Significant changes to tracer wire for buried nonmetallic water service piping in the 2021 International Plumbing Code

An addition to Section 609.2.1 (Tracer Wire for Buried Nonmetallic Water Service Piping) of the 2021 International Plumbing Code states that the addition of a tracer wire on buried hospital water service piping allows for easier locating to avoid piping damage that would disrupt water service.

A tracer wire is now required for underground nonmetallic water service piping serving Group I-2, Condition 2 facilities (hospitals). Although the installation of tracer products for buried nonmetallic piping and conduit is common in the utility industry, this section is specific as to the minimum size of the wire, access to the wire at each end of the piping and the insulation on the wire needing to be listed for direct burial service. Typical building wiring is not likely to be listed (by a third-party certification agency) for tracer wire service. Note that as AWG wire size number designations become larger, the wire diameters become smaller. Sizes less than 18 AWG are products having smaller wire diameters.

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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.