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TECHNICAL
SERVICES INC.
November 22, 1988
Dr. Roy Goctesman The Vinyl Institute Wayne Interchange Plaza II 155 Route 46 West Wayne, New Jersey 07470
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to'ri iou.-"' t GOTTLaMAN
Da. a
Dear Roy:
I am enclosing trade press information on (1) the appointment of Ed Wachter as executive director of IAPMO and (2) a trade press sunmary of the IAPIvD meeting that was held in Seattle recently. '
enc1. - 2 go 11 s.nov
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2550 NINTH STREET. SUITE 112, BERKELEY, CA 94710 TELEPHONE 415-548-3451
IAPMO
IAPMO Names Wachter to Head Post
By Larry Dill
ALNUT,
Calif.--Ed
W Wachter, former chief plumbing and mechanical inspector for the County of Los Angeles, has been appointed to serve
as the executive director of the Interna
tional Association of Plumbing and Me
chanical Officials (IAPMO).
Wachter replaces Charles Lunt, who re
signed less than a year after accepting the
position as the top staff member in the
embattled organization. Lunt replaced
Thomas Higham late last year after
igham was discharged amid a swirl of
ntroversy and charges leveled by IAP-
O's executive board.
Wachter is well known to IAPMO
members for his longtime membership as
a representative of the County of Los An
geles and as a private consultant during
the last two years for the Southern Cali
fornia PIPE (Piping Industry Progress
and Education Trust Fund) since April,
1986. Wachter, who was awarded a life
time membership following his retire
ment from governmental service, main
tained a high profile in recent years as
one of the most vocal and adamant oppo
nents of polybutylene plastic piping sys
tems. Through his efforts with PIPE, a la
bor/management cooperative program
co-sponsored by the United Association's
District Council 16 and the Plumbing and
Piping Industry Council, Wachter cam
paigned actively for the removal of poly
butylene from iAPMO's UPC.
Lunt cited "personal reasons" for ten
dering his resignation, which came less
than one year after he left his position as
the head of the Los Angeles Unified
School District's plumbing department.
Lunt served the school board, one of the
largest in the nation, for 27 years.-
Lunt told Reeves Journal that he was
ssured into resigning by IAPMO's ex-
tive board after he was confronted
about his performance in recent months.
According to Lunt, he came at odds with
the board when he was challenged on the day-to-day administrative activities of the organization. Lunt contended that the many pressing outside legal distractions, which took priority for the interest of the organization, dominated his time and prevented him from concentrating full time on routine administrative functions.
"I indicated I thought I was doing ev erything I was able to do, in regards to IAPMO, due to the high amount of legal information I was able to supply, and it was very difficult to be able to handle much above that as far as in-house was concerned,"Lunt said. "In all honesty, there were probably some things that were not accomplished that probably could have been if I had more time that was deprived from work that had to be done with the legal matters."
"I still have high regard for the mem bership and people of IAPMO. It's still in
my blood. I think, by and large, IAPMO is still one of the most fair and honest groups and it's comprised of extremely good members. I just hope our new lead ership will provide what the members think they should have,"he added.
Wachter noted that Lunt resigned on Oct. 10 and he was appointed on Oct. 14. The personable Wachter, a licensed me chanical engineer, said he was first ap proached about the executive director's position last year when Higham was dis missed. He declined the position at that time, citing his contentment as a "retired" official with an excellent arrangement as
a consultant for PIPE. "I have a lot of concerns for IAPMO,
I've been a member of IAPMO for almost
19 years." Wachter said. "I have a lot of concerns for IAPMO's future, and I think
it's a very worthwhile organization. I
think it truly does more to protect the consumer and the plumbing industry
that any other code. I think it's the best code in the industry, and I would like to see it continue to be that. Because of that.
and because retirement's not all it's cracked up to be, I look forward to my time as executive director. It's not a short time thing. I'm committing myself to the job with a three-year contract."
Wachter looks at the same challenges Lunt faced and said such issues were the main cause for his decision to accept his position. "As far as priorities are con cerned, I would first like to get theIAPMO staff to be probably the most pro fessional, most capable and the most re sponsive staff to its membership of any code body in the industry." he explained. "I felt for sometime that one area we could improve in IAPMO was the respon siveness to 'A' and 'B' members problems and concerns.
"Also, in the past 10 years, we really haven't expanded the use of IAPMO (the UPC) to any extent all throughout the country, and that's going to be a primary goal; form new chapters, try and con vince new jurisdictions they should adopt the best plumbing code in the country on behalf of their constituents."
Wachter anticipates some flak from certain industry factions, particularly the plastics industry, in light of his activities on behalf of the heavily union-influenced PIPE program during the last two years. He maintains, however, that his previous efforts were in response to his assigned duties and that he will make every effort to assure impartial treatment for all materials.
"There has been some reaction from certain portions with regard to my work with PIPE," Wachter explained. "But I've been in this industry for 33 years and I
just spent two years as a consultant for PIPE During those two years I was loy al
to the aims and goals of PIPE. But I'm now an employee of IAPMO and as I was loyal to the aims and goals of PIPE, I will defi nitely be loyal to the aims and goals of IAPMO and I will work for the board of
directors."
Page 32/Reeves Journal
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IAPMO
lAPMO's Members Deep Six PB Pipe From UPC in Seattle
By Larry Dill
IAPMO Southern District director Donald Hcrschberger, City of Santa Monica.
Pag* 24/Reeves Journal
EATTLE--The polybutylene sec
Stor of the plastics industry took an other blow on the chin in its knock-down-drag-out fight for survival Sept. 27 when the members of the International Association of Plumb ing and Mechanical Officials voted to re move their products from a critical sec tion of the Uniform Plumbing Code.
lAPMO's voting members moved to strike provisions for polybutylene (PB) piping from Section 1004 (a) of the UPC which specifies approved "water pipe manufactured to recognized standards" which "may be used for cold water distri bution systems" inside and outside of buildings.
What the code change means, in es sence, is that PB piping will no longer be approved for installation by plumbing contractors after the publication of the 1991 edition of the UPC.
The UPC is updated on three-year in tervals. The latest edition (1988) remains in effect until the 1991 edition is officially released and published. The very nature of lAPMO's three-year cycle for code up dates provides some cause for optimism by the plastics manufacturing communi
ty. On the plus side, the industry knows that it will have opportunities to reverse the code change during the next two years. On the down side of the issue, however, plastics representatives concede
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Roger Davidson was defeated fry Donald Herschberger for the post of Southern District director
that it is immeasurably more difficult to have an item returned to the code once it has been voted out by the membership. Human nature being what it is, the plas tics industry realizes that those who op pose its products have a far stronger point of persuasion going for them when they lobby IAPMO's voting members.
The 103-74 vote to remove PD piping was a particularly disappointing blow to many plastics advocates who appeared to enter the annual business and education al conference somewhat confident that a recent change in policies had presented their industry in a more positive light to the code officials who decide their fate.
In recent months, the plastics industry has done a turn-around in its public per sona. While refusing to admit certain problems existed in the past, the industry has taken on a new approach of openness, attempting to present the image that their industry is responsive to the past prob lems of their products and that it is doing everything possible to rectify any failures of PB systems, particularly on the resi dential front.
If nothing else, IAPMO conferences generally prove to be a boom to the econ omy of the photocopying industry. Pro ponents and opponents of issues seen as potential topics of heavy debate can gen erally be counted on to distribute reams of printed materials stating their various points.
As in the past, the plastics industry contends that failures with PB plumbing systems have been the result of the use of acetal insert fittings, which are no longer manufactured for use in on-site construc tion. The insert fitting, not the pipe mate rial, has been the culprit. With the fitting no longer on the market, industry con tends, PB piping should not be removed from model codes such as the UPC
The PB advocates presented a well pre pared document detailing the history of their products, the benefits they are at tempting to promote, and surprisingly, a very candid discussion of recent events. Clearly, the intent was to sh w that "manufacturers are responsive."
The document detailed a recent settle ment made with homeowners in San Jose,
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Immal
Circle No. 114 on Reader Action Card
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Adcle Bacon was unanimously voted in as IAPMO vice president.
Calif., who had filed a class action suit centered on the PB plumbing systems in their homes with acetal insert fittings. The document described the settlement with 4,500 homeowners in Santa Clara County and approximately 200 homeowners in San Luis Obispo County.
Most of the homes were plumbed with PB systems using acetal insert fittings be fore 1984, the report noted. The report re vealed the terms of the settlement, which included the establishment of a $500,000 repair fund. The settlement did not allow for "emotional distress" awards. Two cat egories were established: one for the re placement of acetal insert fittings with metal fittings and one for the replace ment of PB tubing with copper tubing under certain circumstances.
Two key results of the settlement, the industry points out, are that PB will re main in place where retrofitting is done and PB was ruled not to be a toxic material.
The industry has also established a toll free 800 telephone number to respond to homeowners who experience failures
with PB systems. Why finally make admissions that
there have been PB failures? The industry is clearly attempting to show that it is re sponding to its problems. Also, the indus try continues to contend that its problems arc centered around its previous use of the acetal insert fittings, which are no longer in use. Current generations of fit tings are now reliable, industry contends.
Familiar Arguments
Paul Sheppard, Plastic Pipe and Fit tings Association, argued that the insert fittings are no longer being used and that PB resin suppliers and pipe manufactur ers have taken responsible measures in response to PB's past failures.
"A hasty decision will be an erroneous decision," Sheppard said.
The PPFA spokesman also told the IAPMO members that the PB industry has prepared a PB installation handbook, which specifically addresses the installa tion problems which have been attribut ed to much of the material's problems in
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Cltcl* No. 116 on Raodar Action Cord
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Cltcla No. 117 on Raodat Action Card
IAPMO
the past. Roger Davidson, City of Dallas, noted
that PB is being used for outside installa tion service and squelched a rumor that Dallas was considering banning the use of PB.
One plastics spokesman told Reeves Journal that the industry feels secure that its products will be approved in more than 70 major jurisdictions.
Under UPC rules, products not specifi cally cited in the code may be used if ap proved on an individual basis by the individual jurisdiction as an acceptable alternative material, if it has a recognized national plumbing standard listing. Since PB products have the necessary ASTM standard, its manufacturers feel it is im possible f r IAPMO or any other code body t arbitrarily eliminate it from the market.
"We may have lost the battle, but the war's n t over," Ron Yaszek, U.S. Brass, told Reeves Journal.
The plastics industry was supported by contract r witnesses who testified that they had found PB materials to be satis factory. One contractor, Dick Dickson, Spokane, Washington, said: "Our biggest problem is being able to construct houses at a price people can afford... We have to look forward to the new technologies as the only source to be able to serve the consumer, and pay our people the wages they have coming to them." Dickson said his company has installed PB systems since 1981 and "we have yet to have a
failure within any of those systems." Ken Salsbury, a Seattle plumbing con
tractor, told the IAPMO members that he has used PB with the faylock fitting sys tem for more than two years, primarily in apartment installations, and "I am yet to have a problem in any one of the apart ments we do."
The contractor added that the use of PB has provided his company with the op portunity to do work it would not have been able to perform if it had to bid with copper systems.
Keith Swinehart, Vanguard Plastics, defended the acetal fittings and said that
his company is continuing to manufac ture them for the manufactured and fab
ricated housing market, but not the site-
built market. "Manufactured housing
continues to demand the fitting and we'U ^continue to manufacture it for this end nise," Swinehart said.
Rada Radhakrishnan, Shell Chemical,
defended the performance record of PB
piping and said there have been "no un-
IAPMO president Robert Martin.
usual pipe failures" in the field and that PB pipe is "performing satisfactorily in over six million installations."
Opponents Respond
Several plastics backers testified before a single opponent stirred toward the mi crophone. Eventually, Ed Wachter, repre senting the Southern California PIPE pro gram, took the floor.
"I think it's a sales campaign," Wachter said. 'To accept it, you have to have a lot of faith and trust."
Instead, Wachter contended, PB mate rials should be based on their past track record.
Wachter then went into the abbreviat ed version of his now familiar history of PB which has been repeated many times in recent years.
"They knew it was failing when they came to us,"Wachter accused of the earli est efforts to have PB approved.
Wachter, the former chief plumbing inspector for Los Angeles County, out lined his objections to PB products, often referring to points he has made several times in previous appearances at IAPMO conferences and code change committee sessions.
"They want us to use the public as guinea pigs," he protested, questioning the reliability of the PB products.
Representatives form Hawaii and Flor ida told the IAPMO members that they had experienced minimal failure rates in their jurisdictions because of their tight requirements on training and certifica tion of plumbers who install PB products.
Contractor Michael Railey, Tahlequah, Okla., said he has been installing PB
plumbing systems since 1983 with no problems. The failures he has experi enced have been attributed to faulty in stallation, he said. "Once my plumbers have been properly trained, there's no problem," Railey said.
The plastics industry received some what encouraging news when Lester Bennett, City of Irving Texas, reported that he would continue to approve the use of PB in his jurisdiction, even if it was voted out of the UPC.
The testimony of Bennett and the 74 negative votes on the measure to remove PB pipe from the UPC were seen as posi tive statements.
Although the United Association, tra ditionally one of the most vocal and ac tive foes of plastics, particularly PB, was out in force at the conference, n union official spoke on the issue. The absence of UA speakers was viewed as significant because of the union's past track recojd and the past effectiveness of its dynamic speakers such as Thomas Hunter of Dis trict Council 51 and Raymond Foreman of District Council 16.
Some attendees speculated that the union's attempt to make a low key ap pearance was a direct reaction to an ongo ing investigation of IAPMO procedures by the Federal Trade Commission. At least one high ranking IAPMO official confirmed that a representative from the FTC was believed to be in attendance to observe the conference.
Martin, Bacon Reelected
By IAPMO Membership,
Seattle--Robert Martin, the City of Loo Angeles, was reelected as presi dent of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials at IAPMO's annual business and educa tion conference.
Martin, who was elected at last year's conference in Salt Lake City, was unop posed for the office.
Adele Bacon, the State of Alaska, vice president, was also unanimously elect ed without opposition. -*
Newly elected directors are: Douglas Schwab, City of Saint ftui. Northern District; Tim Codings, Salt Lake Gty, Central District; and Donald Herschberger. City of Santa Monica, Southern District. Herschberger defeated Roger Davidson, City of Dallas, in the only contested election.
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