Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
318.090,
318.130,
318.134,
318.140,
318.160,
318.170
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
318.130 requires the department to promulgate
an administrative regulation establishing the Kentucky State Plumbing Code.
KRS
318.160 requires a person who constructs,
installs, or extensively alters any plumbing, sewerage, or water supply system
of any public building or establishment to obtain approval of the department in
writing. This administrative regulation establishes the requirements for the
tests and inspections that are necessary in order to ensure compliance with 815
KAR Chapter 20, the Kentucky State Plumbing Code.
Section 1. Required Inspections and Tests.
(1) Required inspections. The department
shall inspect the following to ensure compliance with the code:
(a) The water distribution system;
(b) The soil, waste, and vent
system;
(c) The fixtures and
fixture traps;
(d) Appurtenances;
and
(e) All connections in a
plumbing system.
(2)
Required tests. Tests shall be made separately or as follows:
(a) The house sewer and its branches from the
property line to the house drain;
(b) The house drain including its
branches;
(c) The soil, waste, and
vent system;
(d) Inside rain water
conductors; and
(e) The final
inspection and air test which shall include the complete plumbing system as
required by Section 3(2) of this administrative regulation, exclusive of the
house sewer.
(3)
Rough-in inspection.
(a) The plumbing system
shall not be covered until it has been inspected, tested, and
approved.
(b) A rough-in inspection
shall be conducted prior to the covering or concealment of the plumbing
system.
(c) If any part of a
plumbing system is covered or concealed before being inspected, tested, and
approved, it shall be uncovered, or unconcealed and tested as
required.
(4) Condemned
buildings. In buildings condemned by other authorities because of unsanitary
conditions of the plumbing system, necessary alterations shall be considered a
new plumbing system.
(5) Tests of
alterations, extensions, or repairs. Any alterations, repairs, or extensions
that require more than ten (10) feet of soil, waste, or vent piping shall be
inspected and tested as required by Section 3(2) of this administrative
regulation.
Section 2.
Permit Holder Requirements. The person procuring the plumbing permit shall:
(1) Furnish all equipment, material, and
labor necessary for inspections and tests;
(2) Notify the department representative and
request a rough-in inspection for the plumbing system prior to the plumbing
system being concealed or covered within the floors or walls of a building;
and
(3) Notify a department
representative and request a final inspection and air test upon completion of
the installation.
Section
3. Requirements for Remote Inspection.
(1) A master plumber may request a plumbing
inspection from the department conducted by live video or submission of
recorded video if the master plumber holds a certificate of completion issued
by the department.
(2) Certificate
of completion.
(a) The department shall issue
a certificate of completion to a master plumber who has successfully completed
a training course provided by the department that shall cover the following
topics:
1. Technology necessary for effective
remote inspection;
2. Information
to be conveyed and shown by the master plumber to the department; and
3. How to show corrections made to
installations that failed remote inspection.
(b) A certificate of completion issued to a
master plumber pursuant paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be valid for a
period of three (3) years from the date of issuance, after which the
certificate shall expire unless renewed prior to expiration as established in
paragraph (c) of this subsection. A master plumber whose certificate of
completion has expired shall not be eligible to request or receive remote
inspections.
(c) A certificate
holder may renew his or her certificate of completion by completing the
training course established in paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(3) The department shall deny a
request for remote inspection if:
(a)
1. The scope of the work is too complex for
remote inspection.
2. Examples of
work too complex for remote inspection shall include:
a. Medical gas installation inspections;
and
b. Inspections of plumbing
installations that require multiple visits from the inspector prior to the
system being placed on a test;
(b)
1.
Remote inspection is not feasible or practical.
2. Examples of remote inspections that are
not feasible or practical shall include:
a.
Inspections during which cellular or internet reception is not consistent or
reliable;
b. Poor video quality;
and
c. Technical issues that
prevent clear inspection; or
(c)
1. The
situation would not provide an adequate inspection if done remotely.
2. Examples of situations that would not
provide adequate inspection if done remotely shall include:
a. Underground plumbing installations that
require more than one (1) inspection;
b. Rough-in inspections that would require
more than one (1) inspection to fully inspect the entire rough-in piping
system; and
c. Final plumbing
inspections on new construction.
(4) Remote inspection seals.
(a) A certificate holder may request numbered
remote inspection seals from the department to place on completed plumbing
installations that are approved for remote inspection. The request shall be
made by by submitting a completed form PLB-4, Application for Plumbing Remote
Inspection Seals, to the department.
(b) Except for the initial request for remote
inspection seals, a certificate holder requesting seals shall submit a
completed form PLB-5, Plumbing Remote Inspection Seal Verification, to the
department prior to receiving remote inspection seals.
(c) A certificate holder shall:
1. Affix a seal to a completed plumbing
installation for which he or she has been approved for remote
inspection;
2. Not affix a seal to
a plumbing installation if he or she has not submitted videos of the
installation to the department or participated in a live video inspection with
the department; and
3. Not allow
seals he or she received from the department to be used by another.
(d) The department shall:
1. Assign an inspection number to the permit
and seal for a plumbing installation that has successfully passed all required
remote inspections and tests; and
2. Complete remote inspections that are not
live video within three (3) business days of receipt of videos of the completed
plumbing installation eligible for remote inspection.
(e) A property owner, property owner's
designee, or certificate holder shall write the inspection number assigned by
the department on the seal the inspection number is assigned to upon successful
passage of all required inspections and tests.
(5) Notification of noncompliance. The
department shall immediately issue a notification of noncompliance in writing
to the certificate holder upon finding deficiencies in the documentation
submitted for remote inspection.
(6) Corrections to noncompliant
installations. A plumbing installation found to be noncompliant through remote
inspection shall be corrected within ten (10) business days upon receiving
notice of noncompliance from the department. Failure to make the required
corrections may result in the termination of the certificate holder's
certificate of completion.
(7)
Penalties. A certificate holder who knowingly engages in activity intended to
defraud or deceive a plumbing inspector or any other agent of the department
shall be subject to certificate and license revocation or suspension.
(8) Department determinations established in
subsections (6) and (7) of this section may be appealed to the department. An
appeal shall be conducted pursuant to KRS Chapter 13B.
Section 4. Testing of Systems.
(1) The water distribution system, as well as
the water service, shall be:
(a) Tested with
air or water under a pressure of not less than the maximum working pressure
under which it is to be used; and
(b) Free from leaks.
(2)
(a)
Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, a water test shall be
performed:
1. On the entire soil, waste, and
vent system; or
2. In
sections.
(b) If it is
applied to the entire system, all openings shall be closed, except the highest
opening and the system shall be filled with water to the point of
overflow.
(c) If the system is
tested in sections, each opening shall be tightly plugged, except the highest
opening and it shall be tested with not less than a ten (10) foot head of
water. In testing successive sections, at least the upper ten (10) feet of the
preceding section shall be retested.
(3) In lieu of a water test, an air pressure
test may be used by attaching an air compressor or test apparatus to any
suitable opening. All other inlets and outlets to the system shall be closed,
forcing air into the system until there is a uniform pressure of five (5)
pounds per square inch (PSI). The pressure shall be maintained for fifteen (15)
minutes.
(4) After the plumbing
fixtures have been set and their traps filled with water and before the
building is occupied, the final air test shall test the entire soil, waste, and
vent system including the fixtures and appurtenances, other than a house sewer,
by connecting an air machine to any suitable opening or outlet and applying air
pressure equivalent to a one (1) inch water column. It shall be maintained for
at least a fifteen (15) minute period. If there are no leaks or forcing of trap
seals as may be indicated by the functioning of a drum, float, or water column,
the system shall be determined as airtight.
(5) A garage drainage system shall be tested
in the same manner as the soil, waste, and vent system.
(6) A house sewer shall be tested by a water,
air, or smoke test. A four (4) inch test tee or Y connection shall be provided
at the property line for testing.
(7) The department may require the removal of
any clean-outs to ascertain if the pressure has reached all parts of the
system
(8) A building sewer not
drained by gravity shall have a minimum of twenty-four (24) inches of cover and
shall be tested with five (5) pounds per square inch for a period of fifteen
(15) minutes.
(9) Inside rain water
conductors shall be tested with water, air, or smoke test.
Section 5. Defective Work. If an inspection
or a test indicates defective work or material, it shall be replaced and the
inspection and the test repeated.
Section
6. Testing Defective Plumbing. An air test shall be used in
testing the condition of a plumbing system if there is reason to believe it has
become defective.
Section 7.
Certificate of Approval. The department shall issue a certificate of approval
upon the satisfactory completion and final test of the plumbing
system.
Section 8. Incorporation by
Reference.
(1) The following material is
incorporated by reference:
(a) "Application
for Plumbing Remote Inspection Seals", Form PLB-4, June 2020; and
(b) "Plumbing Remote Inspection Seal
Verification", Form PLB-5, June 2020.
(2) This material may be inspected, copied,
or obtained, subject to applicable copyright law, at the Department of Housing,
Buildings and Construction, 500 Mero Street, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-5412,
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is available online at
dhbc.ky.gov.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS
198B.040(10),
318.130