The plumbing industry has a long history of plumbing code and standards development. The oldest code dates back to the Hammurabi code, where the basic concept was:
“If a builder builds a house and that house falls down and kills the owner of the house, the builder shall be put to death.”
The age and beginning of plumbing codes in the United States is not as important as how plumbing codes have evolved.
The evolution of plumbing codes in the United States follows the construction booms. Following World War II, a great amount of construction took place and the industry realized the need for codes. Prior to the wars, there were widespread unsanitary conditions in the United States. Rivers were filthy and smelled of sewage, and water quality was very poor. Many soldiers lost their lives in the Civil War and World War I; not from war wounds, but from dysentery, poor sanitation, and unclean water. Later on, there was a call for building water and sewage treatment plants.
Plumbing and sanitary associations like ASSE International started not long after the Civil War. Sanitarians and plumbers would meet to discuss solving the problems of poor water supply and sewer conditions. These associations started writing down basic sanitary concepts to prevent contamination of drinking water and these concepts were the principles that became the basis of the early plumbing codes.
In the 1880s, a national plumbing organization was formed to continue these efforts and to share ideas and information. That association has had many name changes over the years, but is now called the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors – National Association (PHCC).
The early plumbing association members worked very long hours in a noble cause to educate the industry and protect the health of the nation. A plumbing manufacturer, American Standard, used the slogan “The Plumber Protects the Health of the Nation” in their advertising many years ago. Plumbers had figured out simple ways of protecting potable water from contamination: the use of air gaps, backflow preventers, separation of water supply sources from waste streams, construction of water and sewage treatment plants, and public water and sewer infrastructure.
There is no question that our health has improved spectacularly in the past century. One thing seems certain – it did not happen because of medicine, medical science, or even the presence of doctors. Lewis Thomas summed it up in this quote: “Much of the credit should go to the plumbers and engineers of the western world. The contamination of drinking water by human feces was at one time the greatest cause of human disease and death for us, but when the plumbers and sanitary engineers had done their work in the construction of our cities, these diseases began to vanish.”
The Beginnings of ASSE
In 1906, a group of sanitary professionals gathered in Washington D.C., under the direction of Henry B. Davis, and formed an organization called the American Society of Sanitary Engineering (ASSE). Davis envisioned a group that could exchange ideas and try to standardize the different plumbing and sanitary codes throughout the country. He recognized that plumbing and sanitary codes, to date, had all been reactionary. ASSE then developed the motto, “Prevention Rather Than Cure.” This philosophy was based upon providing good engineering designs for clean and sanitary plumbing systems, rather than living with the unsanitary conditions and trying to cure the illnesses associated with ignoring the unsanitary problems. I have experienced this personally in my travels to several third-world countries where hundreds of millions of people do not have access to clean water for drinking, bathing, and washing. It takes an effort by the government to address the problem with water and waste treatment facilities. Sadly, many foreign governments need to adopt ASSE’s motto and work toward prevention. Davis saw that the plumbing profession was better equipped to solve a problem before the problem occurred, as opposed to having the medical profession cure the illness.
NFPA
Building regulations were also being implemented throughout the country in response to major fires and conflagrations in east coast cities where large numbers of wooden structures were built in close proximity to each other. The first group to address fire protection concerns was the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which formed in 1896. In 1915, a group of building inspectors got together in New York City to develop the Building Officials Conference of America (BOCA); this was the first group to concentrate on coordinating building code regulations on a national level. Two other major code organizations would follow: Southern Building Code Congress in the south and International Conference of Building Officials on the west coast. The need for separate organizations was dictated by a lack of adequate transportation and immediate communication. In the 1920s, a trip from New York to Los Angeles took from three to five days by train.
The Hoover Code
In 1921, President Warren Harding appointed prominent engineer Herbert Hoover to the position of Secretary of Commerce. Hoover, as an engineer, saw the Unites States as a vast land where proper planning could change the course of the nation. Remember, the 1920s was a time of prosperity in the United States. Hoover believed that with the emergence from World War I and with the wealth of the nation coming into prominence, the country could improve its quality of life by applying better engineering concepts. Hoover wanted electricity in every home, as well as indoor plumbing. At the time Hoover was Secretary of Commerce, less than one percent of the homes in the United States had indoor plumbing. In 1921, Hoover started the Building Material and Structures Division of the National Bureau of Standards, today known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Work at the National Bureau of Standards by Dr. Roy B. Hunter was a cornerstone in Herbert Hoover’s vision of bringing engineering to the Commerce Department. Hoover felt the Commerce Department should control the standardization effort since this would improve the ability for entrepreneurs to have easy access to the marketplace. Standards for products were emerging at the same time as plumbing codes. The great conflagrations, or fires, on the east coast brought together many fire brigades and fire departments from near and far to fight fires in congested areas with many wooden structures. They found their hoses could not be connected because each fire department had a different hose diameter and a different hose thread type. Soon after the great fire in Baltimore, a call was made to standardize hose threads and other products, like bolt threads, weight scales, and other critical products, so they could be consistent and compatible in different parts of the country.
Dr. Roy B. Hunter, Father of the Plumbing Codes
When Dr. Hunter finished his first research projects, he addressed many basic principles that needed to be accomplished in order to have safe plumbing systems. The first plumbing code was developed in 1928 – a document titled, “The Report on Hydraulics and Pneumatics of Plumbing Systems,” authored by Dr. Hunter. Through the efforts of the National Bureau of Standards, it was nicknamed the Hoover Code; not because of any effort put forth by Hoover, but to pay tribute to a man who saw the need to develop such a document. Hoover was elected President of the United States by one of the largest margins. Hoover will always be remembered as the person behind the development of this first national plumbing code, but Dr. Hunter’s research was the key to the development of the first nationwide plumbing code.
In 1941, the A40 committee was reorganized and created various reports. In 1949, they received approval for their work as an American Standard. Shortly after the acceptance of the 1949 report, still another A40 committee was formed. This committee’s work, known as the A-40.8-1955, was completed and published in 1955 and was for many years known as the “National Plumbing Code.” This code was used mostly in government projects. The BMS 66, 1940, was officially withdrawn as an American Standard on June 20, 1972.
Three documents (BMS 65, Methods of Estimating Loads in Plumbing Systems; BMS 66, Plumbing Manual; and BMS 79, Water Distributing Systems for Buildings) served as the basis for every up-to-date plumbing code of the time. The federal government did not see it as their job to mandate the national plumbing code, but offered it as a suggested document for jurisdictions to adopt. During this period, the federal government was still of the opinion that construction projects should be regulated on the local level and the plumbing code was only mandated for federal projects.
While the basic emphasis of the Hoover Code and BMS 66 was sanitation, the codes also made a concerted effort to emphasis low cost housing because it listed the basic principles of good plumbing. In Dr. Roy B. Hunter’s paper, BMS 66, 1940, he wrote, “The purpose of this series of papers is to collect, in an organized form, the mass of information obtained by the author over a number of years, beginning with the investigation of 1921 of plumbing of small dwellings, and including the current research (1937-1940) on plumbing for low-cost housing, together with the results of intervening experiments related to plumbing requirements, and to interpret the results of these investigations in a form suitable for direct and practical application. It is hoped that this series of papers will supply the logical answer to many of the controversial questions pertaining to pipe sizes and design of plumbing construction.”
BMS 66 followed a similar theme, writing, “In order to have good and economical plumbing, it is necessary that there should be some agreement on the rules governing its design and installation … Particular emphasis is placed upon its usefulness in connection with low-cost housing where there is special need to take advantage of legitimate economies. The field of the manual, however, is not restricted to housing, since the same fundamental principles apply in any structure.”
Basic Principles for Health and Safety Were Outlined in Early Codes
The BMS 66 manual stated that many innovations were added to the document to allow engineers to design and builders to build, based on the actual demands of the building. Users of the plumbing code were encouraged to offer comments on the content of the manual. There was an acknowledgment that the document would need to undergo changes to keep it abreast of new technology, however, the document did state that there are certain principles in plumbing that would never change – only the ways to achieve the goals of these principles would change.
The A40.8, containing requirements based on the latest available technology, was concerned about low cost housing and provided the minimum necessary protection of public health. Included in the A40.8 was a list of Basic Principles which were intended to be guidelines for the deployment of the National Plumbing Code. The Basic Principles from the 1955 edition of the ASA A40.8 National Plumbing Code were as following:
Basic Principles
Principle No. 1: All premises intended for human habitation, occupancy or use shall be provided with a supply of pure and wholesome water, neither connected with unsafe water supplies nor subject to the hazards of backflow or back siphonage.
Principle No. 2: Plumbing fixtures, devices, and appurtenances shall be supplied with water in sufficient volume and at pressures adequate to enable them to function satisfactorily and without undue noise under all normal conditions of use.
Principle No. 3: Plumbing shall be designed and adjusted to use the minimum quantity of water consistent with proper performance and cleaning.
Principle No. 4: Devices for heating and storing water shall be so designed and installed as to prevent dangers from explosion through overheating.
Principle No. 5: Every building having plumbing fixtures installed and intended for human habitation, occupancy, or use on premises abutting on a street, alley or easement in which there is a public sewer shall have a connection with the sewer.
Principle No. 6: Each family dwelling unit on premises abutting on a sewer or with a private sewage-disposal system shall have, at least, one water closet and one kitchen-type sink. It is further recommended that a lavatory and bathtub or shower shall be installed to meet the basic requirements of sanction and personal hygiene.
All other structures for human occupancy or use on premises abutting on a sewer or with a private sewage-disposal system shall have adequate sanitary facilities but in no case less than one water closet and one other fixture for cleaning purposes.
Principle No. 7: Plumbing fixtures shall be made of smooth nonabsorbent material, shall be free from concealed fouling surfaces, and shall be located in ventilated enclosures.
Principle No. 8: The drainage system shall be designed, constructed and maintained so as to guard against fouling, deposit of solids and clogging, and with adequate cleanouts so arranged that the pipes may be readily cleaned.
Principle No. 9: The piping of the plumbing system shall be of durable material, free from defective workmanship, and so designed and constructed as to give satisfactory service for its reasonable expected life.
Principle No. 10: Each fixture directly connected to the drainage system shall be equipped with a water-seal trap.
Principle No. 11: The drainage system shall be designed to provide an adequate circulation of air in all pipes with no danger of siphonage, aspiration or forcing of trap seals under conditions of ordinary use.
Principle No. 12: Each vent terminal shall extend to the outer air and be so installed as to minimize the possibilities of clogging and the return of foul air to the building.
Principle No. 13: The plumbing system shall be subjected to such tests as will effectively disclose all leaks and defects in the work.
Principle No. 14: No substance which will clog the pipes, produce explosive mixtures, destroy the pipes or their joints, or interfere unduly with the sewage-disposal process shall be allowed to enter the building drainage system.
Principle No. 15: Proper protection shall be provided to prevent contamination of food, water, sterile goods and similar materials by backflow of sewage. When necessary, the fixture, device or appliance shall be connected indirectly with the building drainage system.
Principle No. 16: No water closet shall be located in a room or compartment which is not properly lighted and ventilated.
Principle No. 17: If water closets or other plumbing fixtures are installed in buildings where there is no sewer within a reasonable distance, suitable provision shall be made for disposing of the building sewage by some accepted method of sewage treatment and disposal.
Principle No. 18: Where a plumbing drainage system may be subjected to backflow of sewage, suitable provision shall be made to prevent its overflow in the building.
Principle No. 19: Plumbing systems shall be maintained in a sanitary and serviceable condition.
Principle No. 20: All plumbing fixtures shall be so installed with regard to spacing as to be reasonably accessible for their intended use.
Principle No. 21: Plumbing shall be installed with due regard to preservation of the strength of structural members and prevention of damage to walls and other surfaces through fixture usage.
Principle No. 22: Sewage or other waste from a plumbing system which may be deleterious to surface or subsurface waters shall not be discharged into the ground or into any waterway unless it has first been rendered innocuous through subjection to some acceptable form of treatment.
These basic principles provided engineering guidelines regarding the intent of the plumbing code.
Be sure to check out the next issue of Working Pressure magazine, where we’ll feature an article about modern plumbing codes and the history of the Uniform Plumbing Code® (UPC).
