Usually yes. The International Plumbing Code calls for a full-open valve on the water supply pipe entering every dwelling unit, unless the pipe serves a single fixture with its own stops. Many multi-tenant buildings need a tenant main shutoff (three stories or less, 2024 code). Access and labels are required too. Cities adopt different code editions.
What does the code require at each unit?
The rule is in Section 606.1 of the IPC, titled "Location of full-open valves." It lists where these valves go. Three items matter most for apartments.
- At each dwelling unit. Item 6 says a full-open valve goes "on the entrance to every water supply pipe to a dwelling unit, except where supplying a single fixture equipped with individual stops." This is the unit shutoff.
- At each tenant in a multi-tenant building. Item 2.1 says that in multiple-tenant buildings with a common water supply piping system, "a main shutoff valve shall be provided for each tenant." The 2024 text applies this tenant-main rule to multiple-tenant buildings with a common water supply other than one- and two-family dwellings, "three stories or less in height." The riser and down-feed valve rules below apply in buildings of any height.
- At the building entrance. Item 2 puts a full-open valve on the water distribution supply pipe at the entrance into the structure, and item 1 puts one on the building water service pipe near the curb. Item 3 puts one on the discharge side of every water meter.
So a typical apartment has three layers of shutoff. The service valve near the curb and the valve at the building entrance shut off the whole property. A valve at each unit shuts off a single apartment.
What about risers? In a taller building, water travels up through riser pipes. Item 4 requires a valve at the base of every water riser pipe, except in multiple-family residential occupancies that are two stories or less, and in one- and two-family homes. Item 5 requires a valve at the top of every water down-feed pipe in occupancies other than one- and two-family homes. These let a plumber isolate a riser or a set of floors.
What about the water heater? Item 8 requires a full-open valve on the water supply pipe to every water heater. A shared boiler room or a heater in each unit both count, so a unit heater should have its own valve.
Do fixtures also need their own shutoffs?
Yes, in most cases, and this is a separate rule from the unit valve. Section 606.2, "Location of shutoff valves," says shutoff valves go on the fixture supply to each plumbing fixture, on the water supply to each sillcock, and on the water supply to each appliance or mechanical equipment. That is the small angle stop you see under a sink or behind a toilet.
There are exceptions. The section leaves out bathtubs and showers in one- and two-family homes. The 2024 text also excepts individual dwelling or sleeping units with unit shutoff valves in hotels, motels, boarding houses and similar occupancies. A unit shutoff can therefore stand in for some fixture stops in that case, but only for the listed occupancies and only when the unit valve is there.
Our page on how to shut off water to a fixture shows what the fixture stop does. Our page on replacing a toilet shutoff valve covers a common repair.
What about access and labels?
The code does not stop at putting a valve in. Section 606.3 says "access shall be provided to all full-open valves and shutoff valves." A valve buried behind a wall with no panel does not meet that rule. Section 606.4 says service and hose bibb valves must be identified, and that other valves not next to the fixture or appliance they serve must be identified to show what they serve. In an apartment, that means the unit valve should be tagged so a tenant, a manager or a maintenance worker knows which unit it controls.
Access matters in an emergency. If a pipe bursts in one unit, staff need to reach that unit's valve quickly. If the valve sits inside a locked apartment or above a ceiling with no panel, water keeps flowing while someone looks for a key or a ladder. Building owners who want a plan for that can read our guide to planning a commercial water shutoff.
Which code applies in Arizona?
Arizona cities adopt the plumbing code themselves, and the edition varies. Scottsdale's building codes page lists the 2021 IPC with city amendments, and the city's Chapter 6 changes do not touch Section 606. Phoenix enforces the 2024 IPC as amended by the city. Phoenix publishes its amendments in a document titled "Amendment to 2024 International Plumbing Code (IPC)." That document does not change Section 606, so the base 2024 text on valves is the starting point in Phoenix. Phoenix also publishes amendments to the Uniform Plumbing Code, so ask the city which code governs a given job.
Two things follow from that.
- The 2024 IPC requires the dwelling-unit supply valve and sets the tenant-main provision described above for common systems three stories or less in height. Check the adopted text for your city and project.
- A city can amend any section. Before you rely on a rule for a specific project, look at your city's current amendments or ask the building department.
An older building may predate these rules. If a unit has no shutoff valve, that does not always mean the building is out of compliance, because the code that applied when it was built may have been different. The building department can tell you whether a repair or remodel triggers a requirement to add one.
What should a property owner do?
- Find the valves. Walk the building and note where each unit's valve is, whether you can reach it, and whether it is labeled.
- Test them. A valve that has not moved in years may leak or fail to close. Turn each one gently, and plan to replace any that stick.
- Keep a map. A simple chart of which valve serves which unit saves time in a leak.
- Ask about missing valves. If units have no shutoff, a plumber can tell you what it would take to add them and what permit the city requires.
HQ Plumbing and Air can locate, test and replace unit shutoff valves and add access and labeling. We are licensed and insured, we give free estimates, and you get the price up front.