Natural Gas Pipe Labeling

[MechBRR]

During a walkthrough on a job we recently completed (at an idustrial site), the local official requested that an overhead 6" natural gas pipe be labeled every five feet stating that the line was NG and the operating pressure.

That seemed a little excessive to us, especially the operating pressure part, but thought we should find out what the "codes" say.

It is a steel line.

Our state's Mechanical Code is based in International Mechanical Code. In the appendix on fuel gas it states "For other than steel pipe, exposed piping shall be identified by a yellow label marked "Gas" in black letters. The marking shall be spaced at intervals not exceeding 5 feet..."

So, it seems the 5 feet the local official is requesting is not off base, except it is a steel pipe. There are no other guidelines on labeling the steel pipe. (Or I'm missing it.)

I don't have a copy of ASME/ANSI A13.1 and don't know if I'll find the spacing requirement there either. I'm still looking in NFPA 54 (Fuel Gas Code), but haven't found anything yet.

Any guidance would be appreciated. Cheers!

 

[BigInch]

Not the answer you're looking for, but you can buy these things ready-made stick-on,

(and you've probably spent more money already arguing with the inspector and researching the codes.)

As they say, arguing with an inspector is like wrestling with a pig in the mud. After awhile, you realize the pig likes it.

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"Pumping accounts for 20% of the world’s energy used by electric motors and 25-50% of the total electrical energy usage in certain industrial facilities."-DOE statistic (Note: Make that 99% for pipeline companies)

http://virtualpipeline.spaces.live.com/

 

[Bribyk]

Canadian code (CSA B149) says for all gas piping/tubing in an industrial facility either:

-paint it all yellow, or
-provide yellow bands or the word "GAS" atleast every 20 ft.

All the gas codes I've read all seem to be very similar but yours may be different with respect to the spacing.