Juneau, Alaska — The state of Alaska, a longtime user of the Uniform Codes, has formally adopted the 2009 editions of the Uniform Plumbing Code® (UPC), Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code® (USPSHTC), and Uniform Solar Energy Code® (USEC), the office of Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell announced.
Effective Feb. 23, 2011, these adoptions represent, with minor amendments, the minimum plumbing standards to be followed throughout the state of Alaska. Each of the three codes has been updated from Alaska’s previous adoption of the 2006 edition and will govern the design, installation and maintenance of plumbing systems, pools and spas, and solar thermal and photovoltaic systems throughout the state and protect the health and safety of the nearly 700,000 Alaskans who use them.
Regulations were also added effective in 2013 requiring 16 hours of continuing education per year for state licensed plumbers, a minimum of eight of those hours devoted to the UPC.
“It is reassuring to know the people of Alaska will continue to be protected by IAPMO’s comprehensive collection of Uniform Codes and we look forward to the association’s assistance in providing the necessary continuing education and training through the excellent seminars they offer our industry,” said Peter Jurczak, plumbing/boiler inspector, Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Introduced in Los Angeles in 1928 and formally published as the Uniform Plumbing Code in 1945, the UPC is developed to govern the installation and inspection of plumbing systems as a means of promoting the public’s health, safety and welfare. The USPSHTC and USEC were both first published in 1976 to govern plumbing systems specifically related to pools/spas and solar installations and their component products, respectively.
The 2009 edition of each code has been designated an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
“On behalf of IAPMO’s passionate and dedicated membership, I want to express gratitude to the state of Alaska for its continued support of IAPMO’s commitment to health and safety through consensus-developed Uniform Codes,” said IAPMO CEO GP Russ Chaney. “In turn, we pledge our collective knowledge and expertise toward the continued training and education of Alaska’s highly-skilled plumbing
workforce.”
Sponsor of the Uniform Codes, IAPMO – The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials – works in concert with government and industry for safe, sanitary plumbing and mechanical systems. Learn more about IAPMO at www.iapmo.org.
Last modified: March 25, 2011