Council hears all about plumbing rules

City Council heard arguments Thursday from supporters of the Uniform Plumbing Code, which included members of the city’s commission on plumbing matters, and supporters of the International Residential (plumbing) Code, which included other plumbers, representatives of the home builders association and city staff.

However, a vote on the matter was postponed until next week’s Council meeting because of the absence of Council members Delia Garza and Ann Kitchen, who were both out of town on city business.

There is no dispute about the fact that the city of Austin is alone among large Texas cities in its use of the Uniform Plumbing Code. Additionally, plumbers working around Central Texas use the international plumbing code instead, according to those who addressed the Council on Thursday.

The uniform code is more prescriptive, requires larger pipes, and as several of those testifying explained, more pipe is needed than when the international code is used. All this adds up to a higher cost per house.

The city’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department provided a document stating that adoption of the International Residential Code would have a positive impact on affordability.

All of the arguments were over which code is safer and more affordable for single-family housing. City staff was not arguing with the plumbers about commercial and multifamily developments.

Scott Turner, an infill builder for the past 16 years, told Council that the difference between the uniform code and the international code “is about $500 to $1,000 per house.” Part of the reason for that is the uniform code requires more vents and more pipe, he said.

Turner concluded, “This is a good example of how affordability here in Austin, particularly as it pertains to housing, has sort of died the death of a thousand cuts. Where you have small layers of code changes, permit changes and new ordinances that over the course of literally decades just add incrementally to the complexity and the cost of every home that’s built. In order to get a residential building permit, I have to get an engineer, an arborist, a surveyor and a consultant. And something’s wrong with that.”

Plumber Andre Magat told Council he has been a plumber here in Austin since 2008. He said he supports the uniform code “as the most cohesive and comprehensive book on plumbing for the plumber out in the field to just look at and get a clear definition of what he needs to do. Other codes do not provide a clear interpretation and sometimes you’re left with vagueness – which is never good in plumbing.

“I’ve heard some people talk about well, (the other code is) cheaper, and the gray water system is easier, and there’s less venting, and cheaper piping, but cheaper, you know, honestly has nothing to do with the best interest of the public, the best interest of houses functioning properly. It definitely does lead to big maintenance costs in the future” for homeowners, Magat said.

Other plumbers argued that the reason plumbers can charge more in Austin than in other Central Texas locations is because of market demand, not because of different codes.

Council did not comment on what it heard Thursday. However, Council Member Ora Houston told her colleagues the amount of acronyms she heard during the hearing “almost blew my brains out.” Mayor Steve Adler indicated that even if the plumbers had not used those acronyms he wasn’t sure he would have known what they were talking about. However, he said he was sure that everyone got “the gist of” what the witnesses were trying to get across.

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