Building and gas experts have joined with manufacturers of corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST) to urge that the state of California continue to help protect lives and property by addressing what the manufacturers see as an oversight in the state's proposed Uniform Plumbing Code.

In written comments provided yesterday to the California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) and the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), CSST manufacturers, along with the Building Industry Association, the California Apartment Association, Southern California Gas, and the Southwest Gas Corp., among others, urged HCD and CBSC to continue including CSST as an approved gas piping material in residential and commercial structures. CSST has been an approved material in the California Mechanical Code since 1998, and has been used in construction in the state since 1993. Under the proposed code, however, CSST is not listed, and the manufacturers are asking that the proposed code be amended so California will continue to recognize CSST as an approved material.

CSST is a light-weight, flexible, stainless steel tubing with a polyethylene covering. Functionally, it does the same job as black iron pipe in providing gas to a residential or commercial structure. The product is currently in use throughout California. As of July 16, 2001, CSST is approved for use in all 50 states as well as Canada, Mexico, South America, several European countries, Australia and Japan, where it has been in use since 1980.

The Commission and the Housing Department are proposing to adopt the 2000 Uniform Plumbing Code developed by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO). Although IAPMO's 2000 code did not list CSST, IAPMO's Plumbing Technical Committee did vote in April 2001 to add CSST as an acceptable fuel gas material, stating it found no technical justification for not approving the product.

The Commission is expected to decide on the matter in the fall of 2001.