INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PLUMBING AND MECHANICAL OFFICIALS Codes Department 5001 E. Philadelphia St. Ontario, CA 91761 USA PHONE 800-854-2766 FAX 909-472-4265 http://www.iapmo.org November 23, 2005 J. Kenneth Richardson Chair IAPMO Standards Council Gabriella Davis Secretary IAPMO Standards Council Terry Swisher, Chairman Plumbing Code TC Carl Marbery Plumbing Code TC Staff Liaison Roger Rotundo, Chairman Mechanical Code TC Michael Kobel, P.E. Mechanical Code TC Staff Liaison Mark Weston, General Manager Helix Water District 7811 University Avenue La Mesa, CA 91941 Rich Nagel, Co-General Manager Art Aguilar, Co General Manager West Basin Municipal Water District 17140 S. Avalon Blvd., Suite 210 Carson, CA 90746 Jaime Lien, Conservation Manager Atascadero Mutual Water Company 5005 El Camino Real Atascadero, CA 93422 David A. Berger, General Manager Monterey Peninsula Water Management District 5 Harris Court, Bldg. G Monterey, CA 93942 Andy Lipkis, President Tree People 12601 Mulholland Drive Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Paul Helliker, General Manager Marin Municipal Water District 220 Nellen Avenue Corte Madera, CA 94501 H. J. Barry, Manager Denver Board of Water Commissioners 1600 West 12 th Avenue Denver, CO 80204 Rich Nagel, Co-General Manager Art Aguilar, Co General Manager Central Basin Municipal Water District 17140 S. Avalon Blvd., Suite 210 Carson, CA 90746 Melanie Winter, Director The River Project 119560 Ventura Blvd. #9 Studio City, CA 91604 Stan Williams, CEO Santa Clara Valley Water District 5750 Almaden Expressway San Jose, CA 95118 Rose M. Smutko San Diego County Water Authority 4677 Overland Avenue San Diego, CA 92123 Karen Powers, General Manager Walnut Valley Water District 271 South Brea Canyon Road Walnut, CA 91789 Donald Kendall, General Manager Calleguas Municipal Water District 2100 Olsen Road Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 Brian Johnson, Manager City of Santa Monica Environmental Programs Division 200 Santa Monica Pier Santa Monica, CA 90401
Misty Gonzales Water Conservation Coordinator Goleta Water District 4699 Hollister Avenue Goleta, CA 93110 Kevin O Connell, General Manager North Coast County Water 2400 Francisco Blvd. Pacifica, CA 94044 Zigmund Vays, President Community Enhancement Services 1335 N. La Brea Avenue, #3 Los Angeles, CA 90028 Richard Atwater, General Manager Inland Empire Utilities Agency PO Box 9020 Chino Hills, CA 91709 Denise Smith, Water Compliance & Conservation Manager Newhall County Water District 23780 North Pine Street Santa Clarita, CA 91322 Miles Ferris, Director of Utilities City of Santa Rosa 69 Stony Circle Santa Rosa, CA 95401 Amanda Cox Water Conservation Coordinator Coastside County Water District 766 Main Street Half Moon Bay, CA 94019 Anthony Pack, General Manager Eastern Municipal Water District Post Office Box 8300 Perris, CA 92572 Carole McGreevy, General Manager Jurupa Community Services District 11201 Harrel Street Mira Loma, CA 91752 Klaus Reichardt, Managing Partner Waterless Company LLC 1050 Joshua Way Vista, CA 92081 Re: IAPMO Standards Council Decision Dockets 1034-06; 1038-06; 1042-06; 1049-06; 1050-06; 1066-06; 1069-06; 1073-06; 1077-06; 1079-06; 1084-06; 1088-06; 1092-06; 1098-06; 1099-06; 1103-06; 1107-06; 1114-06; 1120-06; 1125-06; 1131-06; 1136-06; 1141-06; 1146-06. Date of Decision: November 17, 2005 Uniform Plumbing Code
Dear Sir or Madam: I am transmitting to you herewith the following decision of the IAPMO Standards Council. At its meeting of November 16 17, 2005, the IAPMO Standards Council considered your appeal requesting that all actions taken at the September Association Technical Meeting Convention be disregarded and that a new code development process be implemented providing for water industry comment and debate without bias or prejudice. Appellant contends that the 2006 edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code is based on improper and biased procedures including: (a) IAPMO rules governing the Business Meeting did not allow for a true consensus process where interested parties have a reasonable opportunity to appeal to the IAPMO membership. (b) The rules did not allow anyone to make a motion to amend except the Submitter of the Comment (though this rule was changed in the middle of the meeting). (c) The rules do not allow IAPMO members to vote on a motion to amend or vote on the approval of the proposed code unless the member pays a registration fee of $400. (d) IAPMO changed the rules governing the Business Meeting proceedings (regarding the allowance of attendees to make motions and public comments) in the middle of the UPC session. This rules change occurred too late for the water industry to offer amendment proposals and provide substantive documentation and evidence for the needed amendments. Procedurally, the Council notes that Appellant s contentions are being raised, for the first time, within this appeal and were not raised at any time during the process used to develop the 2006 edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code, including, but not limited to, the meetings of the Plumbing Technical Committee in 2004 and 2005, and the Association Technical Meeting Convention in September 2005. For the following reasons, the Council does not find merit with the Appellant s contentions and votes to deny the appeal. (a) The IAPMO Regulations Governing Committee Projects were accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 2001. These Regulations were deemed by ANSI to include all of the essential requirements related to the development of consensus for approval of the Uniform Plumbing Code as an American National Standard. Consequently, the Regulations Governing Committee Projects utilized by IAPMO through the course of development of the 2006 edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code provide for consensus as consensus is defined by ANSI. (b) The Council disagrees with the Appellant s contention that the rules did not allow anyone to make a motion to amend except the submitter of the comment (though this rule was changed in the middle of the meeting). Section 4-5.7 of the Regulations Governing Committee Projects
identifies the persons who may make amending motions at Association Technical Meetings and such regulation contains many instances when anyone may present an amendment to a technical committee report. Further, Section 4-5.4(c) provides a submitter of a proposal or comment who is to be represented by another at an Association Technical Meeting shall designate such representative in writing to the Council Secretary. An organizational delegate shall be permitted to represent the submitter of a proposal or comment if the submitter transmitted the proposal or comment on behalf of the same organization. Copies of the Regulations Governing Committee Projects are provided to all technical committee members and are available to the public at large at www.iapmo.org. The Council has reviewed the entire transcript of the September 2005 Association Technical Meeting Convention and notes that Section 4-5.7 was not changed or relaxed in the middle of the Association Technical Meeting Convention and concludes that the evidence in the record does not support Appellant s contention to the contrary. (c) Section 4-5.3 of the Regulations Governing Committee Projects provides that voting on technical committee reports at Association meetings shall be limited to those authorized to vote as specified in Article 3 of the IAPMO Bylaws. Section 3.5 of the IAPMO Bylaws provides that the term member(s) present and entitled to vote as used in this Article 3 means a person who is and for at least the preceding one hundred eighty (180) days was a member entitled to vote who is physically present at the Annual Conference or Special Business Meeting at which the vote is taken, and who has paid whatever registration fee has been established by the Board of Directors for attendance at such conference or meeting. The Council notes that the Regulations Governing Committee Projects do not require the payment of any fee with regard to any aspect of participation in any part of the code development process other than an IAPMO member s right to vote at the Association Technical Meeting Convention. ANSI has publicly endorsed the principle that a standards developing organization may charge a reasonable fee as a condition precedent to casting a vote at an association technical meeting convention and section 4-5.3 of the IAPMO Regulations has been accredited by ANSI. (d) As noted earlier, the Council has reviewed the entire transcript of the September 2005 Association Technical Meeting Convention and concludes that IAPMO did not change the Regulations governing the Association Technical Meeting at any time in the course of such meeting. For all of the aforesaid reasons, the Council concludes that the ANSI accredited Regulations Governing Committee Projects provide for a code development process which permits debate without bias or prejudice and votes to deny the appeal. Sincerely, Gabriella Davis, Secretary IAPMO Standards Council
C: Neil Bogatz, General Counsel Jay Peters, Recording Secretary Carl Marbery, Plumbing TC Staff Liaison Members, Plumbing Technical Committee IAPMO Standards Council NOTE: Participants in IAPMO s codes and standards making process are advised that limited review of this decision may be sought from the NFPA Standards Council. For the rules describing the available review and the method for petitioning the NFPA Standards Council for review, please consult Section 1-7 of the IAPMO Regulations Governing Committee Projects and the IAPMO Regulations Governing Petitions to the NFPA Standards Council from Decisions of the IAPMO Standards Council. Notice of the intent to file such a petition must be submitted to the Secretary of the NFPA Standards Council within 15 calendar days of the Date of Decision noted in the subject line of this letter. As this document is being submitted to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for designation as an American National Standard (ANS), any persons who have directly and materially affected interests by this decision have the right to appeal to ANSI in accordance with ANSI Procedures.