St. Louis Updates Plumbing Code to 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code
Date Posted: March 1, 2023
Posted In: News,
From Contractor Magazine: City of St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones has signed legislation adopting the 2021 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), updating the city’s code from the 2009 edition of the UPC. The adoption was recommended by the city’s Committee of Plumbing Code Review and has the enthusiastic support of St. Louis’ plumbing industry.
Alderman Bret Narayan (Ward 24) sponsored Board Bill 182 and guided it through the adoption process. The legislation unanimously passed out of the St. Louis Health and Human Services Committee and moved forward to the Board of Aldermen for consideration, passing overwhelmingly on Feb. 3 and 7.
Meeting Today’s Demands
“I applaud the work of Alderman Narayan, the St. Louis Health and Human Services Committee and the Board of Aldermen in updating the city’s plumbing code from the 2009 UPC to the 2021 UPC,” said Brian Rogers, IAPMO senior vice president of Field Services. “This action helps ensure the residents of St. Louis have access to a newer code that reflects changes in water conservation and plumbing technology. The adoption of the 2021 UPC will benefit citizens throughout St. Louis and reaffirms the city’s commitment to help ensure that all buildings have safe and cost-effective plumbing systems that meet the demands of today’s consumers.”
One of the many significant updates found in the 2021 UPC is the addition of the Water Demand CalculatorTM (WDC) (https://www.iapmo.org/water-demand-calculator/). The UPC is the only national model plumbing code with significant updates for water pipe sizing in buildings since the development of Hunter’s Curve more than 80 years ago. It is the result of a multiyear, IAPMO-led effort to develop a new statistically based pipe sizing method stemming from a need to address profound water safety and wasted water and energy concerns due to oversized water supply pipes in homes and buildings.