Plumber in Tigard, OR: water, sewer laterals and permits

Most Tigard homes were built in the last half century. Census Bureau survey data for 2020 to 2024 put the median year built at 1988; about 35 percent of homes were built before 1980, only about 5 percent before 1960 and about 29 percent in 2000 or later (ACS table B25034 via Census Reporter).

The Lake Oswego Tigard Water Partnership says it supplies more than 90,000 customers in the Lake Oswego and Tigard water service area, including Durham, King City and two-thirds of Tigard. Its source is the Clackamas River, drawn at an intake in Gladstone, treated in West Linn and stored at the Waluga Reservoir site in Lake Oswego. Tigard ended its supply agreement with Portland in 2016, once the partnership's expanded supply system was in place.

Not every Tigard address is in that service area. The city's building services page lists the Tualatin Valley Water District (503-848-3000) and Clean Water Services (503-681-3600) among the outside agencies involved in Tigard projects. Check the name on your water bill before you call about a meter or main problem.

Tigard is one of the partner cities of Clean Water Services (CWS), which treats wastewater for urban Washington County. Under the CWS lateral repairs fact sheet, property owner responsibility runs from the house to the public mainline, and CWS responsibility begins at the mainline. CWS will repair structural defects in the part of a lateral within the public right of way:

• Cracked, broken or crushed pipe
• Open or offset joints
• Root intrusion
• Other defects that let surface water or groundwater into the sanitary sewer

A sag or belly in the lateral does not count. To request help, a plumber, homeowner or realtor submits a camera video to CWS Field Operations. If the lateral needs significant work on your side, the plumber may need a plumbing permit, an erosion control permit from CWS and utility locates through 811. For an immediate threat to public health or property, CWS lists a 24-hour response line at 503.681.3600 on its report a problem page.

The Tigard Building Division issues trade permits for plumbing, electrical, mechanical, fire protection and solar work. Simple trade permits can be applied for online through the city's Community Development Hub, and the Permit Center is at 13125 SW Hall Blvd. Which jobs need a permit follows state rules. The Building Codes Division lists:

For a water heater, a hired plumbing contractor can use a minor label permit, a streamlined option the state offers to contractors. Our water heater guide covers the rest.

Oregon splits plumbing licensing between two agencies. The Construction Contractors Board (CCB) licenses the business, and the Building Codes Division (BCD) licenses plumbing contractors and individual journeyman plumbers. Run both checks before you sign anything:

1. Search the company in the CCB license search and confirm the license is active.
2. Search the company and the person doing the work in the BCD license holder search.
3. Ask who pulls the plumbing permit, and get the permit number before work starts.

Our guide to choosing a plumber explains the two licenses in more detail, and the Portland plumber cost guide helps you judge a quote.

This site is an independent guide, not a contractor. We do not perform plumbing work and do not answer phones. To reach a plumber, call one of the licensed contractors listed on this page or see all listed contractors. Questions about this guide: email us. We do not take service requests. If water is actively leaking, shut off the main valve first and see our emergency plumber guide.