Following stakeholder feedback, proposed revisions to the AS/NZS 3500, Plumbing and Drainage series will be presented with the changes tracked—a first for Standards Australia.

Through the public comment period, the first part of each document is the revised text as it would appear in the new published standard. The second part of the document consists of the current edition of the standard with proposed changes tracked.

"AS/NZS 3500 is a large, complex document. We hope this new method of presentation will encourage more participation by the broader community in the commenting process," Chair of the committee, Mr Fred Reynolds explained.

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Updates to the following parts of the AS/NZS 3500 series are now open for public comment:

• Part 1, Water services

• Part 2, Sanitary plumbing and drainage

• Part 4, Heated water services

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The major changes include:

• Prevention backflow in fire services

• Requirements for plastic pipes and fittings installed in direct sunlight

• Clarification of certain requirements for non-drinking water services

• Clarification of permitted jointing methods• Procedures for structural plastic re-lining of drains

• Requirements for installing drains in unstable soils

• Installation of circulatory heated water systems

• Use of thermostatically controlled taps (TMV Taps)

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Following last year’s review of the plumbing sector, this revision followed the updated development process with a strict adherence to structure, roles and time frames.

The changes were developed by the technical committee WS-014, Plumbing and Drainage, and a series of specialist working groups comprised of technical experts from across industry.

Instructions on how to submit a comment can be found through the Public Comment Portal. The closing date for public comment is Thursday 7 December 2017.

Once all comments are reviewed and changes are made by the committee, publication is targeted for May 2018 to allow adoption into the 2019 National Construction Code.

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