A Pipe Dream? : Approval of New Plumbing Product Bogged Down in Bureaucracy

Daniel Rossel, a Culver City plumber, believes that he has a new product that will shake up the plumbing business in America, one that could create a new multimillion-dollar industry and generate hundreds--maybe thousands--of jobs in Southern California.

But he is worried that the city of Los Angeles may not give him the opportunity to start his business here.

Frustrated by four months of bureaucratic delay in winning approval for his high-tech plastic piping, Rossel says he may give up on the Southland and take a run at the regulators in New Mexico or Arizona--places he understands are “friendly to business.”

“The city of L.A. is one big, mind-boggling, bureaucratic roadblock,” said Kerry Welsh, one of nine potential investors prepared to stake as much as $5 million in venture capital to launch Rossel’s enterprise--providing the product gains safety approval from the city.

“It’s truly frightening to see how business is stifled in Los Angeles because of bureaucrats who are afraid of anything new,” Welsh said. “Every time we meet their testing criteria, they come up with new objections.”

City officials said the testing and approval process for new building materials can take anywhere from a month to several years, depending on the case. Rossel’s pipe has not necessarily been rejected, they said.

But his experience typifies the kind of complaints that have given Los Angeles a reputation as unsympathetic--sometimes hostile--to business.

The plumber-entrepreneur has exclusive rights in the United States to import, distribute and manufacture Optiflex, a plumbing product developed in his native Switzerland that has been used in that country for nearly a decade. Indeed, Rossel claims that Optiflex is replacing copper pipe as the state-of-the-art plumbing material in several European markets.

But the seemingly opaque process of safety certification in Los Angeles so far has posed a virtual trade barrier to the entry of Optiflex locally. The pipe, touted as superior to ordinary plastic tubing and less expensive than copper, has never been put into commercial use in the United States.

Despite a stack of U.S. building industry endorsements, letters of interest from potential customers in Southern California and certified approval from the testing laboratory of the International Assn. of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, Rossel’s application with the city’s Building and Safety Department has been languishing since the beginning of February, he said.

During a video presentation at City Hall on May 19, according to Rossel, the man ultimately responsible for signing off on the safety approval--Robert J. Picott, chief of the department’s mechanical bureau--fell asleep.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Rossel said. “That was very unprofessional. We were talking about a new technology that will bring jobs to Los Angeles, and he’s falling asleep.”

Picott disputed Rossel’s characterization of his attentiveness.

“He’s got to be kidding,” Picott said. “I did not fall asleep. I assume that was his perception, but we gave Mr. Rossel two hours to discuss the product with my staff. I was there the whole time.”

Getting a safety approval from the city’s mechanical engineering division is a key hurdle in marketing a product not yet sanctioned by building codes. Once the product has passed the division’s stringent testing requirements, most jurisdictions in Southern California will follow suit and allow its use in new construction, officials say.

Specifically, Optiflex is a kind of polyethylene plastic pipe manufactured in an “electron cross-link” process that makes it more durable and heat-resistant than conventional plastic pipe, Rossel said. Only galvanized steel and copper pipes are now approved under California building codes.

If he is successful in marketing the product and training local tradespeople to install it, Rossel and his backers hope to build factories in the Southland to manufacture Optiflex under license, making Los Angeles their nationwide base.

Timothy Taylor, executive officer of the Building and Safety Department, said he first heard about Optiflex’s complaints Tuesday and plans to look into the matter once he gets the complete file from a field office.

“Our job isn’t to send new industry out of the city,” Taylor said. “But as you can imagine, the mechanical trades are very entrenched in their standards. . . . Plastic pipe is in competition with galvanized and copper pipe, and we could end up taking a lot of heat from the established industries.”

Aside from vested interests in the building industry, Taylor said one of his main concerns is a consumer issue.

If Optiflex does not catch on and Rossel’s company, Optiflex USA, goes out of business, property owners could be stuck with esoteric plumbing systems that could not easily be repaired.

“The product looks real good on paper, but it’s very hard for a building official to deal with the solvency of a company,” said Taylor, the No. 2 official in the department. “I don’t want to stifle new ideas, but what happens in 15 years (if) these people aren’t around any more with their product?”

Doug Austin, a partner in Torrance custom-home builder JCC Development, said he is willing to try Optiflex. “If they can get it approved by the city, we’re certainly interested in using it,” Austin said. “It looks cost-effective.”

But Austin is familiar with the kind of bureaucratic inertia that might undermine Rossel’s chances for approval.

“I’ve got stories that will curl your hair,” he said. “The building industry is a huge economic indicator, but our hands are tied all the way. You’d think the city would try to help business.”

Alfred Babayans, director of the department’s mechanical testing laboratory, said he is waiting for Rossel to submit more documentation, noting “the product hasn’t been turned down yet.”