An amendment to the scope of the Residential Water Heater Installer (WHI) license will allow greater flexibility and more types of water heaters to be installed in Oregon.
Starting October 1, 2020, anyone with an Oregon Residential Water Heater Installer (WHI) license will be able to install up to 96” of material length for each of the hot and cold water connections to a water heater. This is an increase from the previous limit of 24”, and allows for easier connections to more types of water heaters.
Notably, this includes heat pump water heaters, which commonly have connections on the side of the unit that may require longer material lengths than conventional tank water heaters to make connections. Previously, if an installation required more than 24” of piping, the job would have had to be done by a licensed journeyman plumber.
This change is good news for many Oregon installers, as it allows them to offer more customers the efficiency and savings of heat pump water heaters, knowing they can handle the job themselves.