PM Engineer Chief Editor Nicole Krawcke had the chance to chat with Jon Dommisse, Bradley Corp.’s vice president of marketing, to discuss how these commercial restroom trends are evolving in 2023, what the hottest products are and how codes are influencing the design of these spaces.

Have you ever started your day thinking, “Ahh, coffee!” only to have it turn into “ouch!” as the steaming hot beverage hits the roof of your mouth? If so, you have experienced scalding.

Building and safety codes are near and dear to my heart as they, undoubtedly, have a significant impact on public health, safety and welfare. Buildings in every jurisdiction in the United States use some version of building and safety codes. In addition, building and safety codes cover most products manufactured for the building and construction industries.

In 2021, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave America’s water infrastructure a failing grade. Drinking water scored a C-, while stormwater received a D and wastewater received a D+.

Happy 2023, PM Engineer readers! Thank you for spending this part of your day with me as I discuss topics in compliance. Let me introduce myself. I, Misty Guard, am a policy wonk, bibliophile, gastronome, musicophile, techie nerd and scotch whiskey aficionado.

This month marks the 28th anniversary of the founding of PM Engineer magazine. The magazine was started by four individuals: George Zebrowski, my publisher; Tim Fausch, the group publisher; Jim Olsztynski, my editor; and myself, the plumbing/mechanical engineer. Our concept was to create a new magazine addressing the wet side of plumbing and mechanical engineering.

At the recent ASPE Convention and Expo, I visited friends at the Leonard booth. I was invited to see their new electronic thermostatic mixing valves. Simply stated, it was cool. The adjustment of the hot water temperature setting was quick and easy on the basic model. The other models can connect to the building management system, or even your cell phone.

I am often asked, “How do you remove the stranglehold that the union has on the Uniform Plumbing Code and Uniform Mechanical Code?” My answer is always the same — you outvote them at the Annual Conference at the end of the code change cycle.

The National Standard Plumbing Code (NSPC) is often called the New Jersey Plumbing Code. That is because New Jersey is the only state that adopts this code on a statewide basis. Other adoptions are by local jurisdictions in various states.

The first time I heard the terms “paruresis” and “parcopresis” was in the mid-1980s at a plumbing code hearing. In those days, there was no Google to look up the words. I listened to the chief plumbing inspector from a Midwestern state explain why this was an important issue in the plumbing profession.