On Jan. 4, the American Society of Sanitary Engineering removed all listings to the 1996 edition of the ASSE Standard 1016, Performance Requirements for Individual Thermostatic, Pressure Balancing, and Combination Pressure Balancing and Thermostatic Control Valves for Individual Fixture Fittings. In past years, a product listed to ASSE 1016-1996 could be used in applications requiring the mixing of hot and cold water. As product listings were granted to ASSE 1016-1996, a question was raised: How can an inline device installed “where the user cannot adjust temperature and allows further mixing of hot and cold water downstream of the device” provide the bather with thermal shock protection?

It was never the intent to negate the thermal shock protection that the standard had provided the user/bather. Because of this issue, additional standards were developed.

For a wider range of clearly defined applications, the 1016-1996 standard was divided into three separate documents: ASSE 1016-2005, Performance Requirements for Automatic Compensating Valves for Individual Showers and Tub/Shower Combinations; ASSE 1069-2005, Performance Requirements for Automatic Temperature Control Mixing Valves; and ASSE 1070-2004, Performance Requirements for Water Temperature Limiting Devices.

With the development of these standards and their following adoption by national model plumbing codes, manufacturers were given time to have their products tested and listed to the new standards before the deactivation of their listings to 1016-1996 on Jan. 4, 2010. Listings to these standards can be viewed on ASSE’s Web site at www.asse-plumbing.org. 

This action was based on a decision made by the ASSE Seal Control Board on Nov. 4, 2007, to maintain all listings to ASSE 1016-1996 until Dec. 31, 2009. For more information, contact Kimberly Haffey, ASSE Product Listing Coordinator via e-mail at Kimberly@asse-plumbing.org.