March 1, 2026. Still confirm your exact model number before you buy.
5. Final
Before the last inspection, make sure fixtures are set, the water heater is operating, shutoffs work, and any required backflow device for fire sprinklers is in place. SoCalGas says the city or county inspector must approve the houseline before the meter can be installed and activated. Only SoCalGas may then reconnect service and will check the appliances. After that, you can apply for remaining rebates with the receipts and model numbers from the job.
What I’d Put in a Rebuild: Plumber-Recommended Gear
These are products a rebuilding homeowner actually picks or buys. They are not a substitute for a permitted design, and the right size depends on the house. Check the current price and availability before you order, and confirm rebate eligibility on the official lists.
Noritz EZ111DV EZ Series Pro (GQ-C3261WX-FF US NG) condensing tankless water heater. View on Amazon This is a current whole-home condensing unit, 11.1 GPM and 199,900 BTU, with a manufacturer-listed 0.98 UEF. It is Energy Star certified, field-convertible between natural gas and propane, and can be installed indoors or outdoors with the right vent cap. On a complete fire rebuild, look at SoCalGas’s Residential Energy Efficient Fire Rebuild Program rather than the standard existing-home tankless rebate. I’ll go deeper on sizing and that program in a later post on water heaters.
Navien NPE-240A2 condensing tankless water heater. View on PexUniverse If you want built-in recirculation, this is the alternative I would look at. Navien’s ComfortFlow system includes a recirculation pump and a buffer tank in the unit, which is meant to cut wait time at the tap and reduce the “cold-water sandwich” effect you can get with tankless heaters — a feature Navien documents on the NPE-240A2 product page. It is a 199,900 BTU condensing heater and is field-convertible from natural gas to propane.
Webstone Isolator E-X-P E2 3/4-inch tankless service valve kit. View on SupplyHouse I would not install a tankless unit without isolation valves. This lead-free Webstone kit is brand-neutral and fits typical 3/4-inch Noritz and Navien connections. It includes hot and cold full-port valves, hose drains for flushing the heat exchanger, and a 150 psi pressure-relief valve, so you can isolate and descale later without cutting pipe.
TOTO Drake II CST454CUFG#01 toilet. View on Amazon This 1.0 gpf elongated toilet is a WaterSense, 1G Tornado Flush model, and the C454CUFG bowl with the ST453U tank is on SoCal Water$mart’s premium high-efficiency toilet list as of March 1, 2026. Confirm the exact model on that list before you buy; a seat, wax ring, and supply line are sold separately.
Moen Flo 900-006 smart water monitor and shutoff. View on Amazon This 1-inch in-line device is on SoCal Water$mart’s flow-monitoring device list as of February 15, 2025, so it can be rebate-eligible if you apply before installation. Professional installation is recommended, and you must match the pipe size (a 3/4-inch service uses a different model). Do not install an in-line shutoff upstream of the fire-sprinkler system — only on the domestic line after it diverts.
Watts LF25AUB-Z3 3/4-inch pressure-reducing valve. View on Amazon Street pressure in this area often runs high enough to beat up fixtures and trip relief valves. A quality lead-free PRV after the meter, sized to the service, holds house pressure in a safer range. This Watts valve is a standard plumber’s choice; the typical factory setting is about 50 psi and it is adjustable.
Moen Adler 87233SRS pulldown kitchen faucet. View on Amazon This is a solid everyday rebuild faucet: a pulldown sprayer, a 1- or 3-hole install with the included deck plate, and a 1.5 gpm flow. I would rather spend once on a name-brand faucet than replace a budget fixture in a couple of years.
3M Aqua-Pure AP904 whole-house filter. View on Amazon This point-of-entry filter reduces sediment and chlorine taste and odor, and it includes a scale-inhibition cartridge. It is not a salt softener, so it will not take hardness out of the water the way ion exchange would. For an Eaton Fire rebuild, a carbon-and-scale system like this is a practical first step; I’ll cover softeners and hard water in a later post.
Amtrol Therm-X-Trol ST-5 expansion tank. View on Amazon If you have a tank water heater plus a PRV, check valve, or backflow preventer, you need a potable expansion tank — not a hydronic heating tank. The ST-5 is a 2-gallon Therm-X-Trol made for domestic hot water. Precharge it to match the house pressure, and size the tank to the heater.
Stay in the loop
If you want rebuild checklists and rebate updates as these programs change, you can use the signup below.
Two follow-up posts are planned: one on choosing a water heater after a fire rebuild, and one on hard water. I’ll link them here when they go live.
Disclaimer
This article is general information, current as of November 2026. It is not a permit, a legal opinion, or a guarantee of rebate eligibility. Confirm the current requirements with Los Angeles County (for unincorporated Altadena) or the City of Pasadena, and with your water agency and SoCalGas, before you spend money or start work. Product links are affiliate links, as disclosed above.
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