Rough-In Plumbing
CSI Division 22, Plumbing
The plumbing pipe and fitting installation performed inside walls, floors, and ceilings before they're closed up with drywall or flooring, such as supply lines, drain-waste-vent piping, and rough fixture connections, installed and pressure-tested while it's still visible and accessible for inspection.
Why it matters
Rough-in plumbing is one of the clearest examples of work that has to be inspected before it's covered, since a leak or code violation hidden behind finished walls can go undetected for years and cause serious water damage before anyone notices.
On a real project
A plumber installs supply and drain-waste-vent piping throughout a building's walls and floors, then pressure-tests the system and has it inspected before drywall and flooring close over it for good.
Who this matters most to
A Plumber installs rough-in plumbing to the plans and applicable plumbing code, coordinating pipe routing with framing and other trades to avoid conflicts. A Superintendent sequences other trades around plumbing rough-in inspection, since drywall and flooring crews can't close up walls until the plumbing inspection clears.
Where this goes wrong
A plumber completes rough-in work on a floor, but the required pressure test and inspection get skipped in the rush to keep the schedule moving, and drywall closes over the piping before the inspection happens. A subsequent inspection requires cutting into the finished wall to verify the work, an expensive and avoidable step caused by inspecting out of the required sequence.