International Code Council Update
CODE CHANGE
In October 2024, NSU successfully lobbied the International Code Council to adopt new regulations regarding water reuse. In 2021, major revisions to the International Plumbing Code (IPC) regarding water reuse were proposed by others and rejected for a variety of reasons. During the next cycle of rule updates, Natural Systems Utilities (NSU) joined the Code Action Committee’s Working Group to modify and resubmit proposed code updates to safely encourage more water reuse. NSU played an instrumental role, as primary author of the rewritten IPC SECTIONS 1301 and 1302. Retitled “Water Reuse Systems”, this new proposal identified and sanctioned nearly 100 forms of water reuse. And instead of basing required treatment on the raw source of reuse water, this new proposal based required water quality on the type of reuse. For example, direct potable reuse water would require a higher quality than landscape irrigation reuse water. To clarify this approach, four exposure categories matched to four quality standards were proposed. Following input from various stakeholders and intermediate approvals, both sections were approved by a vote of 13-1 at the 2024 Code Action Hearings, in Long Beach, California. Pending a public comment period in 2026, the 2027 IPC will feature this new code and be more explicitly supportive of water reuse.
THE ICC
The International Code Council was established in 1994 as a non-profit organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated model construction codes. The founders of the Code Council are Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc. (BOCA), International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) and Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. (SBCCI). In the early part of the last century, these non-profit organizations developed three separate sets of model codes used throughout the United States. Although regional code development was effective and responsive to needs, a single set of codes was preferred. The three model code groups responded by creating the Code Council and by developing codes without regional limitations: the International Codes® (I-Codes). At present, the IPS is adopted in 35 states.
