Gas Appliance Connection Check (IFGC 408.4 / 409.5 / 411.1.3.1)
Three rules meet at the last three feet of gas piping, and one category cuts across all of them.
Example
You enter
- Appliance furnace
- Shutoff in the same room? yes
- Shutoff distance to the appliance (ft) 4
- Shutoff upstream of the connector? yes
- Sediment trap installed? no
- Trap built into the appliance? no
- Connector overall length (ft; 0 = hard piped) 4
You get
- Connector limit (ft) 6
- Connector over (ft) 0
- Shutoff distance deficit (ft) 0
Checked against published worked examples from: International Code Council.
Details, formula, and sources
Scope409.5 puts the shutoff in the SAME ROOM, within 6 ft, and UPSTREAM of the union or connector -- a valve downstream cannot isolate the part most likely to fail. 408.4 wants a sediment trap downstream of that shutoff, unless the appliance has one built in or is on the exemption list. 411.1.3.1 caps a connector at 6 ft for every appliance (earlier editions: 3 ft, except ranges and dryers). The pattern worth seeing: ranges and clothes dryers are exempt from the trap AND deemed accessible with the shutoff behind them -- the code has a coherent idea of a MOVABLE appliance, so the same furnace that fails on a missing trap passes as a dryer.
Formula or tableshutoff passes when it is in the same room, within 6 ft of the appliance, and upstream of the union or connector; a sediment trap is required unless the appliance type is excepted or a trap is incorporated in the appliance; connector length limit is 6 ft for every appliance (IFGC 2021 and 2027; earlier editions gave 3 ft except ranges and dryers).
Source and editionIFGC 409.5.1 (appliance shutoff valve location, and the allowance treating a shutoff behind a movable appliance as accessible), IFGC 408.4 (sediment trap, with its exception list), and IFGC 411.1.3.1 (maximum connector length).
Free accessAll three are short prescriptive sentences reproduced in municipal adoptions and inspection checklists. No table is reproduced.
What governsEstimate. AHJ and licensed professional govern.
API field namesappliance, shutoff_same_room, shutoff_distance_ft, shutoff_upstream, trap_present, trap_in_appliance, connector_length_ft, connector_limit_ft, connector_over_ft, shutoff_distance_deficit_ft
- Shutoff location same room, within 6 ft, upstream of the union or connectorIFGC 409.5
- Movable-appliance access a shutoff behind a range or dryer is considered accessibleIFGC 409.5
- Sediment trap downstream of the shutoff, as close to the inlet as practicalIFGC 408.4
- Trap exceptions illuminating appliances, ranges, dryers, decorative vented appliances, gas fireplaces, outdoor grillsIFGC 408.4
- Connector length 6 ft overall for every appliance, one connector per applianceIFGC 2027 411.1.3.1
- Not checked connector listing and routing, reuse, upstream piping, venting, combustion air, CSST bonding, leak teststated scope limit