I recently had a house inspection conducted on a house I intend to
purchas. The inspection showed that PVC (not CPVC) was being used as
the T&P drain. The inspector stated that this may not have been
against code when it was built (8 years ago), but was not considered
acceptable according to his standards.

Is it truly a concern that the hot water drained would cause problems
with potential melting of the PVC joints?

There is access in the attic to replace a portion of the PVC up to
where it goes into the wall. If I had the accessible PVC replaced with
copper into a holding tank that subsequently connects to the PVC, would
it be sufficient to cool the water enough?

Is there a flexible hose option - similar to hot water hoses that
connect to washing machines?

I want to avoid any interior work where the lines go through the wall
and drain outside.

Any thoughts?