Are Waterless Urinals Code Compliant?
Unfortunately, it depends. The code compliance of waterless urinals varies among local jurisdictions. Some allow installation of waterless urinals, while others do not. The International Plumbing Code requires all plumbing fixtures have a water supply when it is required for proper operations and that water provides the trap seal. Managers planning to install waterless urinals first should check with local code officials to determine if they will accept the retrofit as code compliant. If all else fails, code officials can sometimes be persuaded to consider a test with new technology on a limited basis. Some local codes explicitly require fixtures to have a water supply and exclude mechanical traps. For the liquid-seal waterless urinals, the potential grey areas in the codes stem from using the sealer in lieu of water. In the case of the dry waterless urinals, the urinals not only lack a water trap, but the local codes might consider the canisters to be mechanical in nature and, thus, s
