Check. Rigid, PVC pipe commonly used in plumbing such as schedule 40 and schedule 80 should not be installed in walls. They were developed for exposed pressure systems such as irrigation. Polyeurathane and polybutalene are better suited for interior pressure plumbing, but still not the equal of copper.
Cheap PVC pipe will become brittle and crack when it ages, especially in hot water or corrosive service. Glue joints will fail. Cheap Home Depot plastic valves aren't worth squat.
California is doing the right thing in this case.
Copper still rules and will last forever...
It’s good and relatively easy to work with.
My problem with copper is that I seem to have a copper-magnet embedded in my head. I’ve hit copper pipes with an axe, shovel, sheetrock screws, sawzall, drill, you name it. And you typically end up hunting for 10 minutes trying to find out how to shut it off.
You’d have the same problem with plastic too, but every time I hit one it’s copper.
The only thing worse than inadvertently hitting a regular water line was the time I accidentally nicked a fire sprinkler pipe. I have a new appreciation for the amount of water that can flow through them. Also, the fire sprinkler shut-off valves were chained and locked open so nobody could turn it off for a good hour and a half.