I was chatting with Bill last night and the subject of plumbing came up.

I seem to recall reading that there are several different plumbing codes used in different regions of the U.S., and possibly a new unified code for the whole nation. \

Can anyone give a brief outline?

One point in particular which came up was the venting of drain lines. As I understand it, the U.S. plumbing codes require a vent pipe run to the main vent stack to be connected immediately at the back of every trap. Is this correct?