Chandler drinking fountain rules: when a water dispenser can replace one

The rule is a single sentence added to the plumbing code. Chandler's section 29-4.3 amends the IPC "Substitutions" section by deleting its second sentence and replacing it with this text: "In all other occupancies where drinking fountains are required, water dispensers connected to the potable water system shall be permitted to be substituted for the first required fountain and any water dispenser shall be permitted to be substituted for not more than 50 percent of the required number of drinking fountains." That is the whole amendment.

Here is what that sentence does, part by part:

• It only replaces the second sentence. The first sentence of IPC 410.4 stays as the international code wrote it. The new wording starts "In all other occupancies," because, in the 2024 International Plumbing Code (ICC) Section 410.4 Substitution, the first sentence covers restaurants: "Where restaurants provide drinking water in a container free of charge, drinking fountains shall not be required in those restaurants."
• The first fountain. A water dispenser connected to the potable water system can be the first required fountain.
• The cap. Dispensers can replace no more than half of the required fountains.

The section is part of Chandler's adoption of the 2024 International Plumbing Code. The ordinance history for 29-4 ends with Ord. No. 5108, 12-9-24, eff. 7-1-25.

• Water dispenser: the code text does not define it here. In practice it is a bottle-filling station or plumbed water cooler (a reading, not a code definition).
• Connected to the potable water system (the code's wording): plumbed to the building's drinking water supply. A cooler fed by a jug and not plumbed does not fit the first-fountain wording (a reading).
• Required fountains: the number the IPC fixture table produces for your occupancy and occupant load, before any substitution.
• Substitution: a dispenser counted in place of a fountain toward the required number.

It covers projects in Chandler where the plumbing code requires drinking fountains. In practice that means commercial and institutional buildings, including tenant improvements (a reading).

It does not apply if the occupancy is one the unchanged first sentence of 410.4 addresses, or if the project is outside Chandler. Chandler's 29-4 lists no amendment to 410.2, so the model code's small-occupancy threshold is not changed there. That is different from Phoenix.

A small office suite. A tenant improvement needs one drinking fountain on the count. The designer specifies a plumbed bottle-filling station in the break room instead. Under 29-4.3 it can be the first required fountain, so the plan shows a dispenser and no fountain.

A school wing with four required fountains. The designer wants dispensers everywhere because students carry bottles. The code allows dispensers for not more than 50 percent, so at most two of the four can be dispensers. The other two stay fountains, and the ADA split applies to them.

The flip: a bottle filler as the accessible unit. A building keeps two fountains, one for wheelchair users and one for standing users, and the designer proposes a bottle filler to replace the low one. The Access Board says a water cooler, bottle filler or nearby sink cannot substitute for either type of fountain, so the ADA side does not let it take the place of either fountain.

1. 1Get the occupant load from the building plans and find the required fountain count in the IPC fixture table for your occupancy.
2. 2Decide how many fountains you want to substitute: one for the first fountain, or up to 50 percent of the required number.
3. 3Show every dispenser as plumbed to the potable water system on the plumbing plans.
4. 4Keep the ADA-required accessible fountain units as real fountains.
5. 5For a question about whether your occupancy is covered, call Chandler Development Services at 480-782-3000 (215 E. Buffalo St.). The city's permit manual also lists the Plan Reviewer of the Day at 480-782-3078 or prod@chandleraz.gov.

• Myth: a dispenser replaces any fountain. The code sets a 50 percent limit for dispensers, and the ADA rules for provided fountains still apply.
• Myth: any water cooler counts. The first-fountain wording requires a dispenser connected to the potable water system.
• Myth: Chandler changed the small-occupancy rule like Phoenix did. Chandler's 29-4.3 covers substitution only. Phoenix and Buckeye amended 410.2, the section that sets the small-occupancy exemption.
• Myth: the bottle filler saves the accessible fountain. The Access Board is direct that it cannot.

This page describes Chandler's published amendment. The plan reviewer decides how it applies to a specific occupancy, so confirm before you finalize the fixture schedule.