Commercial Plumbing in Montgomery Village, MD

Do association and condo properties count as commercial work?

Usually. Montgomery Village was begun by Kettler Brothers, welcomed its first residents in 1967 and is governed by the Montgomery Village Foundation, a homeowners association rather than a town. Within it, villages such as Goshenside, Walkers Choice and Cider Mill have their own associations, pools, clubhouses and multi-unit buildings. Shared drain stacks, common-area restrooms, pool equipment rooms and backflow devices on irrigation and fire sprinkler lines are all jobs a property manager calls a commercial plumber for. In ZIP 20886 roughly half the homes went up before 1980, with the 1970s the biggest decade, so much of the shared piping is now about fifty years old.

Who can pull the permit, and which office is it?

WSSC Water's ePermitting system covers Montgomery County, and only WSSC-registered master plumbers and gasfitters, or their proxies, can apply for plumbing and fuel gas permits. That includes gas water heater and furnace replacements and repairs to water and sewer service lines. WSSC Permit Services is at 301-206-4003. Because the community is unincorporated, building permits come from the Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services at 2425 Reedie Drive in Wheaton (240-777-0311), not from the City of Gaithersburg, even with a Gaithersburg mailing address.

What does the backflow program ask of a property manager?

WSSC requires every testable backflow assembly to be tested each year and right after it is installed, repaired or relocated. Only WSSC journeymen or master plumbers who are certified cross-connection technicians may do it; certification takes a 32-hour WSSC-approved course and renewal every three years. Irrigation systems need their field test at spring start-up. Tracking test dates for every clubhouse, pool and sprinkler zone is easier with one plumber on the schedule, and a failed device has to be repaired and tested again before the report is complete.

Local note

WSSC water reaches the Village from the Potomac River and Patuxent reservoirs, disinfected with chlorine and treated with orthophosphate to limit corrosion. WSSC's emergency service center is 301-206-4002 for main breaks and sewer overflows. For a gas odor in a clubhouse or building, evacuate, then call 911 and Washington Gas at 844-WASHGAS (844-927-4427), option 1, from outside.