Omaha City Council delays vote on plumbing-code rewrite to Nov. 10
The changes would widen use of PVC and PEX pipe and let plumbers supervise two apprentices. Builders back them; Plumbers Local 16 opposes them.
OMAHA - The Omaha City Council on Oct. 27 delayed a final vote on the first major rewrite of Omaha's plumbing code since 2015, after a long hearing, according to the meeting video. Council member Aimee Melton moved to lay the vote over to Nov. 10, noting that Council member Festersen was out of town. The motion passed 6-0.
Lei Wen, the city's superintendent of permits and inspection, presented the plan. It would allow PVC pipe in place of cast iron in more buildings, permit PEX-A plastic for water service lines and let one plumber supervise two apprentices instead of one. Wen said Omaha is the only metro jurisdiction with its own plumbing code and estimated that PVC would save about $170,000 in materials on a new apartment building.
Planning Director Dave Fanslau called the revisions "another way that we can help reduce the cost of housing." Joshua Marshall of the nonprofit lender Front Porch Investment spoke in favor.
Ben Morgan, training coordinator for Plumbers Local 16, said, "My opposition is not to updating our code. My opposition is to weakening it." Local 16 President Carl Paris asked the council to send the ordinance back to the plumbing board.
Source: Omaha City Council meeting, Oct. 27, 2026, official video (item 38), with the meeting transcript via Citizen Portal.