Workers will have to replace a drainage system at the new Newton North High School, according to the state Plumbing Board.
After construction workers installed pipes that did not conform to the state's building code, the city applied to the Plumbing Board on Oct. 7 for a variance to allow the pipes to remain. The piping sends water from the building's roof and drainage system to a 40,000 gallon tank, where the water would then be used for flushing the school's toilets.
Project managers used piping not allowed by the state's building code, and the pipes were installed in inappropriate material (crushed tar) by laborers instead of plumbers, inspectors from the Plumbing Board said at an Oct. 28 meeting.
"There was very poor workmanship at this location, which means the installed system has a likelihood of failure," read the minutes from that meeting.
As a result, the board unanimously voted to deny the city's variance.
Jeremy Solomon, the mayor's spokesman, said the city has received that denial and is preparing a response.
Expected to cost $197.5 million, the new Newton North will be the most expensive high school ever built in Massachusetts.
The cost of the plumbing changes is not yet known.
The new school is scheduled to open in September 2010.
