Do I need a plumbing permit to replace a toilet in the District of North Vancouver?
No, if the new toilet goes in the same place. Section 3.3.7 of the District's Construction Bylaw 8271 excludes replacing a toilet, tub, shower, basin or sink when no valves, pipes or fixtures are rearranged, although the District's plumbing permit page lists only stoppages and leaks as exempt.
The by-law says so directly. Section 3.3 lists work that "this bylaw does not apply to", and item 3.3.7 is:1
the clearing of stoppages or the repairing of leaks in pipes, valves or fixtures, or the replacement of tubs, showers, toilets, lavatories or sinks if the work does not involve or require the rearrangement of valves, pipes or fixtures or hot water tanks.
The same by-law is where the District's permit requirement comes from. Section 4.6 says "a permit is required for any work regulated under this bylaw", and section 4.7 bars listed work, including installing, altering or repairing plumbing, without a permit "unless the work is specifically excluded from the ambit of this bylaw under a provision of this bylaw".1 Section 3.3.7 is that exclusion. So a toilet swapped for a toilet on the same flange, with no change to the piping, sits outside the permit requirement.
What the District's plumbing page says
The District's plumbing permit page reads broader. It says you need a plumbing permit "to install or alter fixtures and systems, including ... interior fixtures (toilet, sink, shower, dishwasher)", and lists only two things you do not need one for: clearing stoppages, and repairing leaks in pipes, valves or fixtures.2 Same-location replacement is not mentioned.
Read together, the page is a shorter summary and the by-law is the rule. But the page is what District staff and most homeowners will see first, so if you are relying on the exemption, get the District's building department to confirm it for your job before the work starts. That is a better outcome than a dispute afterwards.
Where the exemption stops
The condition is rearrangement. Moving the toilet, even slightly, moving or changing the flange or drain, rerouting the water supply, or touching the hot water tank takes the job outside section 3.3.7 and back into the permit requirement.1 Converting a tub to a walk-in shower with a new drain is rearrangement. So is adding a fixture that was not there before.
If you do need a permit
The page sets out who can apply. Either the registered homeowner or a licensed contractor, but a homeowner can apply and do the work only if the home is a detached single-family home, there is no secondary suite or other premises attached, and the homeowner lives, or intends to live, in it. Otherwise only a licensed contractor can apply.2
How this compares with Vancouver
The two rules are close to identical in substance. Vancouver's Building By-law exempts repairing or replacing a faucet, fixture or fixture outlet pipe "if there is no change to any other piping".3 The difference between the two municipalities is in how their web pages summarise the rule, not in the rule. Vancouver's page mentions same-location fixture replacement; the District's does not. The Vancouver side is covered in its own answer.
The City of North Vancouver is a separate municipality with its own permit rules, and this page does not cover it.
One question per page. The first sentence is the answer. When a figure changes, the page changes and the verified date moves. All answers.