The short answer
- Inside the City of Spartanburg, the city's Building Inspections office issues permits. In unincorporated Spartanburg County, including Boiling Springs, it is Spartanburg County Building Codes.
- Other incorporated towns may handle their own permits. Call the town hall first. Cherokee County and the City of Gaffney have their own offices.
- New gas piping, extensions and new gas appliance connections need a permit, a pressure test and an inspection.
- A permit is a record. Buyers, home inspectors and insurers can ask for it, and unpermitted gas work can hold up a sale.
Who issues the permit for your address
The dividing line is the city or town limit, not the mailing address. A Spartanburg mailing address can be in unincorporated county. Check your tax bill or the county property records if you are not sure.
- City of Spartanburg: Building Inspections and Permits, 440 S. Church Street, (864) 596-2041. Issues building, plumbing, mechanical and electrical permits inside city limits.
- Unincorporated Spartanburg County, including Boiling Springs, Roebuck, Fairforest and Startex: Spartanburg County Building Codes, 366 N. Church Street, Suite 500, (864) 596-2727.
- Other towns in Spartanburg County, such as Inman, Duncan, Lyman, Wellford and Woodruff: check with the town hall first, since some handle their own permitting.
- City of Gaffney: Community Development, 201 N. Limestone Street, (864) 487-8500.
- Unincorporated Cherokee County: Cherokee County Building Safety, 110 Railroad Avenue, Gaffney.
What needs a permit
Spartanburg County's rule is broad: a permit is required to install, enlarge, alter, convert or replace a gas, plumbing, mechanical or electrical system regulated by its building codes. In practice, for gas, that covers:
- New gas piping of any length, inside or outside
- Extending a line to a new appliance: range, dryer, generator, grill, fire pit, pool heater
- Replacing piping or rerouting it
- Installing or replacing a gas water heater, furnace or other gas appliance
- Converting an appliance or a house from electric to gas
How the inspection works
Permits are by trade. A job that involves gas piping and electrical work, like a generator, carries separate permits, and each inspection is scheduled under its own trade's permit number.
For gas piping, the inspector wants to see the pipe before it is hidden and the system holding pressure on a gauge. The fuel gas code minimum is one and a half times the working pressure, never less than 3 psi, for at least 10 minutes. Spartanburg County's published residential inspection list calls for a gas meter release inspection with a minimum 10 psi air test, appliances in place and vented, unused outlets valved and capped, and the gas piping bonded to the electrical system.
On new construction, the meter release is what lets the utility set the meter and turn on gas. On a remodel or appliance job, the final inspection closes out the permit. Either way, the contractor holding the permit schedules the inspection and meets the inspector.
Who pulls the permit
The licensed contractor doing the work pulls the permit, and the license is the reason they can. That puts the work on record under their name, with a test and an inspection behind it. If someone offers to do gas work without a permit, that tells you how the rest of the job will be done.
Why it matters when you sell
A buyer's home inspector will look at the gas piping, the connectors, the appliance venting and whether CSST is bonded. When something looks newer than the house, a good inspector or buyer's agent will ask whether it was permitted. Permit records are kept by the issuing office and can be looked up.
Unpermitted gas work rarely kills a sale, but it can stall one. The usual fix is to permit the work after the fact, which can mean opening walls for the inspector or retesting the system on a short closing timeline. When you buy a house, it is fair to ask the seller for the permits on any gas work. When you hire a contractor, keep the permit card and the final inspection with your house papers.
When to call a pro
Call a licensed gas contractor for any new or altered gas piping or gas appliance installation. The contractor pulls the permit from the right office for your address, pressure-tests the line and meets the inspector.