Plumbing

09.30.21

The House is expected to vote on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF) today, September 30, 2021. Liberal House Democrats have threatened to vote against BIF if there is no agreement with the Senate on passage of a separate spending bill, the Build Back Better plan, a $3.5 trillion piece of legislation embodying the Biden administration’s social priorities. House Republican leadership is also mobilizing to vote against BIF, and with a narrow Democrat majority it is very possible the infrastructure legislation could be voted down.

08.25.21

On Aug. 10, the U.S. Senate passed a long-awaited infrastructure package on a bipartisan 69-30 vote. The package is valued at approximately $1 trillion, about $600 billion of which is new spending.

08.17.21

The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors—National Association (PHCC) is pleased to announce that Mark S. Ingrao, CCP, CAE, has been selected as its new chief executive officer (CEO). PHCC CEO Michael Copp will retire from PHCC in December 2021, and Ingrao officially assumes duties as CEO on Oct. 22 during PHCC’s Annual Business Meeting at PHCCCONNECT2021 in Kansas City, Missouri. Ingrao brings …

07.08.21

In order to facilitate the development of an updated National Standard Plumbing Code — Illustrated (NSPC), the IAPMO NSPC Committee requests proposed changes to the 2021 NSPC. All proposals are due by March 1, 2022. Proposals accepted by the technical committee will appear in the 2024 NSPC. The NSPC uses an annual review process and publishes the complete code every three years. For a copy of …

06.25.21

The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition defines carbon pricing as using pricing instruments to charge those emitters of greenhouse gasses (GHG), which trap heat and hence, heat up the planet, to “discourage the use of carbon dioxide–emitting fossil fuels in order to protect the environment, address the causes of climate change, and meet national and international climate agreements.”

06.23.21

As infrastructure talks fell apart between Congressional Republicans, led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and President Biden, a bipartisan group of 20 Senators developed a framework on a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package.

06.10.21

It is generally estimated that we unlock our mobile phones 10 times more than times we crack a smile. April was Distracted Driving Awareness Month with the National Safety Council estimating that over 700 people are injured in distracted driving crashes.  In March 2021, USA Today wrote “The nonprofit National Safety Council estimates in a [recent] report that 42,060 people died in vehicle crashes in 2020, an 8% increase over 2019 and the first jump in four years.”1 This occurred despite the fact that Americans drive 13% less miles during the pandemic.

05.27.21

In a recent PHCC Contractor Sentiment survey, one of the biggest challenges cited by our members is the inability to find employees.  While a problem for several years- this is a crisis exacerbated by the pandemic.  “In a study performed by Marcum’s National Construction Services group:  41% of pre-pandemic respondents chose ‘securing skilled labor’ as the No. 1 threat to their businesses.” (Retrieved from the World Wide Web on May 10, 2021, here), which is now contributing to project backlogs post- COVID-19. 

05.25.21

Since 2019, PHCC has been monitoring policy developments around the country as they relate to natural gas. It started with various municipal governments across California passing local ordinances that would prohibit natural gas installations in new construction, with an outlook on phasing out the use of natural gas in current infrastructure as part of a broader effort to decarbonize the energy grid by the 2030s.

05.19.21

As virus infections increased around the world, the PHCC staff began teleworking from home in March 2020. A significant investment in improved cloud technology and infrastructure approved by the PHCC Board of Directors a few years earlier, enabled the staff to operate remotely without any interruption in providing a full range of member services and benefits.