Not sure if Polybutylene - Help?

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plumbingnewguy

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Hi all,

I'm not sure if this is best posed for this forum, or for Plumbing Code Canada...please move if need be :)

My condo here was built here in Vancouver in mid-1996, and one of those dreaded things you always have to worry about is Poly B plumbing, which I've become a bit more aware about the last 6 months. I had wrongfully assumed (hence my name) that I could simply check under my sink and under the bathroom areas and that would tell me all I needed to, so I thought the place was 100% copper.

Around the hot water tank I see a grey plastic pipes, and I'm trying to figure out if it's all Poly B, or there's something else too. I've already determined that there is at least one Poly B pipe (about a small 12 inch connection from the copper pipe from the hot water tank back to the main line,) but the rest of the plumbing is a mystery to me, so I thought I'd come here for a bit of help and advice.

I guess the number one question is - Does all Poly B plumbing carry the "PB2110 POTABLE" printing on it? Here's why I ask:

-All of the cold water lines out to the garden hoses are smaller pipes - None have anything printed on them. They're all copper fit and crimped. These are the same types of lines installed to the toilet feeds as far as I know.

-Besides that one pipe I was able to determine is in fact Poly B and has the printing, all of the other pipes have a different size font printed on them with other information, and some even have a manufacturer's date, which you'll see in one of the photos as June 6th 1996 (at least I think that's the manufacturer date.)

I took a couple reference photos that I thought might help

pipe1.jpgpipe2.jpeg

I can take a picture of the Poly B pipe as well if it will help for comparison sake.

What I'm trying to figure out here is whether those pictures I posted are Poly B pipes too, or something else? These pipes are the same greyish color as the one pipe I know is Poly B for sure, but I've heard that they were blending Grey PVC and PEX piping into plumbing around that same time, and since we assumedly were one of the last places that were completed in this complex and I don't know when they had to stop using Poly B per code, I'm not sure what I'm staring at.

We've lived here for about 7 years with no visible issues (we don't keep the hot water tank's temperature past the middle setting) and the previous owners had no issues either. I'm just seeing what we might be looking at here for the long term in terms of commissioning re-piping. We just paid a lot of money for a new roof, so I'm not the richest right now. But...I'd sooner consider the costs of doing this sooner than later if I'm bound for trouble very shortly.

Thanks for your help.
-Obvious Newbie
 
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