Changes to the 2006 International Fuel Gas Code
By Ron George, CIPE, CPD
President, Ron George Design & Consulting Services
This month's column is a review of the more significant changes to the International Fuel Gas Code, 2003 to 2006 edition. The International Fuel Gas Code was first published in 2000 by extracting the fuel gas chapters from the International Mechanical Code where the code information existed prior to 2000. The original language for the International Fuel Gas Code was a combination of the fuel gas codes with input from experts from the three organizations that merged to form the International Code Council -- Southern Building Code Congress International Inc.; International Conference of Building Officials; and Building Officials and Code Administrators International Inc.
In Chapter 1: Administration, the scope of the International Fuel Gas Code was amended to include Gaseous Hydrogen Systems as part of the Fuel Gas Code. The advent of hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen-powered engines has created a need for many research and development facilities to install hydrogen fuel piping systems and hydrogen fuel filling stations to carry out research on this technology. In the future, there will be an increasing need for hydrogen fuel piping, storage and filling systems. This edition of the code now includes language addressing hydrogen fuel systems so inspectors have a reference when dealing with this new technology.
There are some new definitions and some modifications to existing definitions. Most changes are associated with a code change that introduced a new term to the code, so a companion code change is submitted to include a definition of the terminology. One of the more significant definition changes is an addition to the definition of "Point of Delivery." The new definition helps to clarify the point of delivery for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) systems. The definition now reads: "Point of Delivery: "For natural gas systems, the point of delivery is the outlet of the service meter assembly or the outlet of the service regulator or service shutoff valve where a meter is not provided. Where a valve is provided at the outlet of the service meter assembly, such valve shall be considered to be downstream of the point of delivery. For undiluted liquefied petroleum gas systems, the point of delivery shall be considered to be the outlet of the first regulator that reduces pressure to 2 psig (13.8 kPag) or less."
A new definition to address medium-pressure regulators follows:
Regulator, medium pressure (MP Regulator). "A line pressure regulator that reduces gas pressure from the range of greater than 0.5 psig (3.4 kPa) and less than or equal to 5 psig (34.5 kPa) to a lower pressure."
In addition, there is a new definition for vent piping with a subdefinition for a breather vent and a relief vent. This helps to differentiate that one prevents a downstream overpressure situation and the other simply relieves a small amount of gas when the diaphragm ruptures in the regulator. The new definition follows:
Vent Piping
Breather: "Piping run from a pressure-regulating device to the outdoors, designed to provide a reference to atmospheric pressure. If the device incorporates an integral pressure relief mechanism, a breather vent can also serve as a relief vent."
Relief: "Piping run from a pressure-regulating or pressure-limiting device to the outdoors, designed to provide for the safe venting of gas in the event of excessive pressure in the gas piping system."
Chapter 3: General Regulations, includes a modification to Section 301.3.1: Listed and Labeled. The old language simply required products to be listed or labeled. The new language requires that products must also be listed and labeled for the application in which they are used. It seems there was a problem when people were installing various fuel-fired products and using them outside the scope of their intended use. The section now reads:
301.3 Listed & Labeled
"Appliances regulated by this code shall be listed and labeled for the application in which they are used unless otherwise approved in accordance with Section 105. The approval of unlisted appliances in accordance with Section 105 shall be based upon approved engineering evaluation."
A new section was added to address conversion from different fuel types. This language is necessary because there have been many fires and deaths associated with installing a natural gas appliance in a building and then supplying it with propane or butane. Propane and butane have a much higher caloric value or heat content per cubic foot of gas, and if it is supplied to a burner designed to work with natural gas it will result in a very rich flame that will eventually soot up the combustion chamber and the flue. After a period of time, the soot will completely block off the flue and it will result in a condition called flame rollout for atmospheric types of appliances. When there is flame rollout, nearby combustibles can ignite causing a fire or products of combustion. Carbon monoxide can suffocate building occupants. The new code section reads as follows:
301.7 Fuel Types
"Appliances shall be designed for use with the type of fuel gas that will be supplied to them."
301.7.1 Appliance Fuel Conversion
"Appliances shall not be converted to utilize a different fuel gas except where complete instructions for such conversion are provided in the installation instructions, by the serving gas supplier or by the appliance manufacturer."
Two exceptions were added to the list of exceptions for Section 303.3 Prohibited Locations for fuel burning appliances.
One exception is for single wall-mounted unvented room heaters when the BTU was less than 10,000 BTU/hour and the size of the room meets the volume criteria outlined in Section 304.5 of the International Fuel Gas Code.
The other exception is for fuel burning appliances installed in a room that opens to a bedroom or bathroom and the room has a solid door with a door closer and weather stripping separating the appliance from the sleeping room or bathroom.
A new section addressing auxiliary drains for Category IV high-efficiency fuel burning condensing appliances was added as well. The section reads as follows:
307.5 Auxiliary Drain Pan
"Category IV condensing appliances shall be provided with an auxiliary drain pan where damage to any building component will occur as a result of stoppage in the condensate drainage system. Such pan shall be installed in accordance with the applicable provisions of Section 307 of the International Mechanical Code."
Exception: An auxiliary drain pan shall not be required for appliances that automatically shut down operation in the event of a stoppage in the condensate drainage system.
Under Chapter 4: Gas Piping Installations, a seemingly innocent change was made to not allow piping downstream of the point of delivery to extend through any townhouse or unit other than the unit served by such piping. This code change will severely limit how gas piping can be routed in condominiums, townhouses and apartment complexes, and will likely catch some designers and developers by surprise.
Section 410.1 added the requirement for line pressure regulators to meet the requirements of ANSI Z21.80.
Other code changes in Section 410 address venting of regulators to prevent the entry of insects, water and foreign objects.
Section 410.3.1 was added and reads as follows:
410.3.1 Vent Piping
"Vent piping shall be no smaller than the vent connection on the pressure regulating device. Vent piping serving relief vents and combination relief and breather vents shall be run independently to the outdoors and shall serve only a single device vent. Vent piping serving only breather vents is permitted to be connected in a manifold arrangement where sized in accordance with an approved design that minimizes back pressure in the event of diaphragm rupture."
There were numerous language additions to Section 411 dealing with appliance and manufactured home connections.
An entire new Section 416 was added dealing with overpressure protection devices.
Under Chapter 5: Chimneys and Vents, there are numerous modifications and additions dealing with vents, venting of appliances, sizing appliance venting systems, commercial cooking exhaust systems, and requirements for following manufacturers installation instructions,
Chapter 6 included a requirement for vented wall furnaces to be tested in accordance with ANSI Z21.86/CSA/ 2.32 and a requirement for duct furnaces to be installed in accordance with ANSI Z83.8 or UL 795 in addition to being installed in accordance with the manufacturers installation instructions.
Chapter 7 is a relatively new chapter dealing with gaseous hydrogen systems. There were numerous sections that were added dealing with hydrogen fuel piping systems and their associated requirements.
To learn more, or to obtain a copy of the International Fuel Gas Code, call ICC at (888) 422-7233.
Ron George specializes in plumbing, piping, fire protection and hvac design. He also provides plumbing/mechanical code and product standard consulting services and forensic investigations of mechanical system failures.