How does someone become a Commercial Plumbing Inspector?
ICC certifications are essential for building inspectors, plans examiners, and building officials. Certifications demonstrate that the inspector or plans examiner is properly trained in their field of expertise and can effectively apply the code to construction projects. Becoming a certified commercial plumbing inspector requires passing an International Code Council (ICC) certification exam. The entire process requires three basic steps:
1. Learn what the ICC requires for Commercial Plumbing Inspectors
The ICC commercial plumbing inspector exam requires the applicant to be knowledgeable in the International Plumbing Code (IPC), International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC) and A117.1-2009 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities. The IPC is the most commonly adopted code for plumbing systems that creates minimum regulations for commercial plumbing systems. It brings together all plumbing provisions for commercial buildings into a single book. From this code, an examinee must be able to answer questions from the following categories:
General Requirements 8%
Piping Protections 5%
Inspect all piping systems to insure protection as required from corrosion, stress and strain, freezing, and physical damage.
Piping Installation, Support, Sleeving, and Penetrations 3%
Inspect all piping systems for proper installation, support, sleeving, penetrations (fire, structural, etc.), and waterproofing of exterior openings. Verify that all required tests of installed piping systems are conducted.
Fixtures 15%
Fixture and Material Approvals 2%
Inspect for approved materials and fixture approvals.
Installation, Location, Clearance, and Access 5%
Inspect for proper installation of fixtures including accessibility, waste receptors, appliances, and appurtenances, including clearances, access, and sealing.
Flow Rates 3%
Inspect for maximum and minimum flow rates and temperature control valves. Inspect for proper installation of faucets, fixture fittings, and accessories.
Accessibility 5%
Inspect for installation of accessible fixtures, including clearance, height, spacing and arrangements.
Water Heaters 12%
Installation Requirements 5%
Inspect for proper use and installation of materials, listing, and labeling, including clearances, locations, protection, pans, and seismic restraint, and check for appliance approval. Inspect for required valving, T&P valve and discharge piping installation, and thermal expansion requirements.
Gas Piping, Combustion Air, and Venting 7%
Inspect for proper sizing of fuel gas piping, combustion air requirements, and required venting.
Water Supply and Distribution 18%
Materials, Joints, and Connections 3%
Inspect for approved materials, joints, and connections.
Identification, Sizing, and Valving 5%
Inspect the service and distribution piping for proper installation of cold and hot water delivery including minimum and maximum pressure and volume requirements, identification, sizing, valving, insulation and safety.
Protection Against Contamination and Treatment 5%
Inspect the potable water supply and distribution piping for proper protection against contamination. Inspect installation of water treatment systems.
Nonpotable Water Distribution Systems 5%
Inspect the nonpotable water distribution systems for proper installation
Sanitary Drainage 13%
Materials and Fittings 3%
Inspect for approved materials and use of proper fittings, joints, and connections.
Sizing of System 4%
Inspect for proper sizing and installation of the building drain, building sewer, branches, and stacks.
Valves, Sumps, Ejectors, and Cleanouts 3%
Inspect for the proper installation of backwater valves, sumps, ejectors, and required cleanouts.
Indirect Waste 3%
Inspect indirect waste systems for air breaks, air gaps, interceptors, condensate drains, pumps, and tanks.
Vents 15%
Materials, Joints and Connections, and Grade 5%
Inspect for approved materials, joints, connections, and proper grades.
Sizing, Method, and Installation 10%
Inspect for proper sizing and the minimum venting requirements, methods, and installation.
Traps, Interceptors, Separators, Special Piping, and Storage Systems 9%
Installation Requirements 5%
Inspect for proper use, installation, and connection of traps, interceptors, and separators.
Chemical Treatment, High Temperature, and Neutralization Systems 4%
Inspect chemical treatment, high-temperature, and neutralization systems.
Storm Drainage 5%
Materials Sizing and Installation 3%
Inspect roof drains, conductors, and leaders for proper use of approved materials, sizing, and installation.
Sub-soil Sub-drains 2%
Inspect sub-soil and building sub-drains, sumps, and pumping systems.
2. How to study for the Commercial Plumbing Inspector (P2) exam
Knowing how to tackle answering questions from all of the required sections is a daunting task. Practicing answering commercial plumbing code questions is essential for an inspector or someone about to take an exam. In the field, an inspector should be able to answer general questions about fixtures, drains, vents, water heater installations and fuel supply installations. During an exam, test takers must be able to navigate the International Plumbing Code fast enough to answer all of the questions within the allowed time of 2:30 hours. Building Code Masters has several practice exams for plumbing inspectors to test their skills and learn the most essential questions and scenarios they will be presented with. Practice exams for commercial plumbing inspectors can be found through the provided links below:
3. How to take the ICC Commercial Plumbing Inspector exam
When taking a plumbing code examination, it is essential to be able to navigate the code fast enough to find all of the answers. Most ICC examinations are open book and because of this, obscure and hard to memorize material will be included in all of the examinations i.e. large tables and mathematical formulas. The 2018 commercial plumbing inspector exam requires applicants to be able to answer the following questions in the allocated time:
Number of questions: 60
Time limit: 2:30 hours
This means that examinees will have roughly two and a half minutes per question. It may appear as a generous amount of time but some questions will be longer and more in depth than others which requires an inspector to be able to have section locations of the book memorized. Having chapter locations memorized and pacing oneself will lead to passing the exam. Practice exams from Building Code Masters prepare test takers for the time crunch and memorization of the most important sections of the code. Whether the exam be focused on building, mechanical, electrical, or plumbing, Building Code Masters has all of the study materials available to help test takers learn how to become better educated building inspectors, plans examiners, and building officials.
For a complete list of practice exams and study materials, CLICK HERE.
