1. Each county and city shall include in its respective building code the requirements of this section. If a county or city has no building code, it shall adopt those requirements by ordinance and provide for their enforcement by its own officers or employees or through interlocal agreement by the officers or employees of another local government. Additionally, each county and city shall prohibit by ordinance the sale and installation of any plumbing fixture which does not meet the standards made applicable for the respective county or city pursuant to this section.

2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, each residential, commercial or industrial structure on which construction begins on or after March 1, 1992, and before March 1, 1993, and each existing residential, commercial or industrial structure which is expanded or renovated on or after March 1, 1992, and before March 1, 1993, must incorporate the following minimal standards for plumbing fixtures:

(a) A toilet which uses water must not be installed unless its consumption of water does not exceed 3.5 gallons of water per flush.

(b) A shower apparatus which uses more than 3 gallons of water per minute must not be installed unless it is equipped with a device to reduce water consumption to 3 gallons of water or less per minute.

(c) Each faucet installed in a lavatory or kitchen must not allow water to flow at a rate greater than 3 gallons per minute.

(d) A urinal which continually flows or flushes water must not be installed.

3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, each residential, commercial or industrial structure on which construction begins on or after March 1, 1993, and before January 1, 2020, and each existing residential, commercial or industrial structure which is expanded or renovated on or after March 1, 1993, and before January 1, 2020, must incorporate the following minimal standards for plumbing fixtures:

(a) A toilet which uses water must not be installed unless its consumption of water does not exceed 1.6 gallons of water per flush.

(b) A shower apparatus which uses more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute must not be installed unless it is equipped with a device to reduce water consumption to 2.5 gallons of water or less per minute.

(c) A urinal which uses water must not be installed unless its consumption of water does not exceed 1 gallon of water per flush.

(d) A toilet or urinal which employs a timing device or other mechanism to flush periodically, irrespective of demand, must not be installed.

(e) A urinal which continually flows or flushes water must not be installed.

(f) Each faucet installed in a lavatory or kitchen must not allow water to flow at a rate greater than 2.5 gallons per minute.

(g) Each faucet installed in a public restroom must contain a mechanism which closes the faucet automatically after a predetermined amount of water has flowed through the faucet. Multiple faucets that are activated from a single point must not be installed.

4. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 6, each residential, commercial or industrial structure on which construction begins on or after January 1, 2020, and each existing residential, commercial or industrial structure which is expanded or renovated on or after January 1, 2020:

(a) If the WaterSense program established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency has developed a final product specification for a type of toilet, shower apparatus, urinal or faucet, must not install any toilet, shower apparatus, urinal or faucet that has not been certified under the WaterSense program.

(b) If the WaterSense program has not developed a final product specification for a type of toilet, shower apparatus, urinal or faucet, must not install any toilet, shower apparatus, urinal or faucet that does not comply with any applicable requirements of federal law and the building code of the county or city.

5. For the purposes of subsection 4:

(a) A plumbing fixture is considered certified under the WaterSense program if the fixture has been:

(1) Tested by an accredited third-party certifying body or laboratory in accordance with the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program or an analogous successor program;

(2) Certified by the certifying body or laboratory as meeting the performance and efficiency requirements of the WaterSense program or an analogous successor program; and

(3) Authorized by the WaterSense program or an analogous successor program to use the WaterSense label or the label of an analogous successor program.

(b) If the WaterSense program modifies the requirements for a plumbing fixture to be certified under the WaterSense program, a plumbing fixture that was certified under the previous requirements shall be deemed certified for use under the WaterSense program for a period of 12 months following the modification of the requirements for certification.

6. The requirements of this section for the installation of certain plumbing fixtures do not apply to any portion of:

(a) An existing residential, commercial or industrial structure which is not being expanded or renovated; or

(b) An existing residential, commercial or industrial structure if the structure was constructed 50 years or more before the current year, regardless of whether that structure has been expanded or renovated since its original construction.

(Added to NRS by 1991, 1166; A 2019, 2100, effective January 1, 2020)