The International Code Council (ICC) and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) have ended negotiations on a joint venture to develop a single plumbing code and single mechanical code. Both parties issued press releases on the development.
According to IAPMO, its executives and board members unexpectedly received a memo from the ICC the last week of August that effectively terminated joint venture negotiations.
"Both parties were in agreement on key matters and a successful conclusion seemed only weeks away,"
Green said that a wide array of ICC's members, chapters and stakeholders provided extensive feedback on the outline of the proposed joint venture, and voiced significant concerns about the code development process, composition of committees, the base document, and ownership.
ICC uses a code development process that permits any interested party, including consumers and industry, to participate on committees, recommend code changes, testify, make motions and vote. However, the process reserves the final decision on code content for governmental members, who have no vested interest except public health and safety. IAPMO subscribes to an ANSI style consensus process that involves the participation of industry, governmental representatives and consumers, and reserves the decision on code content to a representative committee from various interest categories.
In August of 2005, ICC and IAPMO began formal discussions to explore the joint development of new plumbing and mechanical codes. Initiated by then ICC President Frank Hodge and IAPMO President Chris Salazar, both organizations signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2005. The parties committed to explore a joint venture that would allow them to work cooperatively to develop successor codes to the Uniform and International Plumbing and Mechanical Codes.
Meetings were held in November and February 2006 to discuss whether the organizations could agree to essential elements needed to create joint plumbing and mechanical codes. In May, both groups announced the points for a tentative agreement on certain key elements. In July, ICC hosted a National Town Hall Meeting to publicly share details of the proposed joint venture and receive feedback from ICC members and stakeholders.
CA Assembly Passes Bill to Reduce Lead in Pipes
On August 30, the California Assembly voted in favor of Assembly Bill 1953 by a count of 41-35 with three abstentions. AB 1953 calls for the reduction of lead content in plumbing pipes, fittings and fixtures to no more than 0.25%. The current law allows up to 8% lead for pipes and fittings and 4% for plumbing fittings and fixtures. If passed, the bill would take effect in 2010. According to the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute (PMI), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has until Sept. 30 to act on the bill.Before being voted on by the Assembly, AB 1953 passed the state Senate by a vote of 21-17 with two abstentions. On August 17, the bill passed through Senate Appropriations on a straight party-line vote: all Democrats voting "aye"
"Prevent Cooking Fires is Theme for Fire Prevention Week 2006
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has announced that this year's theme for Fire Prevention Week will be "Prevent Cooking Fires: Watch What You Heat." Fire Prevention Week is scheduled to take place October 8 through 14, 2006. The NFPA has been the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 80 years. During Fire Prevention Week an emphasis is placed on raising the public's awareness of fire prevention and safety with a special focus this year on the importance of preventing cooking fires in the home.NFPA studies show cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home fire injuries. Three out of four fire injuries reported each year occur in the home. It is vital to stress the importance of cooking safety as hundreds are killed and thousands are injured each year. Home cooking fires kill hundreds of Americans and injure roughly 4,000 more each year. Aside from death and injury, other personal losses are suffered with half a billion dollars in homes and their contents destroyed annually. NFPA offers detailed information about home cooking fires, including the report entitled Home Cooking Fire Patterns and Trends, along with advice for cooking safety and other valuable resources on the official Fire Prevention Week Web site,www.firepreventionweek.org.
ASHRAE Presents Distinguished Service Award to Chip Barnaby
ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc.) recently presented its Distinguished Service Award to Wrightsoft Corp. Vice President of Research, Charles "Chip" Barnaby for his numerous contributions to the society. These include serving and chairing committees on energy and load calculations, climatic information, and XML definitions for HVAC&R. Barnaby also is the primary author of "Chapter 29: Residential Heating and Cooling Load Calculations" in the 2005ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals and has penned two technical papers on new residential heating and cooling load calculation procedures that use a detailed heat balance procedure. Both papers also have received ASHRAE Technical Paper Awards and are being readily adopted throughout the industry. Wrightsoft is a provider of HVAC design and sales software in North America since 1986.New ASTM Standard for Sewer Line Rehabilitation Approved
A new ASTM International standard-F 2561, Practice for Rehabilitation of a Sewer Service Lateral and Its Connection to the Main Using a One-Piece Main and Lateral Cured-in-Place Liner-has been developed to make the process of keeping sewer pipelines connected more effective.Practice F 2561 is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee F17.67 on Trenchless Plastic Pipeline Technology, which is part of ASTM International Committee F17 on Plastic Piping Systems. Committee F17 is one of 138 ASTM technical standards-writing committees.
Practice F 2561 covers requirements and test methods for the reconstruction of a sewer service lateral pipe and its connection to the main pipe without excavation. This is done using a resin impregnated one-piece main and lateral cured in-place lining that is installed into the piping by means of air or water inflation and inversion. This installation, when cured, is a continuous, one piece, tight fitting, corrosion-resistant lining that extends over a predetermined length of the lateral pipe and the adjacent section of the main pipe. F 2561 is based on engineering practices in which the user can design a liner for external and hydrostatic loading by calculating the depth of the pipe, the water table and the flexural modulus versus the thickness of the cured-in-place pipe.
ASTM International standards are available for purchase. Call (610) 832-9585 or visit www.astm.org.
