64
TECHNICAL
How does SANS 10254:2017
impact on existing and new
installations?
Most of us know that SANS 10254 applies to all
installations (new, maintenance, and repairs), but
how does the new 2017 version impact on previously
compliant installations?
By Patrick Gordon
We know that we must report all
non-compliance, but to whom must we
report such non-compliance installations?
SANS 10254 says the following:
4.1.1.4 O
n completion of the installation, a
certificate of compliance from the
professional body for plumbers registered
in terms of the relevant national legislation
(see foreword), shall be issued to the
owner of the installation or to the body
requiring such a certificate.
and should be of the same rating of the geyser.
When heat pump installations started, there
were many different ways to connect such
heat pumps to the geyser. This is no longer
permitted, as SANS says:
4.3.5 Heat
pump installations
When flow and return circulation pipes are
connected to the water heater to and from heat
pumps, the safety, performance, and warranty of the
water heater shall not be compromised by modifying
the water heater.
Here it says that such non-compliance must
be reported to the owner of the installation,
so we would have to go directly to the owner
and not hand it to the tenant. The safety of the
installation remains with the owner, even if he
or she does not actually reside in the home. This restricts the connection of heat pumps to
the geyser by way of non-invasive methods;
that is, any reticulation and connection to the
system must be done in such a way that no
changes are made to the original geyser. The
law thus requires us to issue a non-compliance
notification on any older intrusive ways
of connections.
The previous version said that all the geyser
ancillaries had to be of the same pressure
rating. It could be lower than the geyser rating
but not higher. Now the law says: There are many more changes, so please look
out for the continuation in the next article. PA
4.3.2 Pressure rating of the system
The rated pressure of the system shall not exceed a
static pressure of 600kPa (see SANS 10252-1) and
the pressure control valves and expansion control
valves used in the system shall have the same
pressure rating. This pressure rating may be less
than the rated pressure of the storage water heater
but shall never exceed it.
NOTE: The T&P valve and the drain valve are
an integral part of the storage water heater and
are supplied with or fitted to the storage water
heater as required by SANS 60335-2-21.
So now the law says that the pressure-
reducing valve and the expansion relief valve
should be of the same rating but that the T&P
valve is viewed as an integral part of the geyser
July 2018 Volume 24 I Number 5
Patrick started in
the plumbing retail
business in 1985 with
the Boumat Group. In
2000, he moved from
retail to manufacturing
and joined Cobra
Watertech as a call
centre administrator.
Patrick Gordon
He rapidly moved up
in the company and served as product support
manager / product development manager and
in 2005, he was asked to take over the product
support department nationally. He then qualified as
a facilitator and assessor. When LIXIL Africa was
formed and they had to train all the companies —
Grohe, Cobra, Isca, Vaal, Plexicor and Libra — the
training department was expanded.
www.plumbingafrica.co.za