The Austin City Council, representing the capital of the nation’s second most populous state, has voted unanimously to approve the recommendation of the city’s Mechanical and Plumbing Board to adopt the 2021 editions of the Uniform Plumbing Code^® (UPC) and Uniform Mechanical Code^® (UMC).

The adoptions represent an update from the 2015 editions of these codes and will go into effect on Sept. 1. The city of Austin has utilized the Uniform Codes consistently since the 1970s. 

“I am pleased the Austin City Council has voted unanimously to adopt the 2021 UPC and UMC,” said John Mata, IAPMO Field Services representative. “IAPMO has an historic relationship with Austin, working with the city since the ’70s to adopt the Uniform Codes and remain on the cutting edge of technology in the plumbing and mechanical fields. I applaud the tireless work of the Mechanical and Plumbing Board of Austin, along with Mayor Adler and the council ensuring Austinites have access to the most progressive, sustainable and resilient plumbing and mechanical codes available.”

The Austin City Council heard written and oral testimony supporting the adoptions from the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association (PHCC), UA Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 286, the Southwest Pipe Trades Association, Mechanical Contractors Association of Texas (MCA) of Austin, Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association (ACCA) and private contractors.

The UPC and UMC represent a carefully constructed balance between prescriptive and performance requirements, all while maintaining effective, seamless integration with all model building codes, no matter the developer.

The UPC’s new Appendix M Water Demand Calculator (https://www.iapmo.org/water-demand-calculator/) represents the first major update to plumbing sizing requirements since the 1940s and enables Austin plumbing professionals the opportunity to see firsthand how IAPMO is committed to developing new provisions toward improving water quality and safety, reducing construction costs, and saving consumers energy, water and money. The Water Demand Calculator predicts peak water demand for single- and multi-family dwellings when water efficient fixtures are installed. An independent study found notable cost savings when applied to residential structures.

Introduced in Los Angeles in 1928 and formally published as the Uniform Plumbing Code in 1945, followed by the UMC, Uniform Solar, Hydronics and Geothermal Code (USHGC), and Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code (USPSHTC) in subsequent years, the Uniform Codes are the only such codes recognized as American National Standards by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). IAPMO’s ANSI-accredited consensus development process brings together volunteers representing a variety of viewpoints and interests to achieve consensus on plumbing and mechanical practices. Developed and subsequently republished at the conclusion of each three-year code cycle, the Uniform Codes are designed to provide consumers with safe and sanitary plumbing and mechanical systems while, at the same time, allowing latitude for innovation and new technologies.