The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO®) recently completed Technical Committee Meetings toward the development of the 2018 editions of the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC®) and Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC®), both American National Standards.
During the May 2-6 meetings at the Sheraton Denver Downtown in Denver, the committees acted on more than 600 proposed amendments to the 2015 editions of the Uniform Codes.
Public proposals to the UPC address such issues as protection of ABS and PVC from UV rays; hangers and supports requirements for CPVC-AL-CPVC; waste fittings and overflows; specialty plumbing fixtures; personal hygiene devices; existing water closets; roof vent termination when covered by solar panels; single stack vent systems; joints and connections requirements for water supply piping systems; minimum fixture counts for mixed occupancies; and revising the provisions of Chapter 13 in accordance with the latest version of NFPA 99 (Health Care Facilities Code).
Public proposals to the UMC address such issues as solid-fuel burning appliances clearances; clothes dryers; clothes dryers transitions ducts; exhaust duct power ventilators; repair garages for natural gas-and-hydrogen-fueled vehicles; product-conveying duct systems; Type I and Type II hoods and exhaust systems; factory-made air ducts; plastic ducts; phenolic ducts; gypsum ducts; A2L and B2L refrigerants; refrigeration machinery rooms and several proposals involving hydronic systems.
The UPC Technical Committee requested that a Standards Task Group be formed to address standards referenced in the narrative of the UPC. The scope of the Standards Task Group is to review and develop recommendations, if appropriate, on Item #001 and Item #002 of the UPC to determine the proper updating of the referenced standards; on items submitted to the UPC that include references to standards; and on items having multiple standards that are addressed in the section to determine how the standards should be identified depending on the scope of the standard. The recommendations of the Standards Task Group will be forwarded to the UPC TC for consideration.
The UMC Technical Committee requested that an A2L Task Group be formed to address A2L refrigerants. The scope of the A2L Task Group is to review all of the A2L proposed code changes and propose recommendations to coordinate the requirements with a pending update to ASHRAE 15; provide recommendations as to how the UMC should address the A2L low global warming potential refrigerants. The recommendations of the A2L Task Group will be forwarded to the UMC TC for consideration.
In accordance with IAPMO’s American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited code development process, balloting through the UPC and UMC Technical Committees will begin on May 20 and conclude on June 10. The Report on Proposals (ROP) will be created from these balloted actions and distributed to committee members on Aug. 22.
All suggested code amendments/additions/deletions published in the ROP shall be reviewed by the public during the UPC and UMC Assembly Consideration Session at IAPMO’s annual Education and Business Conference, Sept. 25-30, in Albuquerque, N.M., and voted upon by eligible IAPMO members in attendance at that time.
For specific information about the UPC, please contact Enrique Gonzalez at (909) 230-5535 or email your question to enrique.gonzalez@iapmo.org. For the UMC, contact Hugo Aguilar at (909) 472-4111 or email your question to hugo.aguilar@iapmo.org.
Last modified: May 12, 2016