OtiPICE OP 

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

Ausmm, TEXAS 

PRICE DANIEL 

ATTORNEY GENERAL January 24, 1948 

Mr. C. E. Belk, Administrator, 

Board of Plumbing Examiners, 

Austin, Texas 

Opinion NO. V-481. 

Dear Mr. Belk: 

Re: Applicability of the 

Plumbing License Law 

of 1947 to the operator of an electric 

sewer cleaner. 

Your letter requesting our opinion states, 

in part, as follows: 

"(We3 have received several inqulr~ies 

from companies whose business It is to ma$ntain or clean out drain pipes, sewer pipes 

and appurtenances carrying waste from buildings to the sewer line. 

"In a majority of cases no plumbing 

fixtures, pipes, or joints are removed, altered, installed or repaired. 

'Would you please give us an opinion 

on the following question: 'Would the operator of an electric sewer cleaner which does 

not require the removal, installation or repair of any fixtures, pipes, .jolnts or plumbing appurtenances, constitute the operator 

thereof a person engaging in, working at, or 

conducting the business of plumbing, as defined under the Plumbing License Law of 1947, 

being Article 6243-101 of Vernon's Annotated 

Civil Statutes?"' 

The pertinent provisions of Article 6245 

101, Vernon's Civil Statutes, are as follows: 

51 
522Mr...C. E.,Belk - Page.2 (v-481) 

. 

“SBC. 2. (a> The word or term 

'plumbing' ,as used in this Act means 

and shall inc.lude: (1) All piptng, fixtures, appurtenances and.appliances for 

a supply of ~water or gas, or both, for 

.a11 personal or domestic purp~oses in and 

about buIldlngs where a person or per-. 

sons live, work.or. assemble; all piping, 

fixtures, ap'purtenances andappliances 

out:side a building connecting'the buildingwlth the: sourcs,of water or gas supply, or both, on the premises;.or the. 

main in the street, alley or at the curb; 

all piping, fixtures, appurtenances, appliances, drain or waste pipes carrying. 

waste water or sewage from or within a 

building to the sewer service lateral at 

the curb or in the street'or alley.or 

other disposal terminal holding private 

'or domestic sewage; (2) the~installation, 

repair and maintenance of. al&.piping, 

fixtures, appurtenances and appliances 

in and about buildings where a person or 

persons live, work or assemble;for a 

supply of gas, water, or both, or disposal of waste water or sewage. . . . 

"Sec. .3. The following acts, work 

and conduct shall be expressly permitted 

without 'license: . V . 

"(c>. Plumbing work done by anyone 

who is regularly employed as or acting 

as a maintenance man or maintenance engineer, incidental to.and in connection with 

the business in which he is employed or engaged and who doesnot engage in the occupation of a plumber for the general public;... 

"Sec. 14. . . . no person, whether 

as a master plumber, e . . employing plumbjourneyman plumber, or otherwise, shall 

Ziage.in work at, 

oft plumb&g 

or conduct the business 

in this state or serve as a 

plumbing inspector as herein, defined, except as herein .specifically~exempted from 
53 

Mr. C. E. Belk - Page 3 (V-481) 

the provisions of this Act, unless such 

person is the holder of a valid license 

as provided for by this Act; and . . . 

it shall be unlawful for any personto 

engage in, work at, or conduct the business of plumbing in this state or serve 

as a plumbing inspector as herein defined, except as herein specifically exempted from the provisions of,this Act, 

unless such person is the holder of a 

valid license issued under the provisions of this Act and provided for~hereby; and it shall be unlawful for any 

person, firm, ore corporations to engage 

In or work at the business of installing 

plumbing and, doing plumbing work:except 

as specifically herein provided unless 

such installation, or plumbing or plumbing work be under the supervision and 

control of a plumber licensed .under this 

Act. And it Is expressly'provided that 

the provisions of Article 122 of the Penal Code of Texas shall apply to violations of this Act, and said Article 122 

of the Penal Code and the penalties therein provided are hereby expressly referred 

to." 

Where a statute defines a word or group of 

words, that definition is binding on the courts (Hurt 

v. Cooper, Tex. Sup. 110 S. W. (2d) 896 904), for in 

all Interpretations one should look diligently for the 

Intention of. the Legislature. R.C,S. 1925, Art..lO, 

Set,. 6, P. C. Art. 7. 

In State V. Gottstein, (Mix+) 228 R.W. '221, 

125A'.L.R. ~715, it was,held,that one who was engaged In 

cutting out' and removing from a house sewer the roots of 

trees and shrubs which had gained ,entrance therein and 

obstructed the flowof sewage therefrom Into the city 

sewer, using for the purpose an electrically operated 

cutting instrument inserted in one of the basement cleanouts in the drainage ,system, wafter ~removing a cleanout 

cap or cover, the position of the tlles.in the'sewer being in no manner disturbed, and there being no alteration 

or addition made in the structure of the tiles, could not 
54 Mr. C. Z. Belk - Page 4 (v-481) 

be convicted ofviolating an ordinance of the City of 

Minneapolis which made it unlawful for an unlicensed 

person to "construct, extend, alter.or repair any 

plumbing work or house drainage. . .I' Said the Court: 

"The work which defendant did on 

the occasion in question is not claimed 

to have been a constructfon, extension, 

or alteration of any plumbing or house 

drainage system prohibited by the ordinance unless done by a licensed plumber. 

But it is contended that it comes within the meaning of the word 'repair' in 

the ordinance. It 'is well known that 

in ~every house plumbing and sewage sys--'~ 

tern there are cleanouts provided where 

by the use of an ordinary wrench the 

cap or cover may be'removed and entrance 

made to remove or clean out obstructions. 

Often a simple contrivance used by one 

not a licensed plumber may remove the 

clogging matter. Nothing in the system 

is out of order or in need of repair. 

Nothing need be done to the tile or pipe 

in which the obstruction is found other 

than remove the same, that is, clean.the 

pipe or tile. . . . 

"Cutting off and removing the roots 

inside the tile did not make good any defects in the tile itself." 

You have further verbally informed us that 

the electric sewer cleaner Is substantially of the same 

general character as the one described in the Gottstein 

case and is inserted in the sewer system in the manner 

hereinbefore described. The only part of the sewer system that is in anywise disturbed is the usual.metal cleanout cap or plug found in the metal part of the sewer line 

and so fastened or held in place that it may be easily 

removed or replaced. 

Subsection (21, Section 2, of the statute 

describes the term "plumbing" as follows: 

"The installation, repair and maintenance of all piping, fixtures, appurtenances and appliances In and about buildings where a person or persons live, work 
Mr. C. E. Belk - Page 5 (v-481) 

or assemble, for a supply of gas, water, 

or both, or disposal of waste water or, 

sewage." 

person to 

Section 14 makes It a penal offense for any 

"engage in, work at, or conduct the business 

of plumbing in this state. . . except as specifically 

exempted from the provisions of this Act, unless such 

person is the holder of a valid license as provided by 

this Act. 

It is perfectly obvious that a person who 

removes an obstruction from a sewer pipe or line by a 

method "which does not require the removal, installation or repair of any fixture, pipes, joints, or plumbing appurtenances," other than the removal and replacement of the usual clean-out cap or plug in the sewer 

line, does not install or repair any piping, fixtures, 

joints or plumbing appliances.. State v:Gottstein, supra. 

'. The word %aintenance," contained~ln the 

above quoted statutory definition of "plumbing," is, In 

our opinion, of no particular significance.. That word, 

as used in the statute, means the same thing as "maintain." These two words are frequently used in the sense 

of keeping a thing in repair. E. R. Kelly.Co. v. United 

States, 17 C. C. P. Ai, 30, 32: The words 9epair" and 

"maintain" have often beenheld by,the courts of'this 

and other jurisdictions to.mean practically the~~same 

thing. Missouri K. & T. Ry. Co. of Texas v. Bryan, 107 

S. W. 572; McChesney v. Village of Hyde Park, 37 N. E. 

858, and authorities there cited. Therefore, we conclude that the words "repair" and Qaintenance,ll as used 

in this statute, are.synonomous and mean the same thing 

- "to restore to a sound or good,state after decay, injury, dilapidation, or partial destruction," one of the 

definitions given by Webster. 

A sewer pipe or line cleaned by the method 

and in accordance with the facts stated is neither installed, repaired nor maintained. The physical structure 

of the drainage system is not materially disturbed. The 

only reason why it does not properly function is due to 

the presence therein of some substance which obstructs 

the usual free flow of sewage through it, and not to the 

decay, injury, dilapidation, or partial destruction of 

the pipe or line. :' 

55 
56 

Mr. C. E. Belk - Page 6 (v-481) 

After a careful consideration of the statute, we have concluded that the cleaning of a sewer 

pipe by a person using an electric sewer cleaner, which 

does not require the removal, installation or repair of 

any fixture, pipes 

er than the i 

joints, or plumbing apparatus, othremova of the usual clean-out cap or plug 

of the sewer pipe .for the purpose of inserting the cleanErwin the pipe and the replacement thereof, does not 

come within the meaning of *lplumbing,w as that term is 

defined in the statute. Therefore, the operator of such 

a cleaner is neither engaged in, working at, or conducting the business of "plumbing" within the purview of The 

Plumbing License Law of 1947, Article 6243-101, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes. 

SUMMARY 

The operator of an electric sewer 

cleaner which does not require the removal, installation or repair of any fixtures, 

pipes, or plumbing appliances, other than 

the removal of the usual clean-out cap or 

plug of the sewer pipe for the purpose of 

inserting the cleaner in the pipe and the 

replacement of the-same, is not engaged 

in, working at, or conducting the business 

'of "plumbing" within the meaning of that 

term as defined in The Plumbing License 

Law of 1947. Art. 6243-101, V.C.S; State 

V. Gottsteln, 228 N. W. 221, 125 A. L. R. 

715. 

Yours very truly, 

ATTORAEY GERRRAL OF TEXAS 

WI'B:wb 

BY 

Bruce W. Bryant 

Assistant 

APPROVED: