FixtureUnitFixture units in, pipe size out — the table the code actually uses.

What size vent for a 4″ drain 20 feet away?

4″ drain, 20 ft of vent
2″
half the drain size, and 20 ft is short enough that length does not add to it
4″ drain, 20 ft of vent20 ftDeveloped length40 ftLength threshold
Vent size2″
Minimum by the half-rulehalf of a 4″ drain, never below 1¼″2″
Developed lengthmeasured along the pipe — elbows, offsets and the vertical, not the straight line to the roof20ft
Length thresholdpast this, go up a size40ft
DFU a 4″ branch carries160DFU

Notes

  • Two rules, and people only remember the first. A vent is never smaller than half the drain it serves and never below 1¼″ — that gives 2″ here. The second rule is developed length: friction grows with the run, so a long vent has to be larger. At 20 ft the run is short enough that it does not.
  • Developed length is measured along the pipe. Every elbow, every offset and the whole vertical rise count. It is not the distance from the fixture to the roof measured on a drawing — running 60 ft of 1½″ because the roof looks close is exactly how a trap at the far end gets siphoned dry.
  • What the vent actually does is protect the trap seal. Water falling down a stack drags air with it. Without a path for replacement air, that suction pulls the water out of the nearest trap, and then sewer gas has an open door into the room. A vent that is undersized does not fail loudly — it fails as a smell nobody can place.
  • A dry trap smells the same as a broken one. Floor drains and guest bathrooms that go months without use lose their seal to evaporation, not to venting. Before re-plumbing anything, pour a bucket of water down and wait a day.
  • Figures here follow the IPC. UPC jurisdictions differ on several points — wet venting and island fixtures especially — and the local inspector decides. Use this to size a plan and to read a quote, not to argue at inspection.

A 4″ drain with 20 ft of vent

2″. The half-rule alone would give 2″; developed length is what moves it.

Two rules, and people only remember the first

A vent is never smaller than half the drain it serves, and never below 1¼″.

The second rule is developed length. Friction grows with the run, so a long vent has to be larger. Past about 40 ft, go up a size.

Developed length is measured along the pipe

Every elbow, every offset and the whole vertical rise count.

It is not the distance from the fixture to the roof on a drawing. Running 60 ft of 1½″ because the roof looks close is exactly how a trap at the far end gets siphoned dry.

What the vent is actually for

Water falling down a stack drags air with it. Without a path for replacement air, that suction pulls the water out of the nearest trap — and then sewer gas has an open door into the room.

An undersized vent does not fail loudly. It fails as a smell nobody can place.

A dry trap smells the same as a broken one

Floor drains and guest bathrooms that go months unused lose their seal to evaporation, not to venting.

Pour a bucket of water down and wait a day before re-plumbing anything.

Figures follow the IPC. UPC jurisdictions differ on wet venting and island fixtures, and the local inspector decides.

Nearby sizes