ASA and HVAC Industry Partners Successful in IAPMO Board Petitions on UMC

Jim Kendzel, Director of Codes and Standards

As many of you are aware, ASA and HARDI have been engaged with other industry organizations in pursuing changes to the International Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC) related to the use of A2L refrigerants and the acceptance of certain joining systems used in refrigeration systems.  Recently, the final stage of the process was completed with the IAPMO Board considering petitions from industry to reconsider decisions reached by the UMC Technical Committee (TC) and the IAPMO Standards Council (SC).  Fortunately, the IAPMO Board reviewed the petitions and ruled in support of the industry on the following proposals:

Use of Concealed Spaces as Plenums:  the current UMC allows for the use of concealed building spaces or independent construction within buildings to be used for ducts or plenums.  The IAPMO TC and SC supported a proposal to eliminate this allowance from the UMC.  The Board supported industry opposition to this change on the basis it would create conflict with other sections of the UMC.  As a result, the current requirements will remain in place.

Incorporation of Current ASHRAE 15-2022 Requirements:  The IAPMO TC and SC rejected industry proposals to update the text of Chapter 11 of the UMC to be consistent the most up to date requirements of ASHRAE 15 – 2022.  Industry petitioned the IAPMO Board to reconsider this decision for several reasons with the major reason being the potential confusion in the marketplace if the current requirements of ASHRAE 15 are not adopted into the UMC.  The IAPMO Board granted the industry petition and Chapter 11 will be updated to be consistent with ASHRAE 15 – 2022.

Referencing of Current Revision to UL-207: The IAPMO TC and SC rejected industry proposals to incorporate the current edition of UL 207 Refrigerant-Containing Components and Accessories, Nonelectrical.  Industry petitioned the IAPMO Board to reconsider the decision based on potential confusion in the market place based on products being certified to the most recent version of the UL Standard and not previous versions as well as lack of technical justification for not referencing the current standard.  The IAPMO Board supported the industry petition, and the current version of UL 207 will be referenced in the UMC.

In addition to the above IAPMO Board actions, we also received a positive decision from the IAPMO Standards Council in late 2022 related to our appeal on the TC Committee decision to accept a proposal to update the UMC to require all  joints on refrigeration piping installed in concealed spaces shall be brazed.  We appealed this decision to the IAPMO Standards Council based on the proposed restriction would eliminate the use of joining systems and piping materials currently accepted in concealed locations without any technical justification.  The Standards Council supported our position and removed the proposed restriction from the next publication of the UMC.

The IAPMO Board is to be praised for its consideration of the petitions and their sound judgement and understanding of the potential negative impact to the marketplace when a model code is not in alignment with nationally accepted industry consensus standards.

A big thanks to our friends at the Air-Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) who took the lead in bringing the industry stakeholders together and keeping us focused on working through the process and achieving the best outcome for all stakeholders.

For those interested in reviewing the industry petitions submitted and the IAPMO Board decisions you can go to the IAPMO Codes and Standards web page.  If I can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at jkendzel@asa.net.