One state board, mixed permit offices
Every Montana plumber, master or journeyman, is licensed by the State Board of Plumbers within the Department of Labor and Industry. Permits are another matter: Billings, Missoula, Bozeman and other cities with certified building programs issue their own, while the state Building Codes Program covers addresses where no local program exists. A rural replacement may therefore be inspected by a state inspector rather than a city one.
Rivers, wells and altitude
Billings pulls from the Yellowstone, Great Falls from the Missouri, and Missoula from the aquifer beneath the city, while much of rural Montana depends on private wells that can be hard or iron-heavy. Spring runoff sends silt into river-fed systems, so tanks in those towns reward a yearly drain. Mountain-town gas heaters may need high-altitude settings, and January supply water near freezing makes undersized tanks an everyday complaint. Our guide to swapping out a Montana tank covers new equipment.