OmegaFlex Reiterates Call for Maintaining National CSST Safety Standards

Public Safety Should Not be Compromised by Self-Serving Attempts to Manipulate Building Codes to Create a Monopoly

MIDDLETOWN, Conn.--()--OmegaFlex, Inc., (NASDAQ:OFLX) the leading provider of flexible gas tubing, today reiterated its commitment to the national corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST) safety standards – American National Standards Institute (ANSI) LC-1 – and urged elected officials, fire marshals and code enforcement agencies to reject deceptive efforts to change the building codes to create a monopoly that would compromise public safety.

Titeflex Corporation – and its former opponents – the trial lawyers and the Teel Foundation have joined forces to throw out the national safety standards that have governed the use of CSST for the past 25 years and replace them with a new, unproven product listing – PMG LC-1027 – written by Titeflex specifically for its patented FlashShield CSST product. In pushing this self-interested agenda, this group has resorted to using false claims and phony testing to create a patent monopoly for one manufacturer – Titeflex.

“Safety will always be OmegaFlex’s top priority and we cannot sit idly by as others try to weaken the building codes and needlessly jeopardize public safety for their own benefit,” said Steve Treichel, OmegaFlex’s Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Facilities Management, who oversees the Company’s research and development and engineering functions. “We want elected officials, the fire community and code regulators to have the undisputable facts that show FlashShield is an inferior and unsafe product.”

Independent scientists working at Texas Tech University – using the same lab and setup Titeflex used to establish FlashShield’s product claims – concluded that FlashShield failed to withstand the 36 coulombs of electrical charge required under its LC-1027 product listing. FlashShield’s high susceptibility to galvanic corrosion, the risk of improper installation and other design flaws reduce the product’s effectiveness, likely causing it to fail and leaving homeowners at-risk.

“Titeflex’s efforts to create a monopoly demonstrate a lack of confidence in FlashShield, recognizing that it cannot compete and win on the product’s merits,” added Mr. Treichel.

Lubbock, Texas recently disregarded the facts about Titeflex and FlashShield and adopted a modified version of LC-1027 (increasing the energy levels to 85 coulombs) as the local CSST standard, giving FlashShield a monopoly since it is the only product that allegedly meets this modified criteria based on its patented design. The City took this action at the behest of the Brennan Teel Foundation, which was established to honor the young man killed in a house fire blamed on a Titeflex product.

Recognizing the issues with the LC-1027 criteria, the National Fire Protection Agency and the Oklahoma and North Carolina building codes commissions rejected efforts to change the building codes to favor one manufacturer. These agencies understood that a Titeflex monopoly would end the safety-first approach that drives CSST manufacturers to improve their products, leaving homeowners to choose between the underperforming FlashShield product and deadly black iron pipe, whose failure is directly responsible for multiple deaths and injuries each year.

TracPipe CounterStrike: The Safest CSST Product & the Only One That Solves the Lightning Issue

OmegaFlex developed TracPipe CounterStrike, a CSST product that has a built-in solution to protect homes and buildings against lightning damage without the need for additional bonding, solving the lightning issue. First introduced in 2004 – and designed to the rigorous ANSI LC-1 standards – TracPipe CounterStrike is the safest and top selling CSST product, with more than 10 years of proven field performance and 125 million feet installed in homes and buildings across the United States. OmegaFlex stands behinds its products and safety record and notes there have been no deaths or injuries associated with TracPipe CounterStrike.

Elected officials, state and local fire marshals, building regulators and other parties interested in learning more about the importance of maintaining the national ANSI LC-1 CSST safety standards should contact Bob Torbin, OmegaFlex’s Director of Codes and Standards, at bob.torbin@omegaflex.net or visit CSSTFacts.org.

About OmegaFlex, Inc.
Established in 1975, OmegaFlex, Inc. is the pre-eminent international producer of flexible metallic piping products. With more than 200 patents registered worldwide, OmegaFlex® supplies proprietary products for a broad number of applications and markets, which include primary steel production, semi-conductor, medical, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, residential, residential and commercial construction, and power generation. OmegaFlex®, TracPipe® CounterStrike® and AutoFlare® are registered trademarks of OmegaFlex, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information, visit www.omegaflex.com.

FlashShield® and Titeflex® are trademarks of Titeflex Corporation.

Contacts

For OmegaFlex, Inc.
Craig Chick, 512-829-1005
Capitol Partners Consulting
or
Kim Davis, 806-544-4255
Nomiss Communications

Contacts

For OmegaFlex, Inc.
Craig Chick, 512-829-1005
Capitol Partners Consulting
or
Kim Davis, 806-544-4255
Nomiss Communications