Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs, in response to a lawsuit filed by the Plastic Pipe and Fittings Association against the California Building Standards Commission and other state agencies, ordered the inclusion of PEX plastic pipe into the California Plumbing Code. The judge agreed that the state agencies had acted in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner in excluding PEX from the state's plumbing code.
The suit was filed on behalf of PEX pipe manufacturers and PPFA members Vanguard Industries, Uponor Wirsbo and Zurn PEX Plumbing and Radiant Heating Systems (formerly Qest Hydronics). It sought to overturn California's adoption of an updated plumbing code on May 2, 2002, which deleted PEX from the code pending an environmental review in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act.