{"id":6376,"date":"2024-07-15T22:36:49","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T22:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/?post_type=blog_post&p=6376"},"modified":"2024-07-15T22:38:24","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T22:38:24","slug":"hud-nspire-july-newsletter-nspire-standard-water-heater-deficiency-1","status":"publish","type":"blog_post","link":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/blog-post\/hud-nspire-july-newsletter-nspire-standard-water-heater-deficiency-1\/","title":{"rendered":"HUD NSPIRE July Newsletter: NSPIRE STANDARD: Water Heater: Deficiency #1"},"content":{"rendered":"

July\u2019s Newsletter reviews Deficiency #1 under the Water Heater Standard<\/a> \u2013 this will be a long Newsletter. \u00a0\u00a0Deficiency #1 is considered a Severe Health & Safety \u2013 a 24-hour repair for MF and PHAs and a 30-day repair for HCV\/PBV\/CPD Programs.<\/p>\n

For properties that get a REAC score, this works out to be 0.59 points PER UNIT on a 100-unit property.\u00a0 If every Unit is cited, the property would lose 14.75 points. Properties with less than 93 total units, the scoring would be higher<\/u> than 0.59 each.<\/p>\n

What is a TPR Valve?!<\/strong><\/p>\n

It stands for Temperature and Pressure Relief Valve.\u00a0 It\u2019s a VERY important safety valve that makes sure you water heater\/boiler stays within its designed temperature and pressure limits.\u00a0 If the temperature or pressure exceeds a certain threshold, the valve will open and discharge the steam\/water!\u00a0 The valve has a discharge pipe attached to it that is plumbed to the waste receptor, the floor, or outside (code varies on this \u2013 it\u2019s dependent on which state your property is in).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

MythBusters ran a bunch of tests on water heaters by plugging the TPR Valve and increasing the temperature and pressure.\u00a0 You can see their videos here (these are older videos \u2013 don\u2019t full-screen them):<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rGWmONHipVo<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JmJoyuUJj2Q<\/a><\/p>\n


\nDeficiency Criteria \u2013 Breaking it down:<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n1. TPR Valve has an active leak\u00a0<\/strong>It is interesting that HUD wants a leak cited under the Water Heater Standard because if you look at the Leak-Water Standard (which is a MODERATE H&S), it states:
\n
\nSo why would HUD want the inspector to cite a leaky TPR Valve under the Water Heater Standard instead of Leak-Water?\u00a0 I can only surmise that it\u2019s because a leaky TPR Valve should be taken very<\/u> seriously.\u00a0 It can leak for a number of reasons, but ultimately it is not supposed to leak, and you do NOT<\/u> want this valve to fail!<\/p>\n

2. TPR Valve is obstructed such that the TPR Valve is unable to be fully actuated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First \u2013 it\u2019s a really good idea to activate the TPR valve on your water heaters at least once a year.They can malfunction or become stuck after years of non-usage.Inspectors are NOT instructed by HUD to activate the valve, but since it\u2019s one of the most important safety valves, you would not want to wait until if failed to find out there is a problem!<\/p>\n

Otherwise, make sure that the other pipes\/walls do not interfere with the valve function.
\n
\n3. Relief valve discharge piping is damaged, capped, has an upward slope, or is constructed of unsuitable material.\u00a0<\/strong>This is where it starts getting a little complicated.<\/p>\n

There are 2 plumbing codes accepted in the United States \u2013 the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) and the International Plumbing Code (IPC).Then you have states adopting only parts of each or making up their own!This map is pretty fantastic, although dated 2015, I believe there is very little variation today:
\n\"A
\nThe main difference between the 2 codes (regarding TPR Valve discharge pipes) is on the termination point \u2013 we\u2019ll discuss that more when I feature Water Heater Deficiency #3, or you can always just reach out to me via phone\/email\/text.\u00a0 I included the code requirements for discharge pipes at the bottom of this Newsletter, for your reference.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamaged Piping\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do not like the fact that HUD stated a \u201cdamaged\u201d discharge pipe should be cited because it\u2019s not objective enough.\u00a0 The only other information HUD gives is that to be damaged, it must be \u201cvisibly defective and\/or impact functionality.\u201d\u00a0 With that description in mind, let me give you an example.
\nExample: Both codes prohibit valves and tee fittings connected to the discharge pipe itself\u2026would an inspector consider that \u201cdamaged?\u201d\u00a0 Does it impact functionality?\u00a0 Absolutely!\u00a0 If you do not agree \u2013 but the inspector cited it \u2013 how could you possibly appeal and win the points back when it doesn\u2019t meet code?<\/p>\n

\u201cCapped\u201d<\/strong>
\nPretty self-explanatory.\u00a0 You cannot BLOCK the TPR Valve in any way (see MythBusters links above).
\n
\n\u201cUpward Slope\u201d<\/strong>
\nThe discharge must be sloped to drain.\u00a0 This means it must be able to use gravity to discharge or flow.\u00a0 You do not want water to just sit inside the discharge pipe because it will cause deposits to build up blocking flow or corroding the pipe.\u00a0 Additionally, if the valve is leaking \u2013 you\u2019re going to want to know that sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

\u201cConstructed of Unsuitable Material\u201d<\/strong>
\nFortunately, HUD got specific here and copied part of the code:
\n<\/p>\n

Personally, I like this one better because it gives you specific references to the ASTM (American Society of Testing Materials) Standard:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If PEX is used\u2026it must be 1-inch (not 3\/4″) and must be secured.\u00a0 I have never seen braided or corrugated flex piping approved by ASTM for the use of discharge piping from the TPR Valve.\u00a0 Most of the time, even though listed as 3\/4″, it reduces<\/u> inside the pipe, which is strictly prohibited.\u00a0 Additionally, it\u2019s too easy to crimp or flex the pipe into configurations that are also prohibited!<\/p>\n

I have literally thousands of water heater pictures with improperly installed TPR Valve discharge piping.\u00a0 It is MUCH more common than you may think! Let\u2019s see some pictures\u2026<\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n

Code Requirements for TPR Valve Discharge Piping<\/strong><\/div>\n

UPC = Uniform Plumbing Code<\/strong>
\nIPC = International Plumbing Code<\/strong>
\n
\n<\/p>\n

To subscribe to this free monthly newsletter and read newsletters you may have missed, click here: C4N6 Newsletter Registration and Archive<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July\u2019s Newsletter reviews Deficiency #1 under the Water Heater Standard \u2013 this will be a long Newsletter. \u00a0\u00a0Deficiency #1 is considered a Severe Health & Safety \u2013 a 24-hour repair for MF and PHAs and a 30-day repair for HCV\/PBV\/CPD Programs. For properties that get a REAC score, this works out to be 0.59 points […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"blog-category":[130],"class_list":["post-6376","blog_post","type-blog_post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog-category-hud-assist"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_post\/6376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_post"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog_post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6376"},{"taxonomy":"blog-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c4n6.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-category?post=6376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}