Code Check: Plumbing By: Redwood Kardon, Michael Casey, and Douglas Hansen

Published by: Taunton Press ISBN: 1-56158-813-X 32 Pages, 8-1/2 x 11, Shipping Weight: 0.35 lbs.

This handy guide, referenced to both the Uniform Plumbing Code and the 2000 International Plumbing Code, provides answers to hundreds of commonly-asked plumbing questions.

This conveniently-sized, spiral bound book is specifically designed to be used on site for quick reference. The durable laminated pages withstand abuse on the job site.

Easy-to-use flip chart format summarizes national code specifications. It includes 85 drawings and 33 tables to answer questions on the plumbing code anywhere in the U.S. Published by Taunton Press.

Contents

Key-Abbreviations-Introduction

General Regulations, 2

Drainage, 4

Drainage, 6

Drainage, 8

Traps, 10

Vents, 12

Vents, 14

Water, 16

Water, 18

Gas Piping, 20

Water Heaters, 22

Water Heaters, 24

Fixtures, 26

Glossary-Inspections & Testing, 28

Introduction

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLUMBING

If you were to time travel back to Europe of 150 years ago there would probably be one overriding sensation you would experience. It stank! The unbathed people stank, the streets stank, and most urban rivers stank. There was no escaping it-the stench was overpowering even for the locals. It was not something you could overlook; it was an olfactory nightmare. Coincident with this stench was the high likelihood that you or your children would contract Typhoid- induced diarrhea and die a slow, agonizing death. The wealth of royalty could not protect you. Nobles and peasants died as equals.

It was probably not always like this. Up until the fall of the Roman Empire, bathing was actually looked upon as a good thing, and fouling your nest was seen as a bad thing. If your time machine could carry you back a few thousand years earlier to the Babylonian roots of Western Civilization, you probably would not have predicted the fetid future of Europe. The verdant Hanging Gardens of Babylon were the second wonder of the ancient world. One could imagine that these Babylonian celebrations of fresh water would predict an ongoing respect for this most precious of commodities in the civilizations that followed. Indeed up through the height of the Roman Empire this was the case.

In the dark ages that followed the fall of the Roman Empire, however, bathing became associated with the decadence of Rome. For about 1,200 years, filth was in. In 1762, Benjamin Franklin was looked upon as a crank for bringing a bathtub to Philadelphia. Not until the 1860s did these attitudes begin to change. With the growing acceptance of germ theory the costly correlation of poor sanitation and disease was quickly drawn. The understanding arose that human waste bears pathogenic microorganisms and must be isolated from potable water supplies. As a result, modem plumbing concepts quickly emerged. Such a fundamental idea to our modem minds was a revolutionary concept to urban planners of the 1860s.

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF PLUMBING

A modem plumbing system must provide potable water and hot and cold water for cleaning, a way to dispose of contaminated water, and a means to separate the two. Sounds simple, and the first principle then is to avoid cross- connections. The air gap required in the IRC and UPC between a faucet and waste water receptors (Fig. 50) is a demonstration of this need to separate fresh water from waste water or potentially contaminated water throughout the dwelling. When air gaps cannot be provided to maintain separation, back-flow prevention, anti-siphon, or vacuum breaker devices are required (Figs. 48 & 49).

Fixture drain traps (Fig. 19) maintain a liquid barrier between the sewage sys tem and the interior plumbing of a building. Without a trap to seal off plumbing fixtures, nasty things such as explosive methane gas, vermin, and hideous smells can find their way into your building. 19th-century plumbing systems often failed to have traps, and the resulting smell was the first notification you had that you were entering a dwelling with indoor plumbing. Vents protect traps against siphoning and also allow sewer gas backups to escape the system.

PLUMBING CODES

Until quite recently, there were different model code agencies for different regions of the country. In the Fast, the major organization was BOCA, the Building Officials and Code Administrators International. In the South, codes were written by SBCCI, the Southern Building Code Congress International. In the West, codes were written by ICBO, the International Conference of Building Officials. ICBO often cooperated with IAPMO, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, in creating plumbing and mechanical codes.

In the late 1990s, the 3 major code-authoring groups agreed to create a joint set of codes for nationwide adoption. The result is the International Code Council, or ICC, and they created the International Plumbing Code. At the same time, IAPMO continued to develop its Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC). In the year 2000, the ICC released a combined code for building, mechanical, plumbing, and electrical for dwellings up to 3 stories in height. It is called the International Residential Code, or IRC. IAPMO entered into an agreement with NFPA (publishers of the National Electrical Code) for cooperative development of codes, and they are planning a complete set of competing codes to the ICC Codes.

Code Check Plumbing is based on the 2000 IRC and the 2000 UPC. It appears that one or the other of these codes will be adopted in almost every building jurisdiction in the United States. In some cases, both might be adopted. As of press time, the California Building Standards Commission has recommended adopting the IRC with the exception of the plumbing and mechanical portions and to adopt the UPC. Check with your local jurisdiction to find the code that applies in your area. You will see throughout this book that the similarities.

Code Check Plumbing

Put hundreds of code facts at your fingertips so you build it right the first time

Authoritative and easy to use

• Correct answers to hundreds of common plumbing code questions
• Cross-referenced to the Uniform Plumbing Code and the International Residential Code
• Compiled by Certified Combination Building Inspectors and Master Plumbers

Saves time and money

• Find information fast
• Use it on site
• Speed work and reduce code violation call-backs
• Avoid accidental violations of unfamiliar codes

 

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