Building drain
- Slovak term: Slovenský termín
- The lowest part of a building drainage system where the drainage pipes meet and convey the discharge from within the walls or footings of any building to the building sewer. Also called house drain (WHO 2006).
- A building drain is an above ground drain system, found within the building. It uses common drainage principles for waste removal and venting requirements for the safe removal of waste from plumbing appliances and fixtures inside the building to the building sewer (ASSE 2007).
- A building drain is a drain which is part of the property gravity drainage system and is contained within the walls and footings of a building it serves (World Plumbing Council Working Group 2008).
Explanation
A building drain is a piped waste discharge system graded and sized to allow gravity transfer of waste water into a piped sewer. It uses the discharge performance and venting requirements normally associated with a below ground sewerage drainage system. It is a system of plumbing design where the capacity of the drain and the internal venting performance of a drain are used in place of a more restrictive sanitary waste pipe system (Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand 2003).
All progressive plumbing codes offer, deemed to comply or performance solutions for flexibility and efficiencies. The plumbing contractors must be aware of the design limitations and meet the overall performance requirements of these codes (World Plumbing Council Working Group 2008).
Example
A building drain as apposed to a sanitary waste system is able to carry a larger hydraulic load, or what is commonly known as fixture unit loading at lesser grades, while maintaining an effective performance, thus enabling greater efficiencies and flexibility in plumbing design (World Plumbing Council Working Group 2008).
References
- WHO (2006) Health Aspects of Plumbing
- American Society of Sanitary Engineering (ASSE) Plumbing Dictionary. Sixth Edition 2007.
- Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand (2003) Plumbing and drainage. Part 2:
- Sanitary plumbing and drainage. AS/NZS 3500.2:2003
