Ontario, Calif. — The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO^®) and the Medical Gas Resiliency Task Group are seeking the public’s initial input for development of the Manual of Recommended Practice for Medical Gas Resiliency. On Sept. 15, 2021, IAPMO initiated the Medical Gas Resiliency Task Group to create a manual to provide code enhanced and adoptable language for medical gas piping systems and include innovative approaches toward resiliency. 

The task group’s work culminated in the release of this manual, which integrates the expertise and insights from two guidance practices, each with its own distinct scope and purpose, to provide a comprehensive approach to ensuring the availability and effectiveness of medical gases in health care facilities. While developed as a guidance document, it is written in mandatory language so building and health departments can easily adopt and codify the requirements. Additionally, this stand-alone document includes excerpts from IAPMO’s Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC^®). The task group consisted of industry experts from across the nation.

“IAPMO is excited to have collaborated with numerous medical gas industry experts in developing a manual for professionals to reference in extreme situations,” IAPMO Vice President of Technical Services and Research Christoph Lohr said. “As the pandemic showed us, our medical gas system design assumptions needed a second look, and this manual provides additional information to try and mitigate issues of inadequate delivery of medical gas to patients. Special thanks to our task group members for sharing their creativity, expertise, and insights.”  

The IAPMO manual may be downloaded HERE.

For questions, please contact John A. Mullen at (631) 994-4774 or john.mullen@iapmo.org, or Christoph Lohr at (909) 731-0219 or christoph.lohr@iapmo.org.