Code Applied by the app plumb.drain.cleanouts
Cleanouts on drainage piping
A drain gets a cleanout wherever a snake has to go in, at the turns of more than 45 degrees, at or just upstream of where the building drain meets the sewer, and at least every 100 feet along a horizontal run.
| When | The app uses |
|---|---|
| horizontal drain, building drain or building sewer, between cleanouts, at most | 100 ft |
| a change of horizontal direction of more than 45 degrees | a cleanout at the change |
| the junction of the building drain and the building sewer | a cleanout at the junction, or within 10 ft of developed length upstream of it |
- Source
- IPC · 708.1 Cleanouts required (708.1.1 horizontal drains, 708.1.3 building drain and sewer junction, 708.1.4 changes of direction) · read the public text
- Editions checked
- 2018 · 2021
- Used by
- Courses
- Amendments
No state or local amendment to this rule is on file. Not on file means the model code as written — check your jurisdiction.
A model code the authority having jurisdiction adopts.
A drain stops sooner or later, and a cleanout is where the snake goes in. The code puts one where a stoppage has to be reached from: along a long horizontal run, at a sharp turn the snake cannot take from upstream, and where the building drain leaves the building. The course's restaurant has six: at the upstream end of each drain line, at the first turn of each grease line, and at the turn outside.
On a bid a cleanout is a fitting, a plug and an access cover, and a floor or wall cleanout in a finished room is a finished cover, not a plain plug. The plan shows them as small circles marked CO; count them like any fixture.
What the app does with it
Nothing yet: the app does not apply this rule. It is on a course card (the plumbing course, Chapter 4, "Which walls carry a vent stack?"). The app does not place cleanouts on a traced drain or check their spacing; you count the ones the plan shows.
Verify against your edition
The 2018 and 2021 text read the same: cleanouts on horizontal drains and building drains at most 100 feet apart (708.1.1; building sewers the same, 708.1.2), one at the junction of the building drain and the sewer or within 10 feet of developed length upstream of it (708.1.3), and one at each change of horizontal direction greater than 45 degrees, where the first one serves every other change within 40 feet of developed length (708.1.4). Neither edition asks for one at the base of each stack; editions before 2018 did. The course card sets a cleanout at the upstream end of each drain line, and the riser's note 4 one at the base of the stack: that is where the engineer drew them, which a set may ask for above the code minimum. The Uniform Plumbing Code asks for one at the upper end of each horizontal drain (its Chapter 7; not opened for this sign-off). A local amendment may add fitting or access requirements. Settled 2026-09-27 by Claude on the owner's delegation, from the dossier's research and the model code text; not checked against a printed book or a local amendment.
Cited by section, not reprinted: the code text belongs to its publisher. Company practice is not a rule here — it lives with your pricing.