The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) last week completed Technical Committee Meetings toward the development of the 2021 editions of the  Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) and  Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC), American National Standards governing the installation and maintenance of plumbing and mechanical systems nationwide.

The UPC committee acted on 247 proposals and generated three committee proposals. Topics generating the most debate included rehabilitation of existing building sewers, Legionella risks, and circuit venting, the latter prompting the technical committee to discuss potential language to clarify sizing guidance and what combination of fixtures are most applicable.

Due to compelling arguments regarding Legionella risks, the technical committee requested that a Legionella Task Group be formed to address mitigation of the waterborne pathogen and associated scald risk provisions in the appendices of the UPC. This tasks group’s scope includes reviewing and developing recommendations, if appropriate, on item No. 228 of the UPC to determine methods available to address the health and safety impacts of water temperature on Legionella and scald risks. Their recommendations will be forwarded to the UPC technical committee for consideration.

The UMC committee acted on 194 proposals and generated one committee proposal. A2L systems and duct systems were hotly debated, with numerous A2L refrigerant and duct system proposals submitted. The committee expressed concern about the amount of research still needed for such systems. More specifically on duct systems, heavy debate ensued on plastic piping within plenums, combustibles within plenums, fiberglass reinforced plastics (frp), and thermoplastics.

In accordance with IAPMO’s American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited consensus development process, balloting through the UPC and UMC technical committees will begin on June 1 and conclude on June 22. The Report on Proposals (ROP) will be created from these balloted actions and distributed to committee members on Aug. 20.

All suggested code amendments/additions/deletions published in the ROP will be available for public review. Eligible IAPMO members in attendance during the UPC and UMC Assembly Consideration Session in October will have the opportunity to vote on an Assembly Comment. This session will take place at IAPMO’s 89th annual Education and Business Conference, Oct. 2, at the Sheraton Downtown Hotel in Philadelphia.

For specific information about the UPC, please contact Enrique Gonzalez at (909) 230-5535 or email your questions to enrique.gonzalez@iapmo.org. For the UMC, contact Zalmie Hussein at (909) 218-8122 or email your questions to zalmie.hussein@iapmo.org.