Water Heater : Does Irvine require water heater to be placed/mounted up from cement floor?

Anyone knows if Irvine requires the water heater to be on some sort of platform. Our pending purchase has the water heater placed directly on the cement floor of the garage. It's been braced & strapped, but not on a wooden block as usually seen in Irvine homes. My search on Irvine City Hall is not clear. Thanks!

Not sure what the specific Irvine codes are.



The reason it is done is because if you spill gasoline in the garage the fumes could make their way over to the pilot light and ignite. I recall that the standard is that the pilot light is supposed to be greater than 18 inches off of the garage floor. So maybe your hot water heater is electric, or built in such a way so that the pilot light is 18 inches up. If not maybe you should just get the owner to fix it anyway. The inspector should know this.

2007 California Plumbing Code requires 18-inch elevation in garages. But the code in effect when the water heater was installed is what applies, so could be different.



508.14 Installation in Residential Garages.



(1) Gas utilization equipment in residential

garages and in adjacent spaces that open to

the garage and are not part of the living

space of a dwelling unit shall be installed so

that all burners and burner-ignition devices

are located not less than 18 inches (450 rom)

above the floor unless listed as flammable

vapor ignition resistant. [NFPA 54:9.1.10.1]



(2) Such equipment shall be located or

protected so it is not subject to physical damage

by a moving vehicle. [NFPA 54:9.1.10.2]



(3) When appliances are installed in a separate,

enclosed space having access only from

outside of the garage, such equipment may

be installed at floor level, providing the

required combustion air is taken from the

exterior of the garage. [NFPA 54: 9.1.10.3]



<a href="http://ftp.resource.org/bsc.ca.gov/title24_part05_dice/title24_part05_page0081.pdf">California Plumbing Code Link</a>