Significant changes to bundled hot water piping insulation in the 2021 International Plumbing Code

A modification to Section 308.9 (Bundled Hot Water Piping Insulation) of the 2021 International Plumbing Code states that where hot water piping for a manifold system is in a bundle with cold water piping, the hot water piping is required to be insulated but not necessarily individually insulated.

The bundling of piping from manifold systems is often required very near the manifold. Individually insulating each hot water pipe (tube) in these bundles results in very large openings needed in framing members for the bundles to pass through. In those situations, the bundle of hot water piping can be insulated. The reference to Section 607.5 directs the code user to the requirements for pipe insulation.

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The 2021 Significant Changes guides are available for the International Building, Fire, Residential, Energy Conservation, Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas Codes. This valuable series can help any code user save time by zeroing in on the most critical changes in the 2021 International Codes. The Code Council’s technical experts provide summaries, analysis and graphics for these changes making them clear and easy to understand. Each edition provides a comprehensive analysis of significant changes since the 2018 edition, offering key insights into its contents and implications. Each change analysis features the affected code sections and identifies the change with strikethroughs and underlines to show modifications to the existing language. Each change is accompanied by a quick summary, detailed illustrations, and a discussion of its significance, which brings the technical jargon of the code to life in a real-world setting.

Significant Changes to the IPC, IMC, and IFGC, 2021 Edition is available in the ICC Store or through Digital Codes Premium for the International Plumbing Code, International Mechanical Code and International Fuel Gas Code.