The National Standard Plumbing Code Committee, at a recent public hearing, approved significant changes to the NSPC.

The committee reviewed and approved 81 of the 139 proposed code changes to the 2006 edition of the NSPC. The changes that were approved will appear in the 2008 Supplement to the 2006 NSPC.

Chairman Dick Wagner said that some of the accepted proposals related to food handling areas, grease interceptors, identification of potable and non-potable water, and editorial revisions. Twenty-one proposals were tabled for further review and/or rewrite until the next code change cycle. The remaining were either withdrawn or defeated. 

The NSPC is updated by a supplement or a new edition annually, so it reflects the latest in plumbing design and construction. Other codes are updated on three-year cycles.

The NSPC Committee is composed of contractors, engineers and inspectors who voluntarily serve to revise and interpret the code. The committee will meet again in May 2008 to review new proposed code changes. A public hearing will be held Aug.  21, 2008. 

Wagner said in 2007-08 the code committee will focus on several tabled areas, such as air admittance valves, backflow prevention devices, vacuum relief valves and storm water re-use. The deadline for 2008 proposed code changes is April 24, 2008.