USC Backflow Approvals

USC Backflow Approvals
USC’s Foundation for Cross Connection Control is one of the nation’s leading approval agencies for backflow assemblies. Once a backflow is approved by USC it is added to their list of approved backflow prevention assemblies. Check with your local water purveyor to see which approval listings they utilize.  USC also provides backflow testing procedures to utilize when testing backflow preventer assemblies.

Varied standards exist for backflow prevention assemblies – for different applications and jurisdictions throughout North America. These include IAPMO (International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials), ASSE (American Society of Sanitary Engineering), CSA (Canadian Standards Association), and others. These listings do not require a field evaluation. However the USC Foundation for Cross-Connection Control and Hydraulic Research is the only backflow approval that mandates a one-year field evaluation before an assembly is listed or approved.

Laboratory and Field Evaluation of the USC Backflow Approval

In the laboratory phase of the USC backflow approval, there is a close coordination between the developer of the assembly and the Foundation to ensure a process with a smooth flow. It’d be worthwhile to note though that the Foundation does not conduct any design work for the manufacturer – it only assists them. When a specific make, model, and size have satisfactorily completed each aspect of the lab phase of the approval program, it is then released to the field evaluation phase.

But of course the field evaluation is the most vital phase of the USC backflow approval program as the simulation of actual field conditions is just that: a simulation. It’s not surprising then that only approximately 70% of all assemblies that successfully complete the lab phase pass the field evaluation in the first instance. What is means for the other 30% that fail to pass the field evaluation of the USC backflow approval program is that they have completed the lab evaluation and in most cases, are typically listed by other listing or approval agencies that do not require a field assessment. See our backflow assemblies!

View USC Approval List