Do I need a permit to do my own electrical work in New Hampshire?

Usually, yes. RSA 319-C:15 lets a homeowner make electrical installations in a single-family home they own and live in without an electrician's licence, but it says nothing about permits. The State Building Code still applies under RSA 155-A, and the city or town decides what permit and inspection the work needs. Concord, for example, requires a permit for installing, altering or repairing any electrical system.

Can I hire an unlicensed handyman to do plumbing in my New Hampshire house?

The plumbing statute allows it in a narrow case. RSA 153:36, VIII(c) exempts a property owner or the owner's agent installing, repairing or replacing plumbing in the owner's own single-family detached or townhouse residence, and the work must conform to the state plumbing code. The electrical and gas exemptions have no agent wording, so they cover only the owner. Check with your town before the work starts, because it may still require a permit and inspection.

Can a homeowner do their own gas line in New Hampshire?

Only in a narrow case. RSA 153:36, I exempts fuel gas fitting by the owner in an existing single-family, stand-alone house that the owner occupies as a primary residence, and the owner must still meet the code, application and inspection requirements. New construction, a townhouse and a second home are all outside that wording.

Does the homeowner exemption cover a two-family house or a condo?

Not by its words. The electrical exemption names a single-family residence, the gas exemption an existing single-family stand-alone structure, and the plumbing exemption a single-family detached or townhouse residence. For a duplex, a condo unit or a rental, hire a licensed electrician or plumber, or ask the building department first.

Can You Do Your Own Wiring or Plumbing in New Hampshire?

Yes, in most cases. New Hampshire law lets a homeowner do their own electrical work in a single-family house they own and live in, and lets an owner do their own plumbing too, but the exemption is from the state trade licence, not from the town's permit or inspection.

The catch is that the electrical, plumbing and gas rules are three separate statutes, and each draws its line in a different place. Read the one for your job before you buy the wire.

What does the New Hampshire homeowner exemption say?

Electricians are licensed under RSA 319-C, and the licence covers "electrical installations" regardless of voltage. The homeowner exception sits in RSA 319-C:15, II: nothing in the chapter prevents a homeowner from making electrical installations in or about a single-family residence they own and occupy, or will occupy, as their own home.

Plumbers and gas fitters are licensed under RSA 153, and their exceptions are listed in RSA 153:36. Paragraph VIII(c) covers plumbing. Paragraph I covers fuel gas fitting, and it is the tightest of the three.

Here is how they compare, straight from the statute text:

Rule	Electrical (RSA 319-C:15, II)	Plumbing (RSA 153:36, VIII(c))	Fuel gas (RSA 153:36, I)
Who may do it	The homeowner	The owner or the owner's agent	The owner
Which building	Single-family residence	Single-family detached or townhouse	Existing single-family, stand-alone
Must you live there	Yes, owned and occupied (or to be occupied)	Not stated	Yes, as your primary residence
New construction	Not excluded	Expressly included	Excluded ("existing")
Code and inspection	Not mentioned in the exemption	Must meet the state plumbing code	Code, application and inspection requirements apply

Two things stand out. Plumbing is the only exemption that extends to an "agent", so it is the only one that reaches a helper you hire. And gas is the only one that excludes a house you are still building.

Do you still need a permit from the town?

Almost always. The exemption only answers who may hold the tools. The State Building Code, which includes the electrical and plumbing codes, applies in every New Hampshire city and town under RSA 155-A, and the statute leaves permits and inspections to the municipality.

Concord's residential guide is a clear example. It lists permits as required for "installing, altering, or repairing any electrical, plumbing, gas, or mechanical systems", and it says separate trade permits are needed for electrical, plumbing and mechanical work (City of Concord Residential Building Guide). Hampton's building department lists electrical and plumbing work among the jobs that need a permit (Hampton building permit FAQs), and its inspection sheet calls for an electrical inspection when wiring is roughed in and a plumbing inspection when pipes are roughed in and under test (Hampton Required Inspections).

So the honest sequence is: confirm the exemption fits your house, then call the building department, then file, then leave the walls open until the inspector has seen the rough-in.

How often do New Hampshire towns record trade permits?

Constantly, which is the point. A homeowner wiring a basement is filing the same kind of record that licensed trades file every day. Here are the electrical and plumbing permits applied for in the four New Hampshire towns we hold records for, October 2025 through September 2026:

Town	County	Electrical	Plumbing
Concord	Merrimack	619	745
Hampton	Rockingham	457	222
Exeter	Rockingham	319	144
Seabrook	Rockingham	192	81

Concord also records gas as its own permit type (75 in the same twelve months), separate from plumbing. The Seacoast towns barely use a gas type at all, so gas work there is filed under another permit. Ask which form your town wants rather than assuming. The Merrimack County and Rockingham County pages list each town's building department.

When should you hire the licensed trade anyway?

When the work is bigger than the exemption, or bigger than your experience. A few honest cases:

A service upgrade or a new panel. Work at the service entrance is where a mistake costs the most, and it is a sensible place for a confident do-it-yourselfer to stop.
A heat pump or a new furnace. It touches electrical, mechanical and sometimes gas work at once. Our New Hampshire HVAC permit guide walks through who pulls which permit.
A duplex, a condo or a rental. None of the three exemptions names a two-family house, a condo unit or a property you rent out.
Gas in a new build or a vacation home. RSA 153:36, I covers neither.

When a licensed contractor does the work, RSA 155-A:2 makes the contractor responsible for meeting the code, and in Concord the licensed tradesperson calls for their own electrical, plumbing or mechanical inspection. That is worth something if an inspection fails.

What should you ask before you start?

Call the building department, or check its page in our New Hampshire building department directory, and ask four things:

Does the town accept a homeowner electrical, plumbing or gas permit for my house type?
Which permit form covers my job, and do I file online or on paper?
Which inspections will you need, and at what stage (rough-in, under test, final)?
Do you want a sketch, a load calculation or a fixture list with the application?

Write down who you spoke to. If you sell the house later, a closed permit with a passed final inspection is the cleanest answer to a buyer who asks about the wiring or the plumbing.