BSSTG
Gold Member
Greetings all,
Prevalent in this area of Texas are varied types of PVC used for gas piping. Most I've seen is sch 40 PVC but I've seen some other types I'm not familiar with. I have asked innumerable folks whether this was ever legal or not. I've talked with old timer master plumbers and folks working for the TSBPE and get differing answers.
One of my pals and mentors is a retired master plumber and Tx Plumbing Inspector who worked for the State as an inspector. He says he doesn't think it ever was allowed. Another guy told me that he thought it was allowed for a short while by one of the plumbing codes. That said, we have sch 40 PVC all over the place for gas distribution.
The rub. This stuff gets damaged, meter gets pulled by the gas company, which triggers an inspection by me. BTW, you have to be licensed by the State here to perform plumbing inspections. So I cannot approve a repair on this PVC as there is no way by Code which will allow a legal joint and/or pipe replacement of the same type pipe since the pipe is not rated for gas service.
Ole granny in my office awhile ago crying the blues about me making them replace the pipe with legal pipe. Woe is me. I have to stand my ground though. Like the state guys says, if anything went wrong it would be my fault!
Anybody else deal with situations like this? I wrote a newspaper column on the subject awhile back. Sounds like we need to reprint it!
BS
Prevalent in this area of Texas are varied types of PVC used for gas piping. Most I've seen is sch 40 PVC but I've seen some other types I'm not familiar with. I have asked innumerable folks whether this was ever legal or not. I've talked with old timer master plumbers and folks working for the TSBPE and get differing answers.
One of my pals and mentors is a retired master plumber and Tx Plumbing Inspector who worked for the State as an inspector. He says he doesn't think it ever was allowed. Another guy told me that he thought it was allowed for a short while by one of the plumbing codes. That said, we have sch 40 PVC all over the place for gas distribution.
The rub. This stuff gets damaged, meter gets pulled by the gas company, which triggers an inspection by me. BTW, you have to be licensed by the State here to perform plumbing inspections. So I cannot approve a repair on this PVC as there is no way by Code which will allow a legal joint and/or pipe replacement of the same type pipe since the pipe is not rated for gas service.
Ole granny in my office awhile ago crying the blues about me making them replace the pipe with legal pipe. Woe is me. I have to stand my ground though. Like the state guys says, if anything went wrong it would be my fault!
Anybody else deal with situations like this? I wrote a newspaper column on the subject awhile back. Sounds like we need to reprint it!
BS
