FAQs
FAQs
Yes. All solid fuel appliance installations require a mechanical permit and inspection to make sure they meet building and mechanical code. They must meet manufacturer’s installation requirements and be EPA or DEQ certified. All non-certified stoves must be removed and destroyed at time of sale or transfer of property.
Septic systems in Jackson County are regulated by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
Please contact the local DEQ office at 221 Stewart Ave., Medford, OR 97501, (541) 776-6214, or visit the DEQ website.
A plumbing permit is required for any new plumbing installation or remodel of existing plumbing, except "ordinary plumbing repairs."
A plumbing permit is good for 180 days and may be extended for an additional 180 days with a letter from the person taking out the permit.
Plan checks are only required for commercial, industrial, and multi-unit dwellings, etc. No plan check is required for a single family dwelling or for accessory buildings to that dwelling.
Plumbing may only be installed by a licensed journeyman plumber employed by an Oregon licensed plumbing contractor. Exception: A person, or their immediate relative, may do plumbing on their own residence as long as it is not commercial, industrial, or for sale, rent or lease.
The building sewer begins two (2) feet outside of the building wall and ends at the septic tank, or the property line if connected to Rogue Valley Sewer Services (RVSS). If your sewer goes to a septic tank, a plumbing permit is required from Jackson County. Currently, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) inspects from the septic tank through the drainfield. If you have RVSS sewer available, a permit is required from RVSS.
A plumbing permit for a sewer is required any time a sewer is being installed, replaced or repaired (more than three feet). A separate sewer permit is required for each building.
Plumbing inspectors are available in the office or by phone (541-774-6927) from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Yes, but only with certain materials and conditions. Please consult the Oregon Plumbing Specialty Code, Sections 609 and 720; the State of Oregon One and Two Family Dwelling Specialty Code; or the sewer and water handout available at the Planning office.
Permits are required for inspections. Inspections help to insure the health and safety of the owner and the public.
The plumbing inspector must see the underfloor space to determine whether or not rough plumbing may be installed after the subflooring is on. The plumbing permit must be purchased prior to review by the plumbing inspector.
A plumbing permit is required for any potable water line from the source to a building, remote hose bibb (faucet), or other "water required" fixtures. Any branch of a water line is considered another separate water line (outside the building line). More information on water lines and backflow protection are available in the Oregon Plumbing Specialty Code or in a handout available at the Planning office.
The best way for you to check on when an inspection will be done is to call the office (541-774-6927) on the day the inspection has been requested. Leave a message and the Building Technician will look the inspection up and call back to inform you of your placement on the inspector's route. Inspectors leave for the field between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. Before that time, they will be arranging their inspection route for the day. The inspector (or Building Tech.) can only give you an approximate time for your inspection (generally, whether it will be in the morning or afternoon).
The plumbing code calls for the inspection request to be made within 24 hours after completion of any plumbing installation intended to be covered or concealed, and at the completion of all plumbing installations for the job site covered by a particular permit.
Rough, underfloor plumbing must be inspected before the insulation and flooring are installed. Any deviation from this must be approved by one of the plumbing inspectors prior to cover.
Rough, underfloor plumbing must be inspected before the insulation and flooring are installed. Any deviation from this must be approved by one of the plumbing inspectors prior to cover.
No plumbing installation may be covered or concealed without first being inspected and approved by the plumbing inspector. The inspector shall sign the appropriate inspection line on the "job card," unless no building permit is required. The "job card" SHALL be posted in a conspicuous location on or close to the building the permit is issued for.
Each zone has different structural setbacks. This question can be answered without coming to the Planning office if the map id # (Township, Range, Section and Tax Lot) or the address is given. There are special setbacks of 200 feet when a non-resource zoned property is adjacent to a resource zoned property. If there is a stream or irrigation canal on the property, there are special setbacks for this as well.
The County considers a guest house a dwelling. The parcel size must be large enough for the zone to allow two dwellings. Using the Rural Residential (RR-5) zone as an example, if the parcel is ten acres in size, then two dwellings may be on the property because the requirement for the RR-5 zone is one dwelling per five acres.
The first step is to talk with the zoning section. If the property is zoned residentially, the process is different than if the property is zoned for resource use. The planners will always need a plot plan of the property. This should show all property lines, all existing structures, if any, and the proposed location for all new structures. This information is needed to check all setbacks for the property. If the parcel is going to need a well and septic system, the building section has a good handout on the procedures for installing these. In order for a dwelling to be placed on a resource zoned piece of property, an application must be made through the zoning section.
The first step is to determine the zone of the property. All zones have specific minimum lot sizes for new parcels. For instance, the Rural Residential (RR-5) zone requires that all new parcels be five acres in size, so the parcel must be at least ten acres in size in order to be split. If the property is within Medford's Urban Reserve, it cannot be partitioned at this time. All lots and parcels created after October 28, 1980, must also have 25 feet of frontage along a state highway, state access road, County road, city street, or private road. A partition requires an application through the Planning office and is subject to public notice.
The only way to determine if a parcel is in the floodplain is to look at the plat maps and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) maps at the Planning office. This information needs to be determined in the Planning office due to the complexities of locating a specific tax lot on the FEMA map.
The answer to this question is dependent on the zoning of the tax lot in question. In residential zones, a home is an outright permitted use but will be subject to the structural setbacks of that zone, and possibly the 100-foot fuelbreak requirement. In a resource zone, the answer to this question becomes much more complicated. If there is a dwelling that has already been recognized as a legal dwelling by the zoning and building sections, the answer is yes, subject to all of the siting standards and setbacks for that zone. If there is an existing dwelling that zoning and building have no record of, there are many things that must be determined before this question can be answered.
The Wildland Interface Fire Committee has developed guidelines for fire safety in a wildfire hazard area. A fuelbreak is an area of reduced and/or managed vegetation designed to slow and minimize fire intensity. A 100-foot fuelbreak is required around all new structures in any resource zone (FR, WR, EFU and OSR), and rural residential zones (RR-5, RR-10 and RR-00) that are outside of an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) or Urban Containment Boundary (UCB).
Once an application is submitted, the County has 120 days if the parcel is within an Urban Growth Boundary or 150 days if outside of an Urban Growth Boundary to render a decision in accordance with state laws. This timeframe must include the appeal period and time for hearings if any are requested. After the application is submitted with the required fee, maps and research are done for the property in question. The assigned planner must determine if the application is complete, determine lot legality, and review the application to determine if the proposal will meet all of the County ordinances as well as State laws. Agencies may also be noticed for comment. Once the planner has all of the information needed to make a thorough and accurate decision, a staff report is completed, reviewed and mailed out to surrounding property owners who have 12 days to request a hearing. A planner has many files that are being worked on at one time; applications are reviewed in the order they are submitted.
Yes. As long as the minimum depth requirement is maintained for each line. We suggest that a separation be kept between the lines to allow for repair of one without effecting the other.
The County is governed by codes in effect and issued by the State of Oregon. 1) An underground conduit is generally required to be in a trench 18" from the top of the conduit to the finished grade. An exception is allowed for under a concrete slab or a building. 2) Cables, approved for direct burial use, are to be 24" below the finished grade. These cables may not be run in concrete and may be exposed where run inside or under a building.
First the electrical permit, then an electrical inspection that is approved by a "green tag" being attached to the metering equipment. The electrical service must be completed to the point of the owner/builder having a main disconnect switch to remove power from the building. The metering equipment is to be installed (per utility requirements). The service equipment needs to be installed and connected to the metering equipment, with the main disconnect and the grounding completed. Nothing more is required, no branch circuit breakers or any load side connections.
First the electrical permit, then an electrical inspection that is approved by a "green tag" being attached to the metering equipment. The electrical service must be completed to the point of the owner/builder having a main disconnect switch to remove power from the building. The metering equipment is to be installed (per utility requirements). The service equipment needs to be installed and connected to the metering equipment, with the main disconnect and the grounding completed. Nothing more is required, no branch circuit breakers or any load side connections.
The best way for you to check on when an inspection will be done is to call the office (541-774-6927) after 9:00 a.m. on the day the inspection has been requested. At that time the receptionist can inform you of your placement on the inspector's route.
Inspectors leave for the field between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. Before that time, they will be arranging their inspection route for the day. The inspector (or receptionist) can only give you an approximate time for your inspection (generally, whether it will be in the morning or afternoon).
Inspectors leave for the field between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. Before that time, they will be arranging their inspection route for the day. The inspector (or receptionist) can only give you an approximate time for your inspection (generally, whether it will be in the morning or afternoon).
