How often must a Gilbert business test its backflow assembly, and who can test it?

Section 10-91 sets the base rule: each device is tested "at least annually or more frequently if recommended by the manufacturer, or the department," at the consumer's or owner's expense. Each assembly is also tested after installation, relocation or repair. Each assembly carries a tag listing the manufacturer and serial number, and a maintenance log records each test date, the name and approval number of the tester, the results, repairs or servicing and the final test.

Section 10-95 adds the details:

1. 1Schedule by type (a): fixed air gaps are inspected at installation and at least annually. Double check valve assemblies are inspected and tested for tightness at installation and at least annually, "and required service performed within 15 days." Reduced pressure principle devices are tested at installation and at least annually, or more often if the manufacturer or the department recommends. All commercial pressure vacuum breakers are tested annually.
2. 2Who tests (b): a person the department has approved, with proof of approval in writing, using the procedures in section 9 of the cross-connection control manual the code names (USC-FCCHR).
3. 3Repairs (c): the quote above, 45 days or as the officer specifies.
4. 4Hands off (d), (e): no bypassing or removing an assembly without department authorization, and assemblies are rebuilt as the officer determines.
5. 5Security and test cocks (f), (g), (h): a chain with a padlock from the first to the second O.S. and Y. valve, or an alarm system, or both. Painted tan or to match the background. Test cocks plugged and used only for testing.

Sections 10-116 and 10-118 are the teeth. The department may deny or discontinue water service after reasonable notice if a required device is not installed, tested, maintained and repaired in a manner acceptable to it, or has been removed or bypassed, or an unprotected cross connection exists. Notice to a single-family occupant is two weeks by mail; notice to everyone else is one week. Service is not restored until the problem is corrected to the department's satisfaction and the required reconnection fee is paid. A violation carries a fine of no less than $100 and no more than $500, each day is a separate offense, and a condition hazardous to life or health means service is interrupted at that time.

• Consumer: the customer on whose premises the assemblies are installed. The code makes the consumer pay for tests and repairs. Who inside the business pays is a lease question, not a code one.
• Department, officer: the code's terms for the Town's backflow program and its inspector. The code does not define them in these sections.
• Defective: not defined in 10-95. Our reading is any assembly that fails its test.
• Recognized tester: the Town's own term. The Town's Backflow Tester Company Document Requirements sheet says assemblies in Gilbert can only be tested by Town of Gilbert Recognized Testers.

Every consumer with a required backflow assembly, as 10-92 sets out which premises need one. This does not apply to a property with no required assembly. Single-family residences exempt under the state rule that 10-92 mentions are outside that requirement. In 10-116 the shutoff notice is two weeks for a single-family occupant and one week for everyone else.

A restaurant's reduced pressure assembly passes at opening. It is tested again at least once a year. If the tester finds a failed check, the owner has 45 days, or whatever the officer specifies, to repair or replace it.

A double check assembly fails. The code names two numbers: 15 days for required service on a double check assembly in (a)(2), and 45 days for any defective assembly in (c). It does not say how they fit together. Our reading is that the shorter 15-day service period governs a double check, so ask the Town in writing before you plan around 45 days. The answer flips on which assembly is on the line.

The edge case: a tester who works in other cities. Being certified is not the same as being recognized in Gilbert. The Town says assemblies can only be tested by its Recognized Testers, and a tester company sends the Town its certifications, gauge calibration, insurance and contractor license to be listed.

1. 1Find the assembly's tag (manufacturer and serial number) and your last test report and maintenance log.
2. 2Hire a tester who is on the Town's Recognized Testers list, and ask for the current list. The Town's backflow inspection specialists are at (480) 503-6714 and (480) 503-6715, and the Backflow Prevention Department takes tester documents at togbackflow@gilbertaz.gov.
3. 3Ask the tester to use the Town's backflow assembly test form. The Town says its authorized test report is required when reports are submitted.
4. 4If the assembly fails, repair or replace it inside the repair clock and have it tested again, because 10-91 requires a test after repair.
5. 5Update the maintenance log with the test date, the tester's name and approval number, results, repairs and the final test.
6. 6If you receive a shutoff notice, correct the condition and ask the department what is needed to confirm it before the notice period ends.

• I will wait for the Town to send a notice. Section 10-95(a) puts the duty on the consumer. Scottsdale's code, by contrast, ties the annual test to a notice from the division.
• Any certified tester can test. The Town's tester requirements sheet says only Recognized Testers can.
• A failed test gives 90 days. The code says 45 days or as the officer specifies, and 15 days for double check service.
• A fine is a one-time cost. Each day a violation continues is a separate offense, and fines run from $100 to $500.

Gilbert's own text governs; this page explains it.