international residental code chapter 28 code article 2803.6.1 paragraph 5
Requirements For Discharge Pipe
Discharge to the floor, to an indirect waste receptor or to the outdoors. Where discharging to the outdoors in areas subject to freezing, discharege piping shall first be piped to an indirect waste receptor thru an air gap located in a conditioned space.
Florida Building Code Plumbing chapter 5 code article 504.6 paragraph 5
Requirements For Discharge Pipe
Discharge to the floor,To the water heater pan,to an indirect waste receptor or to the outdoors. etc. etc.
I guess to answere the question it depends on your local jurisdiction
Why can you allow it to discharge onto the cement floor in a garage? It will still splatter all over the floor, an 18 inches higher will make a bigger mess. I would think it is a safety issue period, unless it discharges into a plumbing drain.
Discharging onto the garage floor is a very common finding
here in AZ. Some will take the time to pipe it to the outside
but not in most of the neighborhoods that are selling now.
Yep Sean you find that all the time here. even with new homes in Knoxville, Code approves it. it has to be 6 inches though. I have seen dumped just out the wall ( of course near a Patio ) be a nice surprise have a beer on the patio . In my short life of 54 only seen 3 discharge. 1 tank blow. which is not a pretty sight. We use to test these valves every 3 months for the company i worked for. On boilers we even did a preasure test to see if they would pop. Problem most home owners do not know the dangers that exist. I inform them . we used to say it is equal to one case of dynamite that normally gets their attention.
Like the course said, the pan drain doesn’t meet the definition of an indirect waste receptor.
In your photo, one going to the pan would be OK, provide there isn’t some adjacent flooring that could be damaged by a leak or discharge. The pan isn’t even required, since the floor is concrete (if no damage would result). The pan serves no purpose whatsoever because the drain isn’t hooked up. The TPR into the floor drain isn’t required…it can go straight to the concrete (if no damage would result).
