UPC Study Resource

[clix]

I'm looking for a study resource for the UPC that has some explanation and images to help me understand all the UPC rules, give some background on the theory and to help prepare for my county's homeowner test (test required for a homeowner to be able to do work on one's own residence). I took the electrical homeowner test and used a Mike Holt NEC exam study book for that. It was overkill for the homeowner test, but the purposes that were applicable had the right level of explanation of the theory and graphics to explain things in a manner I could understand to follow the logic behind the rule as well as getting the answer right on the test.

Is there a similar resource to the Mike Holt series for plumbing that is generally considered the "go to" for UPC study materials that I could pick up (outside of a $1000+ package)? When I was asking around about electrical, Mike Holt was the universal answer, but on plumbing, I haven't been able to get any recommendations. I want to make sure it is from a reliable source as I will be using it for the homeowner test. If it matters, my jurisdiction uses the 2009 UPC, so I'd be buying something used.

Thanks in advance.

 

[clix]

Any suggestions before I start buying random plumbing books? Would prefer something that has illustrations/explanation along with the code reference so that it's easy to go back to the rule book to read the actual language in the code.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Plumber01]

2009 upc code book, 2009 upc study guide and 2009 upc illustrated training manual.

 

[clix]

Thanks. Do you know if there have been many changes from 2009 to 2015 that would be relevant for a test designed for homeowners doing their own work? (I'm considering getting the 2015 book because I think my jurisdiction is going to be adopting a newer version in the near future.)

I know on the electrical test I took, there were little things like "xyz can be set back 1/4" from finished surface" in the 2009 code, but was changed to a 1/8" set back in more recent code. I'm not sure if they tweak the plumbing code the same way they do with the NEC, but little things like that tripped me up when I used newer versions of the book to study.

 

[MACPLUMB]

 

[clix]

Thanks, MasterP, that book looks like the kind of detail I was looking for, just wish it had the UPC references included. I'm going to pick it up as it has good explanations and diagrams (based on the sample pages I see online).

Still looking for something (other than the $200 IAPMO illustrated training manual) that would have the code references along with the explanations. I'd probably pick that one up too, but can't find any samples of the contents online and am not sure if it has what I'm looking for.

The more I read from the UPC, the less I'm sure I need something like Mike Holt for plumbing. The UPC seems to be organized more by topical area than the NEC where you could have a number of seemingly unrelated sections that would apply to any given scenario.