RKT-DOC-G · Glossary · Last revised 14 March 2026

Glossary — the vocabulary in plain English.

Trades vocabulary is dense, mostly because it has to be precise. The forty-odd terms below are the ones a customer will encounter on this site or on a real survey report. We've kept the definitions practical rather than encyclopedic; for the formal definitions, see /standards/.

BSA: Buffalo Sewer Authority — the public agency that owns and operates the city's sanitary sewer mains and treatment system. Independent of Buffalo Water.
BBA: NASSCO PACP code: broken pipe, hole and missing pipe — i.e., total collapse.
Bell-and-spigot: The mating geometry of clay or cast-iron pipe sections: the "bell" is the flared end of one section; the "spigot" is the narrow end of the next, inserted into the bell. Sealed with jute fiber and bitumen on 1908-vintage clay.
Belly: A vertical sag in a horizontal lateral. PACP code SAS / SAM / SAL.
Burst: Short for pipe-bursting. RKT-MTH-02.
CCTV: Closed-circuit television camera survey of a sewer lateral. The diagnostic basis for everything else. RKT-MTH-04.
CI: Cast iron — pipe material common in 1880s–1950s Buffalo.
CIPP: Cured-in-place pipe — a felt-and-resin sleeve inverted into a host pipe and cured to form a structural liner. RKT-MTH-01.
CL: NASSCO PACP code: crack, longitudinal. Plate D.
Cleanout: An access fitting that lets a cable or camera enter the lateral without disturbing the surrounding plumbing. Required by NYS code at specified intervals.
Curb stop: A brass valve in the public right-of-way that lets the city shut off water to a property. Owned by the water utility; the homeowner's service line begins downstream.
DAE: NASSCO PACP code: deposits, attached, encrustation — typical of long-aged cast iron.
Dye test: The BSA procedure for determining whether a sewer failure is on the homeowner's side or the city's side. Fluorescent dye introduced upstream, monitored at the main downstream. See Records.
Fernco: A trade-name shielded coupling for clay-to-PVC and PVC-to-PVC transitions. Used at most spot repairs.
HDPE: High-density polyethylene — the material of the new pipe pulled into a bursting bore. Fusion-welded, jointless, 50-year design life.
Inversion: The process of pressure-pushing a CIPP felt sleeve into the host bore, turning it inside-out as it goes so the resin-coated face lands against the host wall.
JOM, JOL: NASSCO PACP codes for joint offsets: medium (10–25%) and large (> 25%). Plate B.
Jute: The plant-fiber rope used in 1908–1935 to caulk bell-and-spigot joints, before being sealed with hot bitumen. Decomposes within ~70 years.
K-copper: The thickest-walled grade of copper service tubing (heavier than L, M, or DWV). Standard for new lead-service replacements in our service area.
LACP: NASSCO Lateral Assessment Certification Program — the residential-lateral parallel to PACP.
Lateral: The pipe that runs from the building's plumbing to the city sewer main. Homeowner-owned end-to-end. Sometimes also called the "house connection" or "side sewer."
LCRR / LCRI: EPA Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (2021) and Improvements (2024). Federal mandate to inventory and replace lead service lines by 2037. RKT-MTH-05.
LSL: Lead service line. The water-supply pipe running from the city main to the household meter, made of lead in pre-1948 Buffalo installs.
MACP: NASSCO Manhole Assessment Certification Program. Companion to PACP for manhole inspections.
NASSCO: National Association of Sewer Service Companies. The trade body that publishes the assessment-certification programs (PACP, MACP, LACP, ITCP).
PACP: NASSCO Pipeline Assessment Certification Program. The fault-coding language we use on every CCTV survey. Currently version 8.
PE: Polyethylene; or, in a license context, Professional Engineer (Marie's NCEES license).
RBL, RFJ: NASSCO PACP codes for root intrusion: root ball (≥25% of bore) and roots fine, joint (<25%). Plate A.
Resin: The thermosetting polymer (vinyl-ester, polyester, or epoxy) saturated into the CIPP felt sleeve, which hardens to form the cured liner.
Sag: See belly.
SDR: Standard Dimension Ratio — the ratio of pipe outside diameter to wall thickness for HDPE and PVC. SDR-17 HDPE is our standard for residential bursts.
Sleeve: The felt-and-resin tube that gets inverted into the host pipe and cured to form the CIPP liner.
Sonde: A 33 kHz transmitter, embedded in the head of a CCTV crawler, that lets a surface-side locator trace the camera's position and depth in real time.
Tap: The connection point of a residential lateral to the city's sanitary sewer main.
Trenchless: Any rehabilitation method that does not require open-cut excavation along the full length of the pipe being repaired or replaced.
UA Local 22: The Buffalo-region local of the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters & Service Mechanics. Five of our crew are members.
Vitrified clay: The fired-clay pipe material standard for Buffalo sanitary laterals between approximately 1895 and 1935. Brittle in compression, sound in installation, prone to root infiltration at deteriorated joints.