# Long Island Lighting Company — Pipeline Safety Interpretation

**Citation:** PI-89-009  
**Type / status:** guidance / guidance  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** 1989-06-09

PI-89-009 response to Long Island Lighting Company concerning 192.283.

## Document text

<<<PAGE 1>>>

June 9, 1989
Mr. Ellen Bardenhagen
Gas Engineering Department
Long Island Lighting Company
175 East Old Country Road
Hicksville, New York 11801
Dear Ms. Bardenhagen:
Thank you for your letter requesting clarification of the requirements for qualifying mechanical
joining methods for plastic pipe. We understand your question to be whether the word "material"
as used in §192.283(b)(7) refers to any class of plastic polymers (e.g., 2306 polyethylene) or to a
specific polymer within a class used by a particular pipe manufacturer.
The qualification of a mechanical joining method depends on the tensile strength of the pipe
material under load, as opposed to the physical-chemical properties that are pertinent for other
joining methods (e.g., heat fusion, solvent cement). Since each class has a minimum tensile
strength, a class of plastic polymers suffices to describe the material for which a mechanical
joining method is qualified. Therefore, test information that qualifies a mechanical joining method
for use on one manufacturer's pipe made from a specific polymer in a class would also qualify that
method for use on any other manufacturer's pipe made from any other polymer in that class.
I hope that this discussion has clarified the issue for you. If you have any further questions, please
contact me.
Sincerely,
Richard L. Beam
Director
Office of Pipeline Safety
dal\192\283\89-06-09
1

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/Pipeline/1989/PI89009.pdf>
- Source ID: `phmsa`
- SHA-256: `09ada3b4567390e688d5fbacae29864f49aaffa3eb3fede8f2feb03272493a62`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z
- Exported: 2026-08-22T22:29:02.441Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-pi-89-009`

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