American Standard Townsend 2.5 gpm/9.5L/min Tub and Shower Trim Kit With Rain Showerhead, Double Ceramic Pressure Balance Cartridge With Lever Handle - AMS-TU353502

No. The TU353502 is trim only. It ships with the showerhead, shower arm and flange, brass wall escutcheon, metal lever handle, slip-on diverter tub spout, and the double ceramic pressure balance cartridge. You still have to order the valve body separately, and it has to be an American Standard Flash shower rough-in valve, which is what this trim is built for.

Yes. The cartridge is a double ceramic pressure balance unit, pairing a ceramic disc mixing valve with a ceramic balancing spool. The spool holds output temperature constant when the relative hot and cold supply pressures change, which is exactly what happens on a flush in a multi-family riser. Ceramic isn't affected by mineral deposits or hard water, so it holds up in bad water conditions.

Yes. The Townsend trim has back-to-back capability, so hot and cold can be reversed quickly during install without special parts. That's common on back-to-back bath layouts in apartments where one rough-in mirrors the other.

It's a slip-on diverter tub spout, so it slides over a copper nipple and sets with a fastener rather than threading onto an IPS nipple. Check what your existing nipple is before demo; a threaded stub needs a threaded spout, not this one. The spout also carries the diverter that sends water up to the showerhead.

The showerhead is 6 inches (152 mm) with a 2.5 gpm / 9.5 L/min maximum flow. That is the standard federal maximum, so it will not satisfy a project spec calling for 1.8 gpm or a California-style 1.8 gpm limit. On those jobs you'd need a lower-flow head instead.

Three finishes: chrome (TU353502.002), polished nickel (TU353502.013), and brushed nickel (TU353502.295). If you are standardizing a building on one finish, order by that suffix so every bath matches.

There's an adjustable hot limit safety stop built in. It caps how much hot water can mix with the cold to reduce scald risk, and it is set at install. The Comfort Zone design also spreads the useful temperature range across more handle travel, so residents can fine-tune within a safe band instead of hunting between scalding and cold.

Service is at the cartridge. The mixing valve and balancing spool are combined in a single one-piece cartridge that pulls and replaces as one unit, so a temperature or drip complaint is a cartridge swap rather than opening the wall. The ceramic disc mixing valve is what gives the drip-free seal and the smooth handle feel.

No separate checks needed. Integrated check valves are built into the Townsend pressure balance cartridge to eliminate cross flow between the hot and cold supplies.