Written on: September 19, 2026
From the National Propane Gas Association Bobtail
NPGA recently attended the NFPA Summer Standards Council meeting and walked away with two major victories for the propane industry. Since 2015, two plastic vent pipe manufacturers have sought to burden gas appliance manufacturers, installers, and consumers with a material that would increase material and installation costs by over 500% for high efficiency venting material within NFPA 54 with no identifiable safety benefit. Today appliance manufacturers are required to test “approved” vent pipe materials regardless of materials as a total system with the appliance for certification in accordance with ANSI Z21.47. This process has been time proven to ensure safe installations of compatible materials. A coalition of manufacturers sought to remove this process and over 30 years of successful installations of plastic pipe material in the pursuit of forcing their product to market by mandating only UL 1738 listed venting systems in NFPA 54. This battle against affordability made its final effort through the NFPA appeals process in August and was denied by the Standards Council. Based on this decision the 2027 publication of NFPA 54 will move forward with Sections 12.5.2 and 12.5.3 intact as written in the 2024 edition. Of important note, the existing language in NFPA 54 12.5.2 and 12.5.3 do not prevent the use of UL 1738 materials, meaning consumer choice is retained.
In the second major win, capping off efforts that began in 2020, the Standards Council has approved the development of a new standards title, “Mobile and Temporary Cooking Operations”. This standard will serve to replace Chapter 16 of NFPA 58 and Chapter 17 of NFPA 96, that were written based on the lack of any prevailing standard for the construction and operation of mobile or temporary cooking equipment such as food trucks. Through NPGA’s efforts and advocacy the Standards Council recognized the issues that these fragmented, unenforceable, and unachievable standards had created, and now has set forth a path for safe design and operation of a growing industry segment. NPGA aggressively pursued AHJs, food truck manufacturers, and users from across the country to assist, develop comments, and participate in the standard development process. These efforts have paid off and may ultimately save a critical food producing segment throughout the United States.
