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In 1995, in response to the need for a single set of coordinated construction codes, the three model code organizations — the Building Officials and Code Administrators, the International Council of Building Officials and the Southern Standard Building Code Congress International — conceived the idea to develop a new model code organization with a complete family of model codes.
Within a few years, the three organizations agreed to ratify the merger of the three organizations at their respective annual meetings, and the International Code Council (ICC) was officially born. It started with the 1995 draft of the International Plumbing Code (IPC). The first published international code, after a round of code hearings, was the 1996 International Plumbing Code.
The ICC uses an open and online consensus process that is recorded and available for all to view online to develop a set of coordinated and comprehensive model codes for adoption by state and local government entities. The ICC includes the following coordinated and cross-referenced model codes for adoption by state and local jurisdictions:
These 15 codes are developed and maintained in a three-year code update process. Code changes are submitted electronically, with the proponent providing a reason statement, supporting materials and a cost analysis. After the deadline for submission, the proposed code changes are printed in a proposed code change document (monograph), which is posted online and available for all to download and review before the first round of code hearings.
During the first round of hearings, the code committee listens to proponents and opponents’ testimony and then there is a committee discussion. The committee then votes on each code change and provides a reason for support or denial to allow the proponent to make corrections, if necessary. Two additional rounds of code hearings allow public comments and adjustments to the proposed code language.
These codes can be viewed for free online, or they can be purchased and downloaded from the International Code Council’s website at www.ICCsafe.org. These codes provide a basis for providing a minimum level of health and safety for building occupants.
IPMC ensures a minimum level of health and safety
In my opinion, the International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) is very important for the health and safety of people. When adopted by a jurisdiction, the IPMC applies to existing buildings. It can be used by a jurisdiction to develop a checklist of items for a building inspector or code official to look for to ensure that a structure is “maintained,” which ensures a minimum level of health and safety for occupants in these buildings, and better housing stock and home values for a community.
Chapter 1 of the 2024 IPMC covers scope and application in Part 1, and administration and enforcement is covered in Part 2.
Chapter 1, Part 1, tells us that the 2024 IPMC establishes the minimum requirements to provide a reasonable level of health, safety, property protection and general welfare (2024 IPMC Section 101.3 - Purpose) for occupants of buildings by regulating the maintenance and upkeep of buildings through annual or periodic inspections of building elements, such as the building structure, emergency egress routes, plumbing systems, electrical systems, fire protection and site conditions in both residential and nonresidential structures.
The scope of the 2024 IPMC is stated in Section 101.2 and states:
“101.2 – Scope. The provisions of this code shall apply to all existing residential and nonresidential structures and all existing premises and constitute minimum requirements and standards for premises, structures, equipment and facilities for light, ventilation, space, heating, sanitation, protection from the elements, a reasonable level of safety from fire and other hazards, and for a reasonable level of sanitary maintenance; the responsibility of owners, an owner’s authorized agent, operators and occupants; the occupancy of existing structures and premises, and for administration, enforcement and penalties.”
The administration and enforcement provisions of the IPMC provide for serious penalties for the failure to abide by the provisions of the IPMC, as may be determined by the code official. The IPMC provides that failure to comply with a code official’s notice to correct a violation can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or civil infraction, as determined by the local municipality, and the code official can also seek to have the violating structure removed, or the occupancy terminated (see 2024 IPMC Section 107.3 – Prosecution of Violation).
A fine can be imposed for each day the building is not repaired to meet the minimum requirements of the IPMC, as noticed by the code official (see 2024 IPMC Section 107.4 – Violation Penalties). All costs of the proceedings can be charged against the property as a lien. Furthermore, if a structure or equipment inside of the structure is found to be unsafe by the code official, the structure shall be condemned (see 2024 IPMC Section 109.1 – Unsafe Conditions).
“2024 IPMC section 109.1 – Unsafe Conditions. When a structure or equipment is found by the code official to be unsafe, or when a structure is found unfit for human occupancy, or is found unlawful, such structure shall be condemned pursuant to the provisions of this code.” (Emphasis added)
Section 109.1.2 details the “unsafe equipment” that makes up an “unsafe condition.”
“2024 IPMC section 109.1.2 – Unsafe Equipment. Unsafe equipment includes any boiler, heating equipment, elevator, moving stairway, electrical wiring or device, flammable liquid containers or other equipment on the premises or within the structure that is in disrepair or condition that such equipment is a hazard to life, health, property or safety of the public or occupants of the premises or structure.”
This section specifically names the unsafe equipment: “Any boiler, heating equipment, elevator, moving stairway, electrical wiring or device, flammable liquid containers … .” In addition to naming these specific equipment items, the section concludes with an all-encompassing reference to “other equipment on the premises or within the structure.”
However, for all such equipment, whether named or not, the disrepair or condition of the equipment can be sufficient to condemn a property, if the code official finds that the equipment is a hazard to life, health, property or safety of the public or occupants of the premises or structure.
Inspecting a property pursuant to the IPMC can be a little subjective, and determining unsafe equipment may depend on the skill level and knowledge of an inspector. An unsafe piece of equipment could be a corroded flue pipe on a water heater or furnace that allows carbon monoxide to leak into a building; this is an example of equipment in obvious disrepair that is hazardous to life.
However, another unsafe piece of equipment could be a plastic flue pipe on a piece of equipment, producing flue gas temperatures above the melting point of the plastic resin. This is an example of the condition of equipment, whether in disrepair, which is hazardous to life. The hazard to life presented by a plastic flue pipe is foreseeable, even if not yet realized. We should not need to wait until the plastic shows signs of discoloration or warping, melting or separation before calling it a hazard to life.
Even if the plastic is rated or listed as a flue material, if it is used on a piece of equipment that is not rated for plastic flue piping, this presents a hazard to life. Furthermore, when the heating surfaces of a boiler, water heater or furnace filter become fouled from lack of maintenance, the flue gas temperatures will go up and eventually exceed the temperature rating of any plastic material.
So, sometimes, compliance with the code during the construction inspection is not the same as eliminating a hazard to life due to improper maintenance during the continued use and occupancy of the structure. For this reason, the time interval between inspections and the checklist used by the inspector is important for property maintenance inspections.
Per the language of the 2024 IPMC Section 109.1.2, if a code official can condemn property because the “condition” of “equipment” inside of it is a hazard to life, then a residential, gas-fired, tank-type water heater, which can produce scalding hot water for distribution to the plumbing system and delivery from faucets without downstream mixing valves is a condemnable offense. Without downstream mixing valves, a water heater presents a foreseeable, even if not yet realized, hazard to life.
Another unsafe piece of equipment could be an old two-handle shower/tub-shower valve that does not compensate for temperature or pressure changes and does not have a maximum temperature limit-stop adjustment. These old two-handle faucets, or non-code-compliant faucets, can allow full hot water temperature of, for example, 170 F to flow from the faucet, which will cause third-degree, full-thickness burns immediately — and possibly death.
The temperature from various fixtures is required by the IPC to be limited to no more than 120 F for safety reasons. What most people do not realize is that this temperature limitation, achieved through the installation and adjustment of code-compliant valves, is not only required for new construction but is also required for existing buildings in those jurisdictions that adopt IPMC’s Chapter 5.
IPMC Chapter 5: Plumbing Facilities and Fixture Requirements
This chapter establishes minimum requirements for the installation, maintenance and location of plumbing systems and facilities, including the water supply system, water heating appliances, sewage disposal system and related plumbing fixtures. Sections marked with [P] are sections heard and controlled by the IPC Committee, of which I am currently a voting member.
Chapter 5 contains the following sections of relevance to this discussion:
“2024 IPMC section 501.1 Scope. The provisions of this chapter shall govern the minimum plumbing systems, facilities and plumbing fixtures to be provided.”
“2024 IPMC section 501.2 Responsibility. The owner of the structure shall provide and maintain such plumbing facilities and plumbing fixtures in compliance with these requirements. A person shall not occupy as owner-occupant or permit another person to occupy any structure or premises that does not comply with the requirements of this chapter.”
“SECTION 505 - WATER SYSTEM
“2024 IPMC section 505.1 General. Every sink, lavatory, bathtub or shower, drinking fountain, water closet or other plumbing fixture shall be properly connected to either a public water system or to an approved private water system. Kitchen sinks, lavatories, laundry facilities, bathtubs and showers shall be supplied with hot or tempered and cold running water in accordance with the International Plumbing Code.” (Emphasis added)
Thus, by incorporating, by reference, the IPC with respect to the supply of water, Chapter 5 of the IPMC requires that not only potable water be supplied (see 2024 IPC section 602 – Water Required) but also requires that the temperature of the water supplied to showers and tub-shower combinations be limited to no more than 120 F by the installation and adjustment of code-compliant valves (ASSE 1016/ASME A112.1016/CSA B125.16 or ASME A112.18.1/CSA B125.1).
The language of Section 505.1 of the 2024 IPMC, which requires the supply of hot or tempered and cold running water in accordance with the IPC, is a reference to Chapter 6 of the IPC, which governs “water supply systems, both hot and cold, for utilization in connection with human occupancy and habitation… .” (See Section 601.1 - Scope, of Chapter 6 – Water Supply and Distribution.)
Chapter 6 of the IPC has requirements for the provision of hot or tempered water at fixtures, and states, in Section 607.1 – Hot Water Supply System, the following:
“2024 IPC section 607.1 Where required. In residential occupancies, hot water shall be supplied to plumbing fixtures and equipment utilized for bathing, washing, culinary purposes, cleansing, laundry or building maintenance. In nonresidential occupancies, hot water shall be supplied for culinary purposes, cleansing, laundry or building maintenance purposes. In nonresidential occupancies, hot water or tempered water shall be supplied for bathing and washing purposes.”
In further delineating the requirement for hot or tempered water, the 2024 IPC, in Section 607.1.2, defers to the requirement for “protective shower valves” in Chapter 4 (IPC):
“2024 IPC section 607.1.2 - Tempered water temperature control. Tempered water shall be controlled by one of the following:
“1. A limiting device conforming to ASSE 1070/ASME A112.1070/CSA B125.70 and set to not greater than110°F (43°C).
“2. A thermostatic mixing valve conforming to ASSE 1017.
“3. A water heater conforming to ASSE 1082.
“4. A water heater conforming to ASSE 1084.
“This provision shall not supersede the requirement for protective shower valves in accordance with Section 412.3.”
Chapter 6 of the 2024 IPC requires the installation and adjustment of “protective shower valves.” Therefore, the 2024 IPMC, which incorporates the 2024 IPC in its section 505.1, also requires the installation and adjustment of “protective shower valves,” in accordance with Section 412.3 – Individual Shower Valves.
That section requires the installation and adjustment of code-compliant valves at all shower and tub-shower combinations to limit the temperature of water flowing therefrom to no more than 120 F. In those jurisdictions that adopt IPMC, Chapter 5, this is also required.
“2024 IPC section 412.3 - Individual Shower Valves. Individual shower and tub-shower combination valves shall be balanced-pressure, thermostatic or combination balanced-pressure/thermostatic valves that conform to the requirements of ASSE 1016 or ASME A112.18.1/CSA B125.16 or ASME A112.18.1/CSA B125.1. Such valves shall be installed at the point of use. Shower control valves shall be rated for the flow rate of the installed shower head. Shower and tub-shower combination valves required by this section shall be equipped with a means to limit the maximum setting of the valve to 120°F (49°C), which shall be field adjusted in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions to provide water at a temperature not to exceed 120°F (49°C). In-line thermostatic valves shall not be utilized for compliance with this section.”
Be mindful that the legal requirement for a sufficient supply of hot water for all household uses is the hot water equipment be sized to produce sufficient hot water for supply to the fixture (inlet). However, this is not the same as the requirement to limit water temperature delivered from those identified fixtures (faucets) to a temperature that will not cause a hazard to life.
Various industry codes and standards committees have identified the maximum safe hot water temperature as no greater than 120 F. This temperature still presents a risk of a scald burn hazard; however, it allows users some time to get out of harm’s way before an irreversible scald burn injury occurs. At 120 F, it takes 4.8 minutes for an adult male to receive a full-thickness burn, according to the Moritz & Henriques Burn Studies.
The IPMC is typically enforced by local building code officials. These officials approach codes to guide new construction and renovations, and they are triggered to respond to permit requests for inspections. Some are uncomfortable enforcing health and safety issues on private property, or they may lack the manpower, monetary resources or political will to enforce the IPMC on existing homes.
For these reasons, many jurisdictions exclude one- and two-family homes from the IPMC. However, perhaps a jurisdiction can require compliance with the IPMC for one- and two-family homes when they are sold, such as by requiring a permit for inspection for compliance with the IPMC before closing.
This option allows jurisdictions to require compliance with the IPMC upon the sale of a property, which would allow homeowners to be exempt until they sell their property. I understand that there are laws prohibiting government entry onto private property, which makes general enforcement of the IPMC difficult. Usually, only obvious blight or structural decay visible from the outside can trigger a violation notice.
The IPMC development process
IPMC is developed in a consensus process, with many stakeholders, including building owners, landlords, real estate companies and property management companies. These groups don’t want to see drastic code changes that could affect their profitability by requiring costly repairs. So, the participants are sensitive to these groups by ensuring the IPMC only addresses the minimum items for health and safety so as not to drive up costs.
The ICC has an open code change process whereby anyone who has access to a computer and the internet can submit a code change proposal to the ICC using the ICC’s code change software, CDP Access. Each proposal that is complete and has the required supporting documents, including a reason statement for the proposed code change, gets published in a monograph for all to review online weeks before the code change hearings.
At the code change hearings, the code committee reads the reason statement, listens to testimony from both proponents and opponents, and then holds committee discussion before voting in one of the following ways:
Approved;
As Modified (by the committee or by others during the code hearings);
Denied.
The code committee must provide a reason for its approval, disapproval or modification, which gives the proponent an opportunity to fix the proposal; some proposals only need their language fixed. Sometimes, denials are based on the fact that the subject may be covered elsewhere in the code.
Note, the code committee that hears the proposed code changes is determined by the ICC, and the proponent of a code change proposal need not make the determination of the reviewing committee. However, the letter notation before a section number in the IPMC indicates the code committee that will hear a code change proposal to that section.
All sections in Chapter 5 of the IPMC are denoted by [P] and will be heard by the plumbing code committee. In the 2024 IPMC, none of the subsections under 109 - Unsafe Structures and Equipment, are denoted with an [A]; this means that this section (without any letter designation) is under the review of the IPMC Committee of the ICC, whereas an [A] means that the section is under the review of the Administrative Committee of the ICC. The reason ICC has an Administrative Committee is so that the administrative sections of each code in the ICC family are similar.
Yet, the division of review may overlap. For example, Section 107.3 – Prosecution of Violation, which is denoted as under the review of the Administrative Committee of the ICC by [A], requires, as a precursor to prosecution, that the code official must give notice of violation in accordance with Section 109.4 – Notice, which is a section under the review of the IPMC Committee of the ICC.
However, the committee that reviews any code change proposal is determined by the ICC, and the proponent of a code change proposal need not make the determination of the reviewing committee.
Public comments on the code hearing results
Anyone, including the original code change proponent, may submit a comment on a code change to modify the language after the code hearings and offer corrections to address any committee comments or reason statements for denial, or simply to correct an error. Comments require a further reason statement for each code change regardless of the action by the committee.
Public comments must be made in the CDP Access software, similar to the code change process, for consideration during the subsequent second round of code hearings and for the third round of hearings with the full assembly. Proposals accepted by the committee need a majority vote by the full assembly, while resubmitted or revised proposals require a two-thirds majority vote.
Next month, in Part 2 of this column, I will provide a checklist of items to look for during a property maintenance inspection.