I'm in the midst of a plastic-pipe situation which is causing a delimma to a number of folks. I am having a 500 gal LP tank buried and one of the gas lines supplying our to-be-installed tankless water heater is yellow-plastic pipe. I had the gas company rep here a few days ago to do some other work and he pointed out that the yellow pipe is ONLY to be used underground, period, end of story. Unfortunately, in my application, the yellow line surfaces above ground and is routed behind an inside wall. There is a gas fitting in that wall which is also only permitted underground. So, as he described it, two violations - yellow plastic line above ground and improper fittings concealed in a wall. Oh yeah, at the time he saw it, the installation had already inspected and passed by the AHJ. Oh yeah, the gas rep says knowing what he knows now about the non-compliance, he can't/won't fill my tank with LP.
I am madly searching the North Carolina Gas Code, as well as other codes (ICC Gas 404.17, etc.), to see if there is an exemption which would permit this installation to go forward. It appears the gas rep is correct. It's a delimma for the inspector who missed this, for the plumber who installed it, for the general contractor who trusted the subcontracting plumber, for the gas rep, and for me. Lots of concrete over that yellow piping and drywall over those fittings. I'm not particularly popular with the GC and plumber right now for flagging this issue, but even if it has an approved inspection, I'm sure it would not pass when I get around to doing the additional gas extension in a few months. The GC suggests I not get my future work permitted. In the event of a fire, I'm sure my insurance company will not care whether the AHJ approved it, only that these were violations. Meanwhile, this week I expect to hear jackhammers tearing out that concrete next week. Despite the approval, I think I'm on good grounds for not paying for the additional work to correct the problem.