Plumbers Code... " Water runs up hill, Sh*t runs Down hill, pay day is on Friday and don't bite your fingernails!"
I'm not sure of the codes here in sunny Florida, but in Massachusetts you can completely wire your house by yourself (as long as you pull a permit and it passes inspection, but legally you cannot replace a faucet washer. I realize that lots of people do their own plumbing, but in the Bay State it will not be inspected and/or approved, and as was said earlier, when you go to sell the house, you might well run into problems. Strangely, in Massachusetts it is legal to install your own forced hot water heating system (except for any connection to a public water supply).
I wonder how all these rules come about. It's crazy! Being a union plumber, I know some of it is keeping union plumbers working. Some of our dues went to contractors to off set bidding. So if a non union shop bid comes in low the union pays the contractor so the union shop gets the bid. From city to city we always had to know what we could do and what we could not do. If you even touch a ST. Paul water stop box you were in big trouble. In mpls you have to have a special card on top of the State license. I did not carry this special license. One very cold day another plumber and I got a call to repair some frozen and burst water pipes. Each thinking the other had the card to work along each other. The inspector walked in (they do not need to knock on the door) asked for the card and we did not have it. He said pack your tools and I am giving you a violation ticket. We got the ticket and were thrown off the job We went to court and were found guilty and fined and a violation was put on our record. Three violations and no more state license.
...most regulation starts out with good intentions...by time lawyers and special interests get through, we're lucky if some original intent survives...
