# Austin's 2024 plumbing code: what changes for a repipe

> Austin 2024 plumbing code changes for repipes: Ordinance 20250410-042, the 65 psi regulator and expansion tank rule, R-4 attic insulation and the permit holder.

URL: https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/blog/austin-2024-plumbing-code-repipes/

The City of Austin now enforces the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code with local amendments, adopted by Ordinance 20250410-042 and effective July 10, 2025. For a repipe, four amendments carry the weight: a pressure regulator with a strainer above 65 psi plus an expansion tank downstream, R-4 insulation on water lines outside the thermal envelope, a rule on valves in the City meter box, and a permit that only a City-registered responsible master plumber can pull. [Grackle Repiping Austin](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/) offers and manages [whole-house repiping](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/whole-house-repiping/) under these rules, and this post explains each one in plain terms.

Key takeaways

- Ordinance 20250410-042 adopted the 2024 UPC with local amendments, effective July 10, 2025
- Above 65 psi static: a regulator with strainer, set to 65 psi or less, and an NSF 61 expansion tank
- Water lines outside the thermal envelope need R-4 insulation, five-eighths of an inch thick or more
- Only a Texas-licensed responsible master plumber registered with the City can obtain the permit
- The state plumbing board has proposed updating its own code; Austin's adopted code governs inside the city

## The ordinance and where the text lives

Austin’s plumbing code is the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code published by IAPMO, adopted with local amendments in City Code Chapter 25-12, Article 6. The City’s [building technical codes page](https://www.austintexas.gov/development-services/building-technical-codes) lists the UPC 2024 and links the amendment document. The amendments are where Austin departs from the model code, and they are what an inspector holds a repipe to. The [Austin repipe permit guide](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/repipe-permit-austin/) walks through how a permit moves from application to final inspection.

## Pressure: 65 psi, a regulator and an expansion tank

Amendment 608.2 is the rule that changes the most repipe scopes. If static pressure at the house exceeds 65 psi, an approved pressure regulator with a strainer must bring it down to 65 psi or less and control every outlet. The regulator sits above ground or in a vault and must be protected from freezing. Pipe is sized on 80% of the reduced pressure.

An expansion tank listed to NSF 61 is required downstream of the regulator. The reason is mechanical: a regulator generally stops water from flowing back toward the street, so when the water heater warms a tank of water, the expanding volume has nowhere to go and pressure in the house climbs. The tank gives it room. Designed systems may use relief valves set at 100 psi or less instead, and homes required to have a multipurpose fire sprinkler system may run up to 80 psi.

What that means for a repipe:

- the first visit reads static pressure at a hose bib with fixtures closed
- a reading over 65 psi puts a regulator and expansion tank into the scope
- an existing regulator is checked, since a failing one can read fine one day and high the next

The 80 psi figure that appears in some national material is not Austin’s rule; Austin’s line is 65 psi. The [pressure reducing valve guide](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/pressure-reducing-valve-austin/) covers how regulators fail, and the [low water pressure guide](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/low-water-pressure-austin/) covers what to check when pressure is too low rather than too high.

## The valve at the meter box

Amendment 606.2.1 says a full-way valve on the meter discharge may not be installed inside a City meter box unless Austin Water consents. When a repipe or a [water line replacement](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/water-line-replacement/) adds or replaces the customer valve, it goes outside the box. Austin Water’s own guidance tells owners their shutoff is typically on their side of the meter, so the rule keeps the owner’s valve and the utility’s equipment separate.

## Insulation on lines outside the thermal envelope

Amendment 312.6.1 requires water lines installed outside the building’s thermal envelope to have insulation at least five-eighths of an inch thick with a minimum R-4 value. On an Austin slab house, a repipe or a [slab leak reroute](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/slab-leak-reroute/) usually runs new pipe through a vented attic, which is outside the envelope, so this rule applies to those runs. It also covers an exposed riser where the line enters the house. The [PEX in a Texas attic guide](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/pex-in-attic-texas/) covers routing, support and heat, and the [freeze prep checklist](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/blog/austin-freeze-prep-for-pipes/) covers what an owner can check before winter.

## Who can pull the permit, and what needs one

Amendment 104.1.1 lets a responsible master plumber licensed by the State of Texas and registered with the City obtain a plumbing permit; an unlicensed person may do so only for work state law allows them to do. Amendment 104.1.3 requires licensed plumbers to register with the City.

Amendment 104.2 exempts some small work from a permit: stopping leaks and clearing stoppages, and repairing leaks when the work does not involve or require replacing or rearranging valves, pipes or fixtures. A repipe replaces pipe by definition, so it is not exempt. Austin issues repipes as plumbing permits, and a failed inspection brings a City reinspection fee of $83.85. The [license lookup guide](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/check-texas-plumbing-license/) shows how to confirm a plumber’s license.

## The state code proposal

Separately, the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, which remains the state’s plumbing licensing agency, has proposed updating the codes it adopts from the 2018 editions to the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code and 2021 International Plumbing Code. Under state law a city may adopt a plumbing code with local amendments, and plumbing in an unincorporated area, or anywhere no code has been adopted, follows a board-adopted code.

For a house inside Austin’s permit jurisdiction, the City’s 2024 UPC and its amendments still govern. For a house outside it, the code depends on where the address sits: Round Rock enforces the 2024 International Plumbing Code, Cedar Park, Leander and Kyle the 2021 International Plumbing Code, and Bee Cave the 2015 International Plumbing Code. Elsewhere the rule is confirmed per address. The [Round Rock](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/service-areas/round-rock/) and [Cedar Park](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/service-areas/cedar-park/) pages cover those offices.

## What owners planning a repipe should take from this

Three questions to ask of any repipe estimate in Austin:

1. What was the static pressure reading, and does the scope include a regulator and expansion tank if it was over 65 psi?
2. Where will the new lines run, and how will lines in the attic or outside the envelope be insulated to R-4?
3. Who pulls the permit, and is that responsible master plumber registered with the City?

An estimate that answers all three in writing is built for the code the inspector will use. The [Austin repipe cost guide](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/repipe-cost-austin/) shows where these items sit in the price.

## Questions about this post

### When did Austin adopt the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code?

The City of Austin adopted the 2024 Uniform Plumbing Code with local amendments through Ordinance 20250410-042, effective July 10, 2025. The amendments sit in City Code Chapter 25-12, Article 6, and the City's technical codes page links the full text.

### Does Austin's code require an expansion tank with a pressure regulator?

Yes. Austin's amendment 608.2 requires an expansion tank listed to NSF 61, installed downstream of the regulator, whenever a regulator is required because static pressure exceeds 65 psi. Designed systems may use relief valves set at 100 psi or less instead.

### Does the Texas plumbing code update change Austin's rules?

Not directly. The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners has proposed moving its board-adopted codes to the 2021 Uniform and International Plumbing Codes. A city may adopt its own plumbing code with local amendments, as Austin has; the board's code governs unincorporated areas and places that have not adopted one.

## Keep reading

- Learn [Do I need a plumbing permit to repipe a house in Austin?](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/repipe-permit-austin/)A repipe in Austin is permitted work. This guide covers who can pull an Austin plumbing permit for a repipe, what the inspector checks and when, what a failed inspection costs, and how the rules change in Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Kyle and the other suburbs.
- Learn [Do I need a pressure reducing valve in Austin?](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/pressure-reducing-valve-austin/)Austin's plumbing code sets the line at 65 psi: above it, a house needs a pressure reducing valve with a strainer and an expansion tank after it. Here is how the rule works, how a valve fails, and how it fits into a repipe.
- Learn [Can PEX run through an attic in Texas?](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/pex-in-attic-texas/)Why slab-home water lines end up in the attic, what Austin's code requires for them, and how routing, insulation, support and sun protection decide whether attic PEX does well through a Texas summer and a hard freeze.
- Learn [How do I check a Texas plumbing license before a repipe?](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/check-texas-plumbing-license/)Texas plumbers are licensed by the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, and an Austin repipe permit has to be pulled by a Responsible Master Plumber registered with the City. Here is what each license level means and how to check one in a few minutes.
- Learn [Why is my water pressure low in Austin, and is it the pipes?](https://gracklerepipingaustin.com/guide/low-water-pressure-austin/)Low water pressure in an Austin house can start at the utility, the pressure regulator, the pipe or a single faucet. Two gauge readings, static and flowing, usually tell you which, before anyone talks about repiping.