Article 4A.

Safety Features of Hot Water Heaters.

§ 66-27.1.  Certain automatic hot water tanks or heaters to have approved relief valves; installation or sale of unapproved relief valves forbidden.

(a) No individual, firm, corporation or business shall install, sell or offer for sale any automatic hot water tank or heater of 120-gallon capacity or less, except for a tankless water heater, which does not have installed thereon by the manufacturer of the tank or heater an American Society of Mechanical Engineers and National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors approved type pressure-temperature relief valve set at or below the safe working pressure of the tank as indicated, and so labeled by the manufacturer's identification stamped or cast upon the tank or heater or upon a plate secured to it.

(b) No individual, firm, corporation or business shall install, sell, or offer for sale any relief valve, whether it be pressure type, temperature type or pressure-temperature type, which does not carry the stamp of approval of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors. (1965, c. 860, s. 1; 1967, c. 453; 2004-199, s. 24.)

§ 66-27.1A.  Water heater thermostat settings.

(a) The thermostat of any new residential water heater offered for sale or lease for use in a single-family or multifamily dwelling in the State shall be preset by the manufacturer or installer no higher than approximately 120 degrees Fahrenheit (or 49 degrees Celsius).  A water heater reservoir temperature may be set higher if it is supplying space heaters that require higher temperatures.  For purposes of this section, a water heater shall mean the primary source of hot water for any single-family or multifamily residential dwelling including, but not limited to any solar or other hot water heating systems.

(b) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the occupant of a single-family or multiunit residential dwelling with an individual water heater from resetting or having reset the thermostat on the water heater.  Any such resetting shall relieve the manufacturer or installer of the water heater and, in the case of a residential dwelling that is leased or rented, also the unit's owner, from liability for damages attributed to the resetting.

(c) A warning tag or sticker shall be placed on or near the operating thermostat control of any residential water heater.  This tag or sticker shall state that the thermostat settings above the preset temperature may cause severe burns.  This tag or sticker may carry such other appropriate warnings as may be agreed upon by manufacturers, installers, and other interested parties.  (1991, c. 190, s. 1.)

§ 66-27.2.  Certain hot water supply storage tank or heater baffles, heat traps, etc., to be tested before installation or sale.

(a) No individual, firm, corporation or business shall install, sell or offer for sale any hot water supply storage tanks or heaters of 120-gallon capacity or less which utilize dip tubes, supply and hot water nipples, supply water baffles or heat traps that have not been tested to withstand a temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit without deteriorating in any manner, and such tank or heater so labeled by the manufacturer.

(b) No individual, firm, corporation or business shall install, sell, or offer for sale any water baffles or heat traps, which are not constructed and tested to withstand a temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit without deterioration in any manner and such baffles or heat traps to be so labeled by the manufacturer. (1965, c. 860, s. 2.)

§ 66-27.3.  Violation of Article made misdemeanor.

Violation of any provision of this Article is hereby made a Class 1 misdemeanor. (1965, c. 860, s. 3; 1993, c. 539, s. 510; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)

§ 66-27.4.  Local regulation of hot water heater safety features.

Nothing in this Article shall be interpreted as relieving any individual, firm, corporation or business from complying with additional protective regulations relating to the safety features of hot water heaters as may be prescribed by local law, county or municipal charter or ordinance; provided, however, that no local law, county or municipal charter or ordinance shall fix or govern the temperature or pressure settings of a pressure-temperature relief valve on an automatic hot water tank or heater covered by this Article if there is installed on such tank or heater a pressure-temperature relief valve having settings in compliance with the North Carolina Building Code. (1965, c. 860, s. 4.)