AB1953 / NSF 61 / Low-Lead Rules: A Buyer’s Guide to Lead-Free Brass Fittings

Created at : Feb 26, 2026

Choosing brass fittings for potable water used to be mostly about thread type, pressure rating, and availability. Now it is also about proving that the metal touching the water meets strict low-lead requirements and that the paperwork will satisfy inspectors, utilities, and internal QA.

If you buy, specify, or install fittings in the U.S., AB1953 is not just a California topic. It helped set the direction for national “lead-free” expectations, and it still shapes how buyers evaluate brass for drinking water systems.

What AB1953 actually changed for brass fittings

California AB1953 (now in the California Health and Safety Code) tightened what “lead free” means for plumbing products that convey or dispense potable water. The key shift was moving away from older brass alloys that relied on lead for machinability and toward alloys and processes that keep lead extremely low on wetted surfaces.

AB1953 defines lead free with two limits:

• Solder and flux: no more than 0.2 percent lead
• Pipes, fittings, fixtures: no more than a 0.25 percent weighted average lead content across wetted surfaces

That “weighted average” phrase matters because it recognizes that a product may have multiple wetted components. Compliance is calculated across those surfaces, not by looking at only one piece.

AB1953 also draws a bright line around intent. If the product is intended to convey or dispense drinking or cooking water, the standard applies. If it is strictly non-potable industrial service, irrigation, or other excluded uses, different rules can apply.

Federal lead-free law and AB1953: why buyers treat them as a package

The federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) §1417 was updated by the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act and took effect in 2014. It adopted the same 0.25 percent weighted average limit for wetted surfaces and the same 0.2 percent limit for solder and flux.

So while AB1953 is a California law, the practical buying takeaway is nationwide: if a brass fitting is destined for potable water, the 0.25 percent weighted average threshold is the baseline expectation in the United States.

One sentence that helps keep teams aligned is simple: AB1953 and the federal rule focus on lead content, while NSF/ANSI 61 focuses on what can leach into the water.

NSF/ANSI 61 and NSF/ANSI 372: content vs extraction

NSF/ANSI 61 is a health-effects standard for drinking water system components. It does not just ask “what is the alloy chemistry?” It asks “what ends up in the water under a defined test method?”

That difference is why buyers often see both NSF/ANSI 61 and NSF/ANSI 372 requested together:

• NSF/ANSI 372: validates lead content aligned with the 0.25 percent weighted average concept
• NSF/ANSI 61: validates extraction performance through standardized leaching tests

Recent NSF/ANSI 61 updates tightened lead extraction limits for certain mechanical plumbing devices, which raises the bar even for products that already meet the 0.25 percent content requirement. For buyers, this means a fitting can be “lead-free” by content and still fail a project submittal if a specification or authority requires current NSF/ANSI 61 certification for the relevant product category.

A side-by-side view of what buyers are being asked to prove

The standards can feel overlapping until you map them to the type of proof they want. This table gives a procurement-friendly view.

Item buyers see on specsWhat it isWhat it limitsWhere it applies most oftenWhat “good documentation” looks likeAB1953 (CA) lead-freeCalifornia law for potable plumbing productsLead content (0.25% weighted average on wetted surfaces; 0.2% solder/flux)California projects, plus many national specs that cite itThird-party certification or test evidence tied to part numbers and wetted componentsSDWA §1417 lead-free (U.S.)Federal lawLead content (same 0.25% weighted average; 0.2% solder/flux)Potable water plumbing nationwideSupplier attestation backed by recognized lead-content certification (often NSF/ANSI 372)NSF/ANSI 61Consensus standard often required by codes and utilitiesContaminant extraction into water (performance)Utilities, public projects, many plumbing codesCurrent listing from an accredited certifier for the exact product family and scopeNSF/ANSI 372Consensus standard focused on lead contentLead content aligned to 0.25% wetted weighted averageCommon add-on to NSF/ANSI 61 requirementsCertification showing “lead-free” content compliance for specific models

How “lead-free brass” is made real: alloys and wetted surfaces

For engineers, “lead-free” is not a marketing label. It is a combination of alloy selection, process control, and traceable verification.

Many lead-free brass products use alloys designed to machine without lead. Buyers commonly encounter alloy callouts like CA2745 (often associated with C27450), C69300, and other low-lead copper alloys. The exact choice depends on the fitting style and manufacturing route, since forged and machined components can behave differently in production.

A practical rule: if you cannot identify the alloy family and the wetted components that were evaluated, it is hard to defend a lead-free claim during a submittal review or an audit.

After a paragraph of healthy skepticism, here are the simplest “signals” that a lead-free brass fitting is likely on the right track:

• Clear alloy identification on datasheets
• Statements tied to AB1953 and SDWA §1417 language
• Third-party certification marks and listing numbers you can verify independently
• Traceability to a specific part number, size range, and configuration

What to request from suppliers before you place the PO

A lead-free project often fails on paperwork, not performance. The part might be fine, but the evidence is not specific enough to satisfy an inspector or a customer’s QA file.

To prevent that, buyers can ask for a small set of documents and treat them as standard intake requirements.

• Third-party listing: NSF/ANSI 61 and, when required, NSF/ANSI 372 listing that covers the part number or product family you are buying.
• Declaration of Conformity: a signed statement that the product meets the 0.25 percent weighted average requirement for wetted surfaces under AB1953 and SDWA §1417.
• Material evidence: alloy certification or lab analysis showing lead content consistent with the claim.

If you want a tighter script that works across most suppliers, use questions that force specificity:

• Which standard applies to this exact part: AB1953, SDWA §1417, NSF/ANSI 61, NSF/ANSI 372, or a defined combination?
• What exactly is certified: a model, a size range, a product family, or only the raw alloy?
• How can we verify it: listing number, issuing body, effective dates, and scope language.

Common failure modes that create rework and schedule risk

Most lead-free problems look like “small” substitutions until they show up at inspection, commissioning, or customer documentation review.

The following list is short on purpose. These are the items that most often trigger returns, delays, or uncomfortable calls.

• Old inventory mixed into new builds
• Vague “low-lead” wording with no standard cited
• Certification that covers a related item, not the actual part number
• Product configuration changes that were not re-certified
• Labels or marks that cannot be verified through the certifier’s database

A final caution that catches even experienced teams: plating is not a substitute for compliant base metal. If lead is present in the underlying alloy, surface treatments do not make the wetted metal “lead-free” for code purposes.

Matching the proof to the application

Not every brass fitting lives in the same regulatory environment. A potable water branch line, a lab water panel, and an industrial washdown line can sit in the same building but face different inspection criteria.

This is where procurement and engineering work best as a unit: define “potable” at the use point, then buy the documentation set that matches that intended use.

A simple workflow that scales across sites is to separate purchasing into two bins:

• Potable and human-consumption water: require lead-free content compliance (AB1953 and SDWA) and any NSF/ANSI certifications your code or customer requires.
• Non-potable industrial service: document the intended use clearly and avoid mixing inventory in ways that invite accidental installation in potable lines.

That segregation approach reduces the risk of someone grabbing the nearest fitting in a hurry and placing it into drinking water service.

How Industrial Parts Fittings supports lead-free procurement

Industrial Parts Fittings supplies U.S.-made brass fittings and related fluid and air control components, including lead-free options intended for potable water applications. In practice, buyers often look for lead-free brass categories called out by alloy and compliance language, then request part-specific documentation for their submittal package.

For teams that need more than catalog ordering, Industrial Parts Fittings also supports custom-fabricated solutions with fast turnaround, which can be useful when a potable-water design needs a non-standard adapter, special thread combination, or space-saving geometry while still keeping the compliance story intact.

After a paragraph like that, the next step is the one that keeps projects moving: ask for the certification scope, confirm it matches the exact part number and configuration, and file it where your inspectors and customers expect it.

A practical checklist you can reuse across projects

Consistency is the easiest way to make lead-free requirements feel routine rather than stressful.

Here is a compact checklist that can be dropped into RFQs, supplier scorecards, or receiving inspection notes.

• Scope clarity: potable water use is explicitly stated (or explicitly excluded) on the order and internal spec.
• Standard language: AB1953 and SDWA §1417 lead-free content requirement is referenced correctly as a 0.25% weighted average on wetted surfaces.
• Certification match: NSF/ANSI 61 and NSF/ANSI 372 are listed when required, and the listing covers the part number, sizes, and configuration you are buying.
• Verification path: certification numbers can be checked in the certifier’s public database and the dates are current.
• Traceability: packing slips, labels, and internal SKU mapping prevent mixing potable and non-potable stock.

If you build that into your purchasing rhythm, AB1953 stops being a special case and starts being just another well-controlled requirement, like pressure rating, thread form, or material grade.