After a California Wildfire: the Plumbing Problem Nobody Warns You About, and the Contractor Rule That Becomes a Felony

Most wildfire guidance is written for houses that burned. This one is mostly for houses that did not - the ones on a street where other houses did, whose owners are told they can go home. Two things about that situation are documented by federal and state agencies and are almost never discussed at the front door: what a fire can do to the water in the pipes of an undamaged house, and what California does to unlicensed contracting once a disaster has been declared.

The water problem, in the EPA's own words

After the 2017 Tubbs Fire and the 2018 Camp Fire, volatile organic compounds including benzene were found in the drinking water of the impacted towns. The EPA's factsheet on the subject explains the mechanism: VOC contamination may occur when water distribution infrastructure (e.g., pipes, valves, meters, etc.) is impacted by a wildfire, and it has been observed primarily in areas that were damaged during the wildfire and experienced pressure loss in the water system.

Two proposed explanations, alone or in combination:

• Contamination released into the water from infrastructure containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC), high density polyethylene (HDPE), or other plastic materials that degrade when exposed to heat.
• Contamination that occurs when the smoke, hot gases, and chemicals (e.g., VOCs) from burning vegetation and structures are sucked into the water lines, which happens when pressure drops from broken lines or demand elsewhere in the system.

Then the part that matters to a house with no visible damage. VOCs can permeate into some materials (e.g., certain plastics, such as polyethylene, and rubber) and be released back into the water slowly, accumulating under stagnant conditions. And the factsheet states it directly: VOC contamination can be present without visible damage, because pipes and meters in the impacted area may still hold pressure and flow after a fire. The only way to determine if the water has elevated levels of VOCs is to collect water samples for analysis. Testing from impacted communities showed VOC concentrations at service connections that can exceed the Safe Drinking Water Act maximum contaminant levels, and in some cases residents were advised not to drink, cook, or bathe with the water.

What that means for your plumbing specifically

The EPA is clear about where the boundary of responsibility sits: individual property owners are typically responsible for their own plumbing (i.e., service connection from the meter to the building and indoor plumbing). Utilities usually are not required to sample inside your house.

Practically, and in order:

1. Follow your water provider's notice before you use anything. The California State Water Resources Control Board coordinates wildfire drinking water recovery with local systems, and the advisory for your address is the instruction that governs, not this page.
2. Do not assume an undamaged house means undamaged water. That is the exact case the EPA singles out.
3. If you are sampling your own plumbing, ask about stagnation. The factsheet explains that because VOCs leach out of materials over time, a period of stagnation should be incorporated into the sampling protocol, and that a certified laboratory can provide a collection protocol. There are currently no standard protocols for sampling homes, so a lab and your state or local health agency are the right people to ask.
4. If you are told to flush, flush in the right order. After utility water mains have been flushed, customers should be instructed to flush their building plumbing... from a tap (sink, spigot, etc.) closest to the service connection to the tap farthest from the service connection.
5. Treat a treatment device as a decision, not a default. The EPA notes such devices can work but have limits, and that where concentrations exceed their capability, VOCs pass through untreated.

A licensed plumbing contractor is the trade for repiping, service line work, and replacing fixtures and appliances that have taken smoke or heat. The testing question belongs to a certified laboratory and your water provider.

The contractor rule that changes after a declaration

California says this in the plainest words a licensing board has ever used: it is a felony to contract without a license in a declared disaster area. Its post-disaster consumer guide describes the situation the rule exists for - some out-of-state contractors and unlicensed California trades people want to help rebuild in natural disaster areas. However, without a California contractor license, it is illegal and punishable as a felony to perform contracting work in a disaster area where a state of emergency has been declared - with punishment that may include a fine of up to $10,000 or up to 16 months in state prison.

The board's consumer rules for the weeks after a fire:

• Avoid rushing into repairs, no matter how badly they are needed, and get at least three bids. Avoid hiring the first contractor who comes along.
• Be cautious about door-to-door offers of repair services and fliers or business cards that are left at your property.
• Do not pay more than 10 percent down or $1,000, whichever is less - the statutory cap on a home improvement down payment, with a narrow exception for contractors who have filed a blanket performance and payment bond, noted on the license detail page.
• Avoid paying in cash, and don't make the final payment until you are satisfied with the job and your local building department has signed off on the completed work.
• CSLB states that contractors working on a post-disaster job, from debris removal to rebuilding, must be licensed once the job reaches the state's threshold for labor and materials, and tells consumers to verify the contractor's license by checking online.

Running the check

The CSLB license check takes a license number, a business name or a personnel name, and it also carries complaint disclosure - a feature most state registers do not have. Verifying a California contractor's license covers what CLEAR means, how to read the classification, and the bond and workers' compensation fields. Classifications you are likely to need after a fire include C-36 plumbing, C-10 electrical, C-20 heating and air conditioning, and C-39 roofing.

Every California company listed here is matched to a current CSLB record for the classification that fits the trade, with the license number and the date of the check printed on the listing: plumbers in Los Angeles, electricians in Los Angeles, roofers in San Diego, general contractors in Los Angeles, or every California city we cover. What that adds to running the CSLB search yourself, and what it does not, is set out in the state lookup comparison.