johnnymac96
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We are currently in the middle of a whole-house remodel, part of the job specs was to replace all of the 40 yr old galvanized pipes with CPVC (per recommendation of the subcontracting plumber) and also install an on-demand external heater.
Today we were red-tagged during the rough-in inspection because apparently CPVC is not code-approved for use with on-demand heaters - our plumber claims to have installed a lot of these heaters with cpvc in non-incorporated areas of the county where inspections are not required, and claims he has never had one fail, but this is his first time to install one in the city and be inspected.
My GC sounded like he was genuinely upset with the plumber and assured me that the problem was entirely the plumber's problem to fix and no one else's, so I am not worried about any additional cost to me. What I am worried about is the delay.
The plumber is assuring everyone that the water heater is compatible with the cpvc ratings and that he will appeal to the inspector's office for a waiver of the code based on the individual specs and ratings and that it will take "2-3 days" to get the letter from the city. The problem is that we can't put up any drywall or insulation until this gets resolved.
So my question is, is this waiver likely to happen, and if it does, how much of a delay am I looking at to find out? If the waiver is not granted, the plumber is going to have to remove all of the downstream CPVC and replace it with copper or pex. We're talking about 100-120 feet of piping that is downstream of the water heater. It didn't take him long to put it in, I suspect it won't take him long to take it out and replace it.
On a more general level, is this red-tag a big deal? Are these heaters really compatible with the CPVC or should my wife and I insist that he just go ahead and install copper and ignore trying for an appeal? I am sure that just asking him to go ahead and redo it will entail some extra costs, but I am also a bit worried that even if we do get a waiver, the code was written for a reason and there is some risk of the pipe failing at some point.
Any feedback is appreciated - thanks!
Today we were red-tagged during the rough-in inspection because apparently CPVC is not code-approved for use with on-demand heaters - our plumber claims to have installed a lot of these heaters with cpvc in non-incorporated areas of the county where inspections are not required, and claims he has never had one fail, but this is his first time to install one in the city and be inspected.
My GC sounded like he was genuinely upset with the plumber and assured me that the problem was entirely the plumber's problem to fix and no one else's, so I am not worried about any additional cost to me. What I am worried about is the delay.
The plumber is assuring everyone that the water heater is compatible with the cpvc ratings and that he will appeal to the inspector's office for a waiver of the code based on the individual specs and ratings and that it will take "2-3 days" to get the letter from the city. The problem is that we can't put up any drywall or insulation until this gets resolved.
So my question is, is this waiver likely to happen, and if it does, how much of a delay am I looking at to find out? If the waiver is not granted, the plumber is going to have to remove all of the downstream CPVC and replace it with copper or pex. We're talking about 100-120 feet of piping that is downstream of the water heater. It didn't take him long to put it in, I suspect it won't take him long to take it out and replace it.
On a more general level, is this red-tag a big deal? Are these heaters really compatible with the CPVC or should my wife and I insist that he just go ahead and install copper and ignore trying for an appeal? I am sure that just asking him to go ahead and redo it will entail some extra costs, but I am also a bit worried that even if we do get a waiver, the code was written for a reason and there is some risk of the pipe failing at some point.
Any feedback is appreciated - thanks!