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Plumbing Heating And Piping

4.52. Temperature Regulators and Relief Valves

Temperature regulators, water blenders, relief valves, and similar types of equipment should be furnished and installed with the piping system most involved. In most instances it will be necessary to make an arbitrary determination as to which system will include a specific item. As an example, a water blender probably should be included in the hot-water system with the cold-water connection being incidental. It is important that this determination be made to avoid the possibility of either leaving out the item or getting it in the estimate twice. This is particularly important where more than one person may be working on the same estimate.

It should be noted that testing and adjustment of these pieces of equipment will be required. If these pieces are incidental to other equipment, this factor of cost may be included in the testing and adjustment of the main piece of equipment. Where this is not the case, allowance must be made in the testing of the appropriate piping system.

4.53. Pumps

Pumps for the average plumbing job will be either for water or sewage ejection. Water pumps will be for fire protection, circulation of hot water, or booster pumps for storage tanks serving multistory buildings. Sewage ejection pumps usually will be installed in sumps in the basement.

In any case the elements of cost for setting these pumps are similar. While the cost of setting one pump may be ten times the cost of another, the considerations in arriving at these costs will be similar. The following is a suggested list of considerations:

1. Weight and location in building
2. Foundation, pits, or sumps required
3. Construction equipment available and usable for unloading and installation
4. Conditions relative to movement to setting location
5. Testing and adjustment

4.54. Kitchen and Laboratory Equipment

The cost of connection of kitchen and laboratory equipment on a large project can be one of the most difficult elements of cost to determine. This element of confusion is brought about by the fact that, in most cases, the selection of equipment has not been made at the time plumbing bids are received. It is a rare case indeed where the final kitchen or laboratory, as it is built, resembles to any great degree that shown on the bid drawings.

Realizing this, the best the estimator can do is to make the estimate of all roughing-in in accordance with the plumbing layout drawings. This rough-in part of the work is included in the particular system involved and is covered elsewhere in this text. The estimator should secure the latest available prints of equipment proposed and estimate the connections for water waste and gas from the rough-in at the wall or floor to the final outlet connection at the equipment. This is based on the usual procedure wherein the plumbing contractor is not responsible for the furnishing or setting of this equipment. This leaves only the connection to be made. It is only common sense that the estimator will investigate all these factors before he makes his estimate of cost.