The Pipeline: June 3, 2026
Hi there,
Welcome to this week's edition of The Pipeline. Here's what's flowing this week to keep you informed and entertained!
🔦 Fun Fact
Ever wonder why it's called "plumbing"? It comes from the Latin plumbum — lead — because Roman water pipes were made of it, and it's the same root behind lead's chemical symbol, Pb. That's also why the trade's whole vocabulary is soaked in it: a "plumb line" gets its name from the lead weight on the end. Two thousand years later we've engineered the lead out of the water supply, but the name stuck. Your job title is basically a fossil.
😆 Laugh of the Day
Why did the apprentice get confused studying for the IPC exam?
Every answer kept going down the drain.
👋 PHCC Names a New CEO as Cindy Sheridan Plans Retirement
PHCC announced on May 28 that CEO Cindy Sheridan — the association's first female CEO — will retire at the end of 2026 after more than 40 years in association management and a quarter-century with PHCC. The board unanimously picked Dan Quinonez, currently COO and head of the PHCC Educational Foundation, to take over on November 1, with Sheridan staying on in an advisory role through the transition. If you've benefited from a PHCC scholarship, apprenticeship program, or one of their code resources, this is the team behind it. A steady hand at the wheel of the people fighting for the trade...
🔥 DOE Just Gave a One-Year Grace Period on the Commercial Water Heater Rule
The big October 6, 2026 deadline — where commercial gas storage units have to hit 95% thermal efficiency and tankless units 96% — is still on the books, but the DOE published an enforcement-discretion clarification on May 5 that softens the landing. DOE says it will hold off on enforcement for covered commercial gas water heaters manufactured between October 6, 2026 and October 5, 2027, effectively a one-year grace window for the supply chain to catch up. That doesn't change the spec, but it does change what your distributor can actually put on the shelf this fall. If you're quoting commercial work into Q4 and beyond, know the difference between "the standard" and "what's being enforced"...
💰 The Federal Heat Pump Water Heater Credit Is Gone — Here's What's Left
Heads up for any residential quoting: the federal 25C tax credit that gave homeowners up to $2,000 back on a qualifying heat pump water heater expired December 31, 2025. Installs completed in 2026 don't qualify, though anyone who put one in between 2023 and 2025 can still claim it on an amended return. The action has shifted to state and local rebate programs — like BayREN's $1,000 heat pump water heater rebate in parts of California — but those run on annual budgets that can dry up mid-year. If you're leaning on an incentive to close the sale, confirm it's still funded the day you write the quote, not the day you read about it...
We hope you enjoyed this week's edition of The Pipeline. Stay tuned for more updates, and as always, keep the pipes flowing! 🔧💧
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