March 27, 2018

Plumbing Manufacturers International (PMI), in collaboration with its members, has issued a Product Category Rule (PCR) Guidance Document for Kitchen and Bath Fixture Fittings. The document was developed to help program operators apply consistent rules and calculations when developing PCRs for these fixture fittings and has been distributed to them for their use.

The PCR guidance document fulfills a growing demand for environmental product declarations, which express the potential environmental impact of a product and for other transparency information related to plumbing fixture fittings. For example, the guidance document includes a table of product use assumptions for faucets, flushometer valves, shower/tub valves, showerheads and other fixture fittings.

“The PCR Guidance Document enables customers of PMI members to use environmental product declarations to compare products and manufacturers,” said PMI Technical Director Matt Sigler. “Without PCRs, such a comparison of products would be impossible. Our industry is in the best position to define the parameters for product transparency.”

PMI CEO and Executive Director Kerry Stackpole said the document “exemplifies the collaboration that PMI is known for. All of our member companies have the opportunity to contribute to producing a document that benefits the industry and its customers alike.”

The document was created by PMI’s Sustainability Task Group and approved by PMI’s Board of Directors. Comprised of PMI manufacturing members, the task group is part of PMI’s Water Efficiency and Sustainability Committee. The purpose and scope of this committee is to develop and implement strategy to influence public policy, legislation, regulation, certification, listing, and labeling related to the sustainability and water efficiency of plumbing products.

The document can be viewed at https://www.safeplumbing.org/files/safeplumbing.org/documents/resources/PMI-Kitchen-and-Bath-Fixture-Fitting-PCR-Guidance-Document.pdf.