WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Code Council has released The Economic Impact of the International Plumbing Code (IPC), a study by Hatch and Henderson Engineers, which states that IPC implementation results in considerable savings in plumbing materials and construction costs and increases productivity and job growth in local economies.
The IPC establishes safety standards for health, property protection and public welfare by regulating and controlling the design, construction, installation, quality of materials, location, operation and maintenance or use of plumbing equipment and systems, states a release issued by the council.
The study evaluated the costs and savings associated with construction, labour and materials under the IPC compared to other model codes and estimates the employment and environmental gains that would have resulted from a national implementation of the IPC.
Mechanical engineers assessed multiple buildings, such as single-family homes, offices, hotels, schools and grocery stores and applied model code requirements to determine the building costs associated with each model code, adds the release.
According to the findings over a 12-year period, counties that used the IPC saved $38 billion in construction costs, emitted one million fewer tons of carbon dioxide, saw an additional 166,000 jobs and saved 880 million feet of pipe.
A single-family home could save up to $4,000 on average in labour, materials and overhead compared to that same home built to other codes.
“This report makes a strong case for the cost-saving benefits for municipalities that adopt the IPC,” said Code Council Chief Executive Dominic Sims, CBO, in a statement.
“For the counties and states that do not use the IPC, the cost of using another model code was equal to almost $1 billion in additional labor, materials and overhead from 2007 to 2018. Not only does the IPC make buildings safer and more energy efficient, it saves money for home and building owners.”
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