(A) Amendments to the International Plumbing Code are identified by “IPC.”
(B) The following amendments, modifications, additions and deletions to the IPC, 2018 Edition, are hereby made.
(1) Amend IPC § 103.4 by adding the following:
Liability. Nothing in this Code shall be construed to relieve or lessen the liability of any person, firm or corporation owning, operating, controlling, installing or repairing any plumbing work or equipment, whether alleged damages are caused by any negligence, defects in operation or installation thereof, or any other reason. Nor shall the City or any of its employees be held as assuming any liability by reason of inspection of work or the issuance of permits or performance of other duties or requirements authorized or required by this Code.
(2) Amend IPC § 104 Duties and Powers of the Code Official by adding the following:
a. Duties and qualifications. The Building Official shall serve as and have all duties and powers of the Chief Plumbing Inspector as referenced in the International Plumbing Code (herein "Building Official"), and the Associate Building Official and City building inspectors shall serve as plumbing inspectors and shall have those duties and responsibilities as set forth in the classification plan.
b. General duties of plumbing inspectors. The Building Official shall be responsible for the enforcement of this Code, and together with the Associate Building Official and City building inspectors shall have the right to enter any building during reasonable hours, in the discharge of official duties and enforcement of this Code.
(3) Amend IPC § 108.4 by adding the following after IPC 108.4 Penalties:
Any violation of any of the terms or conditions of this Code, or any failure to comply with any of its requirements, shall constitute a civil infraction or misdemeanor and shall be accordingly subject to fines or imprisonment in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Iowa. Each day a violation exists may be considered to be a new and separate infraction or misdemeanor.
(4) Amend IPC § 106 by adding the following relating to permits:
a. Permits required. No person, firm or corporation shall begin the construction, reconstruction, alteration or repair of any plumbing or building drainage system in or for any building in the city without first having obtained a permit from the Department of Community Development.
b. Maintenance work and stoppages. Permits are not required for work generally known as maintenance, such as the repair of leaks, the removal of stoppage in sewer or waste pipes, or the repair of faucets and closet tanks provided that no part of the street right-of-way shall be excavated without first obtaining a permit.
c. Application for permit.
Any person, firm or corporation who has been issued a valid plumbing license by the State of Iowa may apply for a permit to do work governed by this Code on forms provided by the Department of Community Development ("Department") for such purpose. Such application shall be accompanied by the payment of a fee as set forth in this Code.
No permit shall be applied for in any building or on any property where the plumbing is defective or does not fully comply with this Code, including where work has been done without a permit or does not conform to a permit, or to the rules and regulations of the local or State Board of Health, unless the permit is correction of the defective or noncompliant work.
An owner of an existing owner-occupied single-family detached dwelling who desires to install plumbing equipment, or perform any plumbing work in their single-family dwelling may appear before the Building Official and show that they are competent to do specific work, and after said demonstration of competency may obtain a permit upon submittal of a proper application and payment of the required permit fee; payment of a homeowner's permit fee as set by resolution approved by City Council; and signing the Homeowner's Exemption Affidavit; and do the work authorized by such permit provided that all shall be in full compliance with this Code.
d. Issuance of permit. Upon approval of an application for a permit, the Department shall issue a permit authorizing the work listed in the permit to be done.
e. Additional work. Work shall be limited to that which is listed on a valid permit. No additional work shall be done or additional fixtures set without first obtaining a new permit for all of the additional work or fixtures.
f. Denial of permits. The Building Official may refuse to issue permits to any person who is found to consistently neglect or fail properly to perform or direct employees to perform work in full compliance with this Code.
g. Excavation permit. Excavation permits to allow an excavation within a street right-of-way or other public property for the purpose of installing sewer or water connections for buildings, shall be not be issued until a plumbing permit has first been issued by the Department work. Each excavation permit shall list the number of the pertinent plumbing permit. A cash bond in an amount set by resolution approved by the City Council shall be provided to the City as part of each excavation permit that necessitates the cutting and removal of any street or sidewalk pavement and shall remain on file with the City for a minimum of four years for each paving cut. Alternatively a minimum insurance performance bond in an amount set by resolution approved by City Council shall be provided to the City when a street cut is necessary, and is good for all street cuts within the City by that contractor.
Pavement cuts shall be done in accordance with the requirements of the City Engineer, and the pavement shall be replaced in accordance with City specifications and as directed by the City Engineer including oversight by a City inspector.
h. Work by Engineering Department. No permit is required for work that is done under the jurisdiction of the City Engineer and in accordance with the City's standard specifications.
(5) Amend IPC § 106.5.2 by inserting the following:
Sewer connection and plumbing construction fees.
Any sewer connection fee that is required by the Urbandale Sanitary Sewer District or Urbandale-Windsor Heights Sanitary Sewer District shall be paid at the time that an application is submitted for a building permit, and no plumbing permit shall be issued for any work until said connection fee has been paid. The connection fee shall be the amount that is required by the applicable Sanitary Sewer District at the time that the application for a building permit is submitted, unless the District's requirements state otherwise.
Every application for a plumbing permit shall be accompanied by the payment of a fee as set by Resolution of the City Council from time to time.
Where work for which a permit is required by this Code is started prior to obtaining the permit, the fees above specified shall be doubled. The payment of the double fee shall not relieve any persons from complying with the requirements of this Code in the execution of the work, nor from any other penalties described herein.
(6) Amend IPC § 107 by adding the following:
Prefabricated assemblies.
Where the work requiring a plumbing permit will wholly or partially be enclosed within one or more prefabricated assemblies, the requirements for local licensing and inspections or requests therefore, shall not be applicable to the work if the use of prefabricated assemblies renders compliance with the requirements impractical. In lieu of local inspection, the fabricator shall provide the Building Official with a certification from the International Code Council, Underwriter's Laboratories, Inc., or any other approved independent inspection agency qualified to make the certification stating that the plumbing work wholly or partially enclosed within the prefabricated assembly has been inspected by the certifying agency and complies with the requirements of this chapter and the state plumbing regulations, and containing other information as may be required by the Building Official. The Building Official may for due cause shown, require that any plumbing work wholly or partially enclosed within a prefabricated assembly be exposed to allow inspection.
Where the fabrication of prefabricated assemblies is performed outside the corporate limits of the city, the provisions requiring local inspection shall not be applicable.
The plumbing permits required for fabrication of prefabricated assemblies outside of the corporate limits shall be obtained by and issued to the fabricator, regardless of whether the fabricator holds a plumber's license.
(7) Amend IPC § 109 entitled Means of Appeal as follows:
The Board of Appeals mentioned in § 109 of the Plumbing Code shall be the same Board of Appeals which serves for the Building Code (herein "Board" or "Board of Appeals"), and persons who are appointed to the Board of Appeals are hereby concurrently appointed to this Board without further action or specific citation. The Building Official shall be an ex officio member and shall act as secretary to the Board, but shall have no vote upon any matter before the Board.
The Board shall have no authority relative to interpretation of the administrative provisions of this Code, and the Board shall not be empowered to waive requirements of this Code.
The rules of procedure, powers, and obligations of the Board shall be the same as those set forth in the Building Code, including but not limited to rendering all decisions and findings in writing to the appellant with a duplicate copy to the Building Official.
(8) Amend IPC § 303.2 and by adding the following:
Notwithstanding the provisions of § 303.2, homogenous bituminized fiber drain and sewer pipe shall not be allowed anywhere in a building drainage system.
(9) Amend IPC § 415 by adding the following provisions:
Laundry trays.
Fixtures such as laundry trays and tubs in private residences used for laundry wastes only, may be drained over an open floor drain provided that such fixture is set not more than five feet from such floor drain. All stand pipe drains for automatic washers are to be not less than 36 inches above the floor.
(10) Amend IPC § 603 by adding the following provisions:
Water service taps, valves, piping size and material, and water meter installations shall comply with the Urbandale Water Utility's regulations.
(11) Amend IPC § 604.8 by adding the following provision:
Water-pressure reducing valves or regulators will only be required when the Urbandale Water Utility determines that they must be installed. Building owners may voluntarily install such devices. Such devices must be installed after the water meter, or according to the Urbandale Water Utility standards.
(12) Amend IPC § 608.1 by adding the following provisions:
The Urbandale Water Utility shall be the administrative authority for cross-connection control containment provisions. Rules and regulations for containment shall be as set forth by the Water Utility.
(13) Amend IPC § 702.3 by adding further limitations on the use of ABS and PVC material as follows:
a.) The minimum plastic below grade material shall be SDR 23.5 or Schedule 40.
When the bottom of the excavation does not provide a firm, undisturbed pipe bed, pipe installations shall have a minimum of four inches of aggregate or sand bedding material. The minimum backfill shall support the pipe up to the spring line, and shall be either aggregate or sand material. Sand is allowed inside the building foundation line.
Aggregate shall be three-eighth inch to three-fourths inch stone, either washed or unwashed.
These minimum bedding and fill requirements are not intended to supersede more restrictive manufacturer specifications.
b.) A proposed use of ABS or PVC that is not expressly authorized by this Code may be approved by the Building Official for a particular case, provided it is designed and certified by a professional engineer or architect.
(14) Amend IPC § 703 by adding the following provisions:
Private sewage disposal works. If a public sanitary sewer is not reasonably available for connection as determined and approved by the City Engineer and applicable Sanitary Sewer District, drain pipes from buildings shall be connected to private sewage disposal works that fully complies with provisions of Polk or Dallas County Health Department and has been approved by the Health Department according to the design and location of the work, and with State regulations, after first obtaining a permit from the County Health Department and Department of Community Development. The application for said permit shall show the proposed location and design of the private disposal unit, and the location of all wells that are within 150 feet of the proposed site for the unit. Private sewage disposal works shall be prohibited where a public sanitary sewer is reasonably available for connection, as determined and approved by the City Engineer and applicable Sanitary Sewer District.
Bituminous fiber building sewer. If any portion of a bituminous fiber ("Orangeburg") building sewer fails, the Orangeburg sewer shall be replaced in its entirety from the building to the public sanitary sewer with new sewer that fully complies with this Code.
(15) Amend IPC § 703 by adding the following:
The building sewer beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building wall to the property line shall be of cast-iron or ABS/PVC material. ABS/PVC shall be solid wall pipe with a minimum stiffness of 150 psi, material shall conform to ASTM D1784, cell classification 12454 b, ASTM D2751 and D3034, and shall be a minimum of SDR 23.5 or schedule 40. Test tees shall be installed within five feet of the property line.
All sanitary sewers that are eight inches or more in diameter and all storm sewers that are 12 inches or more in diameter on private property shall conform to the Statewide Urban Design and Specifications (SUDAS) as adopted and amended by the City, including but not limited to all appurtenances thereto, methods of construction, and inspection.
Pipe or pipe fitting joints shall conform to PVC gasketed joints standard ASTM D3212, or solvent welded joints, specifically for below grade installations.
(16) Add the following to IPC § 714:
Exception. The requirements of this section shall apply only when it is determined necessary by the Building Official or the City Engineer based on local conditions.
(17) Add a section numbered IPC § 718 as follows:
IPC § 718 Work in Public Street Right-of-Way.
Paving shall not be cut except as allowed and in accordance with the Statewide Urban Design and Specifications (SUDAS) as adopted and amended by the City. All excavations within or under the paved street shall be compacted in accordance with SUDAS as adopted and amended by the City; paving likewise shall be replaced in accordance with SUDAS as adopted and amended by the City; and such work may be required to be inspected by the Engineering Department in the same manner that is required for new subdivision improvements.
(18) Amend IPC § 902 by adding further limitations on the use of ABS and PVC material:
a. The minimum plastic below grade material shall be SD R 23.5 or Schedule 40.
b. A proposed use of ABS or PVC that is not expressly authorized by this Code may be approved by the Building Official for a particular case, provided it is designed and certified by a professional engineer or architect.
(19) Amend IPC § 906.1 by adding the following table:
Vent Diameter | Extension Diameter |
Less than 3 inches | 3 inches |
3 to 4 inches | 4 inches |
Over 4 inches | Same as vent size |
The minimum vent extension above a roof shall be six inches.
(20) Amend IPC § 1003.3 Grease Interceptors: Delete 1003.3 and insert in lieu thereof:
Grease Interceptors shall comply with the requirements of Title V, Public Works, Chapter 52.
(21) Amend IPC § 1101.4 by adding that the city shall not be required to observe the testing, this is not a required inspection.
(22) Amend IPC § 1102 by adding the following provisions:
SDR 23.5 or Schedule 40 shall be the minimum plastic pipe underneath buildings.
(23) Amend IPC § 1104.2 by adding the following provisions:
Sump pumps, footing drains, and other subsoil drainage systems shall be connected to a public storm sewer where reasonably available, or shall be discharged in the manner and location as directed by the City Engineer. Storm and sanitary drainage shall not be combined under any circumstances, and in no case shall any storm sewer or intake, gutter system, sump pump, ground water drain, or other source of surface or subsoil drainage be connected to or allowed to drain into the public sanitary sewer system.
(24) Delete IPC § 1109. Periodic Testing.
(Ord. 2020-14, passed 9-22-2020)