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Happy Holidays from the King County Plumbing & Gas Piping Program!
Fabricated stainless steel fittings and 3rd party listings – Based on stakeholder conversations, we are postponing enforcement of 3rd party listing requirements for fabricated stainless steel fittings. This policy is now planned to coincide with the 2021 plumbing code cycle (currently projected to be March 15, 2024). While the 3rd party listing requirement didn't change in the 2021 code cycle, these cycles are usually when designers, engineers, and contractors expect to adjust their internal processes to comply with updated code provisions. Basing enforcement on a project code cycle will simplify compliance checks and give local contractors a bit more time to adjust.
Going forward, projects permitted under the 2018 and earlier code cycles will not be required to provide listing information for fabricated stainless steel fittings. For projects designed and permitted under the 2021 and future code cycles, 3rd party listing information must be provided upon request for any fabricated stainless steel fittings used within potable domestic water systems.
Make sure your firm is represented – join our Policy Advisory Committee! – The King County Plumbing & Gas Piping Program has made a strategic effort to work with local contractors and engineers in developing policy. We currently have a Policy Advisory Committee consisting of (16) private companies, (4) trade groups, and (4) different jurisdictions. Any company or individual with a direct stake in how plumbing and gas code enforcement is conducted within our jurisdiction is welcome to sign up online.
We will limit participation to (1) person per company, so if your firm is already represented, there is no need to sign up again. Current and future topics for discussion include: how and where AC condensate may discharge, review of proposed updated water system disinfection guidelines, and review of our updated P-20 document outlining submittal requirements for single-stack vent systems (Sovent/Provent).
Once signed up, you will be included in group emails where you will be given the opportunity to provide feedback on various proposed policy updates. If you have no opinion on a particular topic, you are welcome to not respond. Any feedback received is gathered, reviewed, and used to help inform the final policy decisions that get posted on our website.
Does that have to go through plan review? – There are certain occupancy types listed on our Occupancy and Use document that always require plan review, no matter the size and scope. This usually has to do with a potential cross-connection risk (in the case of labs or schools), or other factors that may cross jurisdictional lines that we need to be aware of (daycares and pet businesses for example). Something as simple as relocating a single sink in a middle school or adding a lavatory in a daycare will require plan review. Before pulling an over-the-counter permit, please take a moment to double check the Occupancy and Use list and make sure plan review is not required for that project type. If there are any questions, we are always willing to assess the project on a case-by-case basis and provide confirmation. For help with this determination, please email planreviewinfo@kingcounty.gov.
Townhouse permitting – When pulling a permit for a Townhouse or Rowhouse, it is important to understand the distinction between definitions referenced within the Building Code and Residential Code. A ‘Townhouse’ is the building that contains three or more ‘Townhouse Units’. A ‘Townhouse Unit’ is the actual unit itself, and includes independent utilities and fire-rated partitions from the foundation to the roof. The King County plumbing & gas program requires a separate permit to be pulled for each ‘Townhouse Unit’.
Townhouse Units of any size with separate individual utilities and demising walls extending from foundation to roof are currently exempt from plan review. Townhouses that include a shared parking garage, amenity space, courtyard, etc. most likely will require plan review. When plan review is required, plans must be submitted as (1) set under the first (primary) permit number. Once plans are Approved, the applicant will need to pull additional over-the-counter permits for each Townhouse Unit within the project except for (1) which will be permitted under the original permit number that went through plan review. Please remember, the applicant is responsible for ensuring addresses are updated on permit(s) to reflect any lot line adjustments that occur prior to permit ‘final’.
By Dave Price, Assistant Chief Plumbing Inspector, Public Health - Seattle & King County
As many of you know, the Uniform Plumbing Code has long prohibited offsetting a fixture vent horizontally less than six inches above the flood level of the fixture being vented (2018 UPC/SPC 905.3). There are some good reasons for this. If there is a partial (or full) backup in the drainage system, any portion of the horizontal vent below the flood level of the drain will become flooded. Drainage pattern fittings and adequate grading is required when this type of installation is approved so that when the blockage is cleared, the flooded portion of the vent pipe will empty. In some cases, there may be solids in the drainage system that settle out and end up getting stuck in the horizontal vent piping. Unlike waste piping, there is no upstream waste flow that will clear out these settled solids. After time, they become dried out and difficult to remove, and the vent itself may become partially or fully obstructed.
This code section does make an allowance for horizontal venting if the vent cannot be taken off vertically due to structural conditions. In times past, this condition was often approved without any demonstration of an actual structural condition being present. As our program continues to improve consistency and transparency, we have attempted to reign in those previous allowances and adhere more strictly to the prescriptive code. This puts everyone (designers and contractors) on a level playing field without having to question which written or unwritten policies may or may not be in effect at any given time.
So what does our jurisdiction consider a “structural condition”? The definition is fairly limited, and examples include a grade beam, structural beam (wood or steel), or impassable obstruction(s). If you have a drain or other floor-mounted fixture requiring a vent that is located, for example, in an open warehouse, a parking garage, or a large mechanical room where the drain cannot be located within the maximum trap arm distance (per Table 1002.2) of a vertical wall, that would qualify, provided the effluent is liquid waste only and with prior approval. However, if the fixture is located within a kitchen, storage room, or similar space where the drain can be relocated to be within the maximum trap arm distance, then the plan reviewer or field inspector will require the drain to be relocated so that the vent can be installed vertically. Simply having to core-drill through a concrete slab to install a vertical vent is not considered a “structural condition”.
“What if my Approved plans show horizontal venting below a fixture flood level, does that mean it will be approved in the field?” It depends. If the horizontal vent is specifically called out with a keyed note, flag note, or other text on the plans, then the field inspector will know the plan reviewer looked at that particular location and approved it (after confirming a structural condition exists). In that case, it will be approved in the field. If there is not a specific note at that particular location on the plans, the field inspector will consider it to be a code violation that was mistakenly overlooked by the plan reviewer and will require the piping to be reconfigured to vent vertically unless a structural condition can be demonstrated to the field inspector.
Our hope is that putting out articles like this will help limit project delays and unforeseen costs due to field changes that could have been avoided if addressed during the design and review process. If you have ideas for future articles that would address recurring inspection issues you have noticed on your projects, please send a note to: planreviewinfo@kingcounty.gov.
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