Following these procedures should prevent thousands of workers from getting sick and dying from Legionnaire’s disease and other types of waterborne illnesses associated with stagnant water.

A continued summary of significant revisions of the International Plumbing Code: water heaters as temperature-limiting devices.

A continued summary of significant revisions of the International Plumbing Code: water supply, and shower and bathtub valves.

A continued summary of significant revisions of the International Plumbing Code: bidet water temperature, drinking fountains, water supply, and shower and bathtub valves.

This is the continuation of a series of columns covering only the code changes that were approved as submitted from 2018 to the 2021 International Plumbing Code (IPC) change hearings.

The following is a summary of the significant code changes approved during the International Code Council hearings in Columbus, Ohio, and Richmond, Va.

Maintaining the plumbing systems and equipment in a building is essential to keep such systems safe.

Legionellosis is associated with two clinically and epidemiologically distinct illnesses: Legionnaires’ Disease, which is typically characterized by fever, myalgia or muscle pain, cough and clinical or radiographic pneumonia; and Pontiac fever, a milder illness without pneumonia.

Every year, in the United States, thousands of people suffer serious scald injuries in showers or tub-showers after the hot water system temperature has been adjusted. These injuries can be prevented with the proper controls and adjustments of the maximum temperature limit-stop on each shower valve.  

Legionnaires’ disease is a serious form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria that grows in a building water system and becomes aerosolized.