I had to have a lpg furnace installed by a contractor because the guy that works for me injured his back, and couldn’t do it.
I got estimates from the four companys in town that do that kind of work. Two of which are the local propane distributors, who were the third and fourth bidders.
One of the distributors is now saying that the work done doesn’t meet code, and they won’t fill the tank once the new work is connected.
So, what types of piping are allowed for the feed line from the tank to the building?
And, is an exposed shut-off valve required before the piping enters the building?
If someone could let me know where in the IRC, where to find the answers I’d greatly appreciate it.
Replies
I have propane for my shop and DW's studio building. Both lines are a vinyl coated soft copper, and both have exposed shut off valves before they enter the buildings. There is also a shut off vavle at the tankbut ICR if there is only one or one for each line..
Both lines were installed by the Lp supplier. They also leak check all my work form thier connection point to the furnaces.
I would think you could call your AHJ and ask for code requirements for LPG installations.
ICC National Fuel Gas Code
is what applies in my area. You need to check with your municipality and find out what code applies where you live. It may or may not be different. Most, if not all FG Codes are based on the NFPA requirements.
Form the tank to the building, "any non-corrosive material, suitable for direct burial or protected from damage". Usually, this is copper tubing, polyethylene or vinyl coated corrugated stainless.
An exposed shutoff is not required where the pipe enters the building if a shutoff at the tank ius readily accesssible.
Ask the distributor which section of which code they say the piping doesn't comply with. They may be right. The low bidder guaranteed his work would be to all applicable codes, right?
Spent the night reading the book.
I have the Code and Commentary version of the International Residentail Code, and with the commentary, the fuel gas chapter is 250 pages long. I just haven't had to deal with a new installation of gas piping in quite a while, and hadn't read the new code to see if anything had changed.
I'm the AHJ, since the site is on my Forest, and I'm the Facilites Engineer. The Forest Service has officially adopted the International Codes as our governing code nation wide. But the Federal Government isn't required to comply with the local requirements, or pull permits, so long as we are on government land.
The pipe he had installed, doesn't meet code, (even though it is pvc coated corrugated stainless), because the manufacturer, has certified the pipe only for interior use.
The agreement for the work, is a short form performance one, that requires the Contractor complete the removal of an old unit, and installation of a government provided heating unit in compliance with all applicable codes and regualtions.
And: No, the contractor has not recieved any funds for the work yet, because he hadn't completed it to the point I was asked to do the inspection. The supplier noticed that noncompliant piping before they had pressure tested it prior to connection.
The contractor is now back peddling, saying he didn't know it wasn't approved. But says he will install a code compliant pipe tomorrow.
So, I now know more than I did before. And, the code will probably change again, before I ever put in another new service line.
Hopefully he will get done next week, because we are starting to bring people on for the summer, and I need somewhere to house them.
The IRC and the IFGC requirements are applicable only from the "point of delivery" on into the building. For lpg systems, the point of delivery (in chapter 2, Definitions) is defined as the "outlet of the first regulator that reduces pressure to 2 psig or less."
NFPA 58 governs the installation of piping from the tank to the regulator mentioned above. I don't have NFPA 58 readily available, which appears to be the rules applicable to your questions.
The problem with
enough experience, is that you start to remember Codes of days gone by and "think" no one would ever change "this".
I do more HVAC work than plumbing (and this jurisdiction, the plumber runs the pipe) so I have to pull my copy off the shelf to be sure, but I've packed up most of my office and don't have it handy. Sounds like you have a good handle on it.
Yea, those changes can give expensive surprises.
Yea, we got caught up with using a plenum for the distribution side of an electric furnace in one of our bunkhouses, that we remodeled.
And, it would meet code the way we were going to install the furnace, becasue we were only going to hook up two of the four elements in it to limit the outlet temperature. But, then I got to thinking about it, and ten years down the reoad the next guys taking care of the building, (or a bright fire kid who wants the room hotter), would wire up all four, and the temp would get high enough to make the installation non compliant.