The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials of Ontario, Calif., and the International Code Council of Falls Church, Va., have been in informal talks exploring ways in which the two associations' plumbing and mechanical codes could be boiled down into a single, overriding set of regulations for plumbing contractors across the country.

Codes in discussion are IAPMO's Uniform Plumbing Code and Uniform Mechanical Code and ICC's International Plumbing Code and International Mechanical Code.

The current talks, the latest in a series of until now abortive attempts made by the two groups over the years, are in an informal, exploratory phase at the moment, according to IAPMO executive director G. P. "Russ" Cheney.

"In the past five years there have been no less than four attempts to try and find a way of harmonizing the codes or, failing that, perhaps forming a coalition involving NFPA, IAPMO and the ICC," Cheney said. "For a variety of reasons, those discussions were just never consummated as a result of philosophical differences between the organizations."

Cheney said the current round of informal discussions kicked off in March, but there have been no substantive issues brought forth by either side at this time.

"We've really just tried to find a way to put a process in place. [IAPMO president Chris Salazar] and [ICC president Frank Hodge] have been having discussions over the past few months."

After several informal conceptual discussions, the IAPMO Board of Directors hosted ICC's Hodge and vice president Henry Green to its meeting in July. This was followed up with another meeting in August during the United Association Instructors Training Program, held in Ann Arbor, Mich., Aug. 6-12.

Observers have characterized the meetings as, "positive," and that specific discussions between the two code organizations evolved around the differences in the two process's and procedures utilized in creating the codes and how these differences could be overcome. This is but one example of the intricacies involved in successfully completing such a compromise.

"Although we still have a way to go, I believe our meeting has resulted in a much greater understanding of each other than we have ever had in the past," IAPMO's Salazar said. "I am looking forward to future meetings to try and create a fusion of the plumbing and mechanical codes between the two organizations."

But these differences have proven to be the sticking point in past discussions on the subject. Foremost is that IAPMO is the copyright holder for the Uniform Plumbing and the Uniform Mechanical Codes. SO far, IAMPO had held that any combined code that grew out of discussions would have to be "owned" by IAPMO.

"And, from our perspective, that would be the UPC," Cheney said. "The other major difference is the actual code updating and developing process. The ICC uses what it calls a governmental consensus process and we currently use an ANSI-accredited process. That's the other major area that would have to be reconciled."

However, Cheney said any differences between the two model codes as far as the contractors who would be using a reconciled version would be minimal.

"Over time, like maybe over the past 15 years, the codes that were in place during the early 1990s-six or seven of them at that time-were very different," he said. "But, as the codes have become amalgamated, I'd say that probably 90 percent of the provisions in both documents are philosophically consistent with one another."