NYC Plumbers Union Blasts Plastic Pipe Building Code Push

Hello, let’s get into today’s news at the intersection of real estate and policy:

• The plumbers union is gearing up for a political fight over plastic pipes in new buildings.
• Developers and policy advocates have pushed for code reforms on the material’s use to curb construction costs.
• A new City Council bill could send co-op board members back to school.

In this edition we mention: Plumbers and Gasfitters Local Union No. 1 Business Manager Paul O’Connor, Center for an Urban Future Executive Director Jonathan Bowles, City Council member Kevin Riley and others.

We Heard

• Union ire: The powerful Plumbers and Gasfitters Local Union No. 1 has fired a warning shot at the Mamdani administration as it explores easing restrictions on plastic piping in buildings to curb construction costs.

  In a Wednesday letter addressed to Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council, reviewed by The Real Deal, the union’s business manager, Paul O’Connor, stressed its “unequivocal opposition” to any sort of expansion of polyvinyl chloride or PVC piping in city buildings, arguing that the “inferior materials” represent a fire-safety risk and a favorable environment for Legionella Bacteria that risks spreading disease if the pipes are used in drinking water systems. Should the city pursue an expansion, the union is prepared to “vigorously” fight those efforts through “legislative, regulatory and public advocacy channels,” said O’Connor.

New York City’s plumbing code only permits copper, brass and cast iron piping for potable water systems. PVC piping is limited to sanitary drainage — pipes that carry wastewater from toilets, sinks and showers out of buildings — in residential buildings of five stories or less. 

The union’s fiery letter comes after the Department of Buildings last week launched its Affordable & Efficient Code Reform (AECR) Task Force, born out of Mamdani’s Block by Block housing plan. The task force is exploring code changes to streamline construction, including a possible loosening of restrictions on plastic piping and allowing smaller elevators in new buildings — two issues the housing plan flagged as “deeply connected to the cost of new housing” in New York City.

Building officials plan to take the input gathered through task force meetings and pursue policy changes with lawmakers in the City Council and in Albany. DOB said it aims to advance regulatory changes on an expedited timeline, with the goal of introducing recommended code changes in 2027.

• Pipe dream: Developers have long eyed an expansion of PVC piping — cheaper and lighter weight than metals — in new construction as a way to reduce material and transportation costs when building new projects. Historically, the city’s trade unions have opposed the change in part because it tends to require fewer hours of labor to transport and install PVC piping. Policy advocates are urging the city to consider the change.

  “Obviously there’s politics involved in this, and it’s not a reform that would be made without opposition,” said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the policy think tank Center for an Urban Future. “I think that given the need to reduce the exorbitant cost of building housing in New York City, everything should be on the table.”

Outside the five boroughs, there is no statewide restriction. Cities such as New Rochelle, Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse generally follow the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, which allows PVC piping for sanitary drainage and vent systems without the five-story limit. 

Most large U.S. cities, meanwhile, follow the International Plumbing Code or Uniform Plumbing Code, which permits PVC piping more broadly, along with fire safety requirements. Several cities, such as Los Angeles, Houston and Denver, don’t impose height restrictions at all. 

City Hall referred TRD to the DOB, which did not immediately return a request for comment.

• Co-op school: City Council land use chair Kevin Riley wants to send co-op boards back to school.

  Riley has introduced a bill that would direct the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to develop a training program to get co-op board members up to speed on city, state and federal regulations.

  The classes wouldn’t be mandatory, but the goal is to help board members navigate the rules governing their buildings.

  At a minimum, the curriculum would cover anti-discrimination laws, fiduciary duties and operational best practices, according to the bill.

  HPD would have one year after the bill’s passage to develop the program and would also be required to launch an outreach campaign to make the city’s co-ops aware of the training.

  The bill is scheduled for a Council committee hearing on Oct. 28.

Have a tip or feedback? Reach me at caroline.spivack@therealdeal.com.

Bill Tracker

The Catch-Up
Newly released city data shows that developers overwhelmingly continue to cap multifamily projects at 99 units to avoid the steeper wage and affordability requirements triggered at 100 and 150 units, writes TRD columnist Erik Engquist.

Leasing momentum in Brooklyn’s rental market jumped 10 percent year over year in September, as the borough notched its strongest September of apartment leasing activity since 2020, with 1,407 leases signed, reports the Commercial Observer.

U.S. mortgage rates remained unchanged this past week, offering little relief to a housing market battered by the return of 7 percent borrowing costs, reports Bloomberg.

The Kicker

“We sort of have a stack of pancakes of bad regulations that work across purposes.”

— Joe Rose, former chair of the New York City Planning Commission and director of the Department of City Planning under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, during a recent panel