Your furnace company would need to comply with two basic requirements. They must be licensed to do plumbing, AND they must employ licensed plumbers to do the work. This will rarely be the case with heating companies (ask to see their credentials BEFORE you hire them). In order to do plumbing work for hire in the State of Washington, the following rules apply:
- (ref 2006 Uniform Plumbing Code, Section 218), “Plumbing: The business, trade, or work having to do with the installation, removal, alteration, or repair of plumbing systems or parts thereof.”
- The Revised Code of Washington, Section 18.106.020 states that ” No person may engage in or offer to engage in the trade of plumbing without having a journeyman certificate, specialty certificate, temporary permit, or trainee certificate and photo identification in his or her possession… )
Plumbers in Washington have to accumulate a minimum of 6000 hours of OJT and then pass a very stringent test to become licensed. Then they must perform continuing education every 2 years to maintain their license. By contrast, a HVAC Technician has no licensing or education requirements to do HVAC work in Washington. Don’t trust your complex tankless project to anyone who doesn’t specialize in the plumbing trade, and who isn’t licensed to do so.
