Significant changes to vent connector junctions in the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code

An addition to Section 503.10.7 (Vent Connector Junctions) of the 2021 International Fuel Gas Code states that new text addresses the juncture of appliance vent connectors and the required method.

This new requirement was added to address, primarily, single-wall vent connectors that are joined together before connecting to a chimney, B-vent or Type L vent. An age-old practice was to cut a hole in the side or bottom of a single-wall metal pipe vent connector to join a smaller vent connector pipe to it. For example, a 6-inch vertical single-wall pipe vent connector serving a boiler or furnace has a hole cut in the side of it and a 3-inch single-wall pipe vent connector serving a water heater is inserted into the hole and fastened in place by bent tabs that are screwed or riveted to the larger vent connector pipe.

Such connection is not substantial or secure, allows considerable leakage that can affect draft, creates an obstruction inside the larger vent connector, typically ignores connector sizing criteria and is, at best, poor practice. This new section requires the use of manufactured tee or wye fittings. This has not been an issue with double-wall connectors because they are necessarily joined with tee and wye fittings designed for the purpose.

Read the full significant change.

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.