Faucets are a heavily regulated product in North America. It's not just any water product with a shiny chrome finish that can be sold as a faucet. It must first be tested and certified to meet certain reliability and safety standards, and it must comply with many laws and regulations.
Because Canada and the United States are federally decentralized governments, enforcement of faucet regulations is scattered across multiple levels of government. The United States, in particular, has laws at the local, state and federal levels that faucet companies must follow. In fact, the legal matrix is so complex that most major faucet companies have compliance officers whose job it is to ensure that their faucets comply with the many laws that govern them. Piping specification State and provincial plumbing codes are the public's first line of defense against unreliable or dangerous faucets. There is a province-wide or state-wide pipeline code in all Canadian provinces and in all U.S. states. Local governments are often allowed to adopt their own pipeline codes or modify state or provincial codes to suit local needs. Almost all jurisdictions did not study and write such a complex law, but instead adopted one of the model pipeline regulations. There are four model pipeline codes in North America, one of which has been adopted by every state and province except Kentucky. (See a quick guide to state pipeline specifications below) : The International Pipeline Code (IPC) is the most widely adopted in the United States, predominating in the Northeastern and southern states, and is issued by the International Commission on Norms (ICC). Maintained and published by the International Association of Pipe and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) since 1927, the oldest Pipe Specification Model (UPC) has been adopted throughout much of the Western and Midwest United States.
The National Standard Piping Code (NSPC) has been issued by the National Association of Pipe-Heating-Cooling Contractors since 1933. Counties in New Jersey and Maryland are among the jurisdictions that still use the model code as the basis for their state pipeline codes. Louisiana changed to the international pipeline code in 2015. With the loss of Louisiana, NSPC became too expensive for PHCC to sustain, so in 2018, ownership of the specification was transferred to IAPMO, which undertook "maintenance and further development of the NSPC." These specifications have slightly different requirements for piping systems, but they all have one thing in common. They all use exactly the same standard for household faucets. Even Kentucky, which has issued a pipeline code that is not based on any of these model specifications, has adopted the same standard. The people who write pipeline code are usually not engineers. They are often industry volunteers who donate their time to the process. They rely on engineers to find the necessary standards. In the United States, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) defines the standards that household Sink Faucets should meet. In Canada, it is the Canadian Standards Institute (now CSA Group). Years ago, the two organizations came together to develop joint U.S. / Canadian standards for faucets, and the code writers simply incorporated those requirements into the plumbing specifications. State, provincial, and local governments then adopt these statutes and they become laws. Three code standards address potential problems with faucets. ASME A112.18.1 / CSA B125.1 Physical and performance standards for faucets, including design and general use, are reflected in ASME A112.18.1 in the United States and CSA B125.1 in Canada. These standards have always been what the standards writers call "harmonized", that is, they are essentially the same in both countries, which is why a faucet that is legal in San Francisco may also be legal in Ottawa and vice versa. The combined standard is usually written ASME A112.18.1/CSA B125.1. ANSI/NSF 372 ANSI/NSF 372 is a content standard used to limit the amount of lead that may come into contact with water flowing through faucets. It specifically targets lead levels in faucets and generally follows the tests and standards outlined in the SAFE Drinking Water Act in the United States, so faucets that meet the standards will also meet the requirements of the Act. ANSI/NSF 61 ANSI/NSF 61 is a health standard used to test for a variety of hazardous substances that may come into contact with water. The list of materials tested includes lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and other materials that may be present in faucet components and can leach into the water that passes through the faucet. 
Mergers and consolidations In recent years, these standards have merged. ANSI/NSF 372 became part of ANSI/NSF 61. The combined standard is often referred to as ANSI/NSF 61/9. ANSI/NSF 61/9 was then incorporated into ASME A112.18.1/CSA 125.1 in 2012. Faucets tested and certified to ANSI/NSF 61/9 by ASME A112.18.1/CSA 125.1 in or after 2012. (To avoid confusion, however, most testing organizations still issue separate certificates, one for each standard.) Testing and certification No government agency tests to ensure faucets meet plumbing specifications. They just issue regulations and let the faucet industry regulate themselves. It was all done in private. Faucets are certified by ASME, CSA and ANSI authorized organizations. These are identified in the panel on the right. Faucets are submitted to one of these accredited organizations and tested by accredited laboratories. If they pass the test, they will be "listed" in the "listed certificate". A listing certificate for a company like Delta, which sells nearly 100 different faucets, can run to dozens of pages. If a faucet does not appear on the listing certificate, it does not, no matter how long or loudly the faucet seller insists that it complies with the plumbing code. Regulations require faucets to be tested and "listed" for certification. So, if it does, it will be listed. If not listed, the requirements are not met. Very simple. Click here to view a typical Cifial listing certificate. In order to meet the requirements of A112.18.1/CSA B125.1, the faucets must undergo a daunting series of tests to ensure that they are configured to meet the standard, Its mechanical operation is safe, robust, reliable, and Its completion remains the same in the environment where it will be installed. The tests are detailed and arduous, and the process can take up to a month. The tests include: Check faucets to ensure routine maintenance, such as replacing ceramic filters, can be performed "above the sink" without removing the faucets. Water hose headwear is tested for durability and longevity by spraying chemical concentrations to simulate years of exposure to normal home environments, including typical cleaning solutions. The taps were tested at extreme high and low temperatures to replicate years of mixing hot and cold water, and subjected to 60 PSI of normal household water pressure many times that to see if they would leak. The faucet is tested to ensure it can maintain the set temperature and flow of water without changing the temperature or flow of water on its own -- which can be annoying at the very least and dangerous at worst. Handle stability tested. Once the hand is placed in a particular position, it must remain there without moving from the set position. Check faucets to make sure they accept standard North American faucet fittings. While the rest of the world has adopted the metric system, in North America we still prefer our quaint and archaic "customary units" based on inches and feet. Metric accessories don't work here.
