Plastic Plumbing: Tempest in a teapot?

Polybutylene (PB) Plumbing used for hot & cold supply piping in homes, also known as “Poly-B” has attracted considerable attention lately, most notably in B.C., Alberta and some U.S. States. Recent alarming media coverage has whipped many home owners into a state of panic.
Plastic pipe problems are like a “tempest in a teapot” said the president of the Alberta New Home Warranty Program. “The rate of incidents is insignificant – and our experience with it has been zero.”
The Canadian Association of Home Inspectors, the Home Builders’ Association and the New Home Warranty Program, among other organizations, have all investigated and researched this issue. PB appears to be an excellent plumbing system with a relatively low incident rate of failures, most of which have been attributed to poor workmanship or improper choice of materials.
So why the sudden burst of media attention?
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Info packages have been sent to media sources and home owners, claiming experts have stated that such systems are failing. The lawyers who sent the packages have been soliciting home owners to join a potential class-action suit against the makers of PB tubing and associated fittings.
There have been very few documented cases of PB failures in Canada, and most authoritative sources indicate that the problems lie with the plastic “acetal” fittings, very few of which are encountered in Canada.
Chlorine levels above 2PPM may cause damage to PB tubing, however this is unlikely because this is a much higher than normal chlorine level, and would certainly elicit a flurry of complaints from residents.

Metal insert fittings, typically made of copper or brass.
Aluminum crimp rings have also been blamed, and these are also rare in Canada, where primarily copper fittings and crimp rings have been used. Many U.S. failures occurred in southern areas where plumbing was run in attics, which has not been practiced in Canada, and some plumbers took old brass fittings and used them for plastic… a likely mismatch.
In Alberta, where the level of concern is at its highest, the Labour Department reports the problem rate at less than a fraction of 1% of all installations. In fact, only two cases have been cited, and both of these were reportedly due to poor workmanship.