Does a Yard Hydrant That is Not Connected to the House Require a Permit?

[Steve Musial]

I would like to put a yard hydrant near our rear property line. It's only a warm weather thing and will be drained/blown out in the fall.

My idea is to run the hydrant (actually just a hose bibb) in 1/2" copper down 16" From there, connect it to 1/2" PEX and run the PEX in a trench to our wood deck. From there, bring it up in copper to another hose bibb.

In order to use it, you would have to hook a hose from the house hose bibb to the new hose bibb (so it's not a permanent connection and is only connected when in actual use).

Our frost line is 30" and I don't want to have to trench 42" deep for a convenience. (It will be used by our daughter to water her pollinator garden and fill a small pond as needed)

Should it require a permit since it's not connected into the structure?

 

[hj]

probably, because it connects to the water system.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Cacher_Chick]

Anything that is going be hooked to the potable water system on the outside of the structure needs to have a proper backflow preventer to keep the municipal system from becoming contaminated. What exactly is required can vary by jurisdiction, so having it permitted and inspected will help to avoid bigger potential problems in the future.

 

[DIYorBust]

I think your interpretation that airgapping this plumbing should exclude it from compliance would not be convincing to code enforcement bodies. If a kitchen were connected by hose would it be excluded? A bathroom in a detached garage? However another question might be, who would really care if you did this? Who would care if you just plumbed an actual yard hydrant down there? Probably no one, and that's what I bet 90% of people would do. That said you need to know what you're doing, you don't want contaminants to backflow into your potable water system, or to trench through a gas line, or let a number of other bad things to happen.

Edit: I'm talking about 90% of the people who wouldn't just call a plumber in the first place, not 90% of people in general.

 

[Bcarlson78248]

Since you need to screw on a garden hose connection to use it, I don't see any reason to require a permit. The hose bib is part of a compliant/permitted plumbing system, and this is just a temporary connection. Its just like using a portable sprinkler that you happen to have locked down so it can't move.

I would definitely call your "miss utility" number before digging any trenches, and also try to determine if there are buried electrical lines running to the garage or other buildings. In many areas its legal to run a single 120 volt circuit to a garage and only bury it at 12", so sometimes its not very deep. Conduit for a subpanel would only be at 18".

Bruce

 

[hj]

UNLESS the "hose" is connected to a backflow/vacuum breaker, it has the potential to cause CONTAMINATION any time it is connected, therefore it needs a permit and inspection to be sure it is, or was, done properly.

 

[Steve Musial]

Sorry - yes, forgot to include that both hose bibbs on the house have permanently attached vacuum breakers.

Ended up asking the plan reviewer. He told me it was a gray area and I said no it wasn't - show me in the code where it needs a permit. He got a bit hot under the collar and started yelling at me. Building Commissioner came out asked what the problem was. I explained what I wanted to do - he asked if there was a vacuum breaker, I said yes, he said go for it and started ripping the plan reviewer a new one as I was leaving.

Reason for asking? Bitter, busy body neighbor who drives around the neighborhood reporting out of compliance issues to the building dept. because it "lowers their property value":

-Logo'd company truck parked in driveway
-20 year old fence with boards facing the wrong way
-Gravel from someone's driveway on the street in front of the driveway

These are just a few - the ones they called on me:
-Replacing a storm door
-Installing a preformed pond
-Replacing the wood decking with Trex
-Having a tire swing (the rope could break and send a kid sailing into their yard)

I checked online before doing the work - none of them required a permit (replacing a window does but not a storm door) They have lived there for 3 years - we've been here 18...

Thanks everyone.