Does my water heater require a drain pan and can I connect one to a condensate drain?

Two part question…

The code says

Where a storage tank-type water heater or a hot water storage tank is installed in a location where water leakage from the tank will cause damage…

There’s two ways to read that. One extreme view is that water will damage anything if left long enough and because there is no time bound in that clause, no place is actually an exception. Another view is to assume a reasonable time frame and to exclude places where a water leak won’t necessarily cause damage like a garage with a concrete floor that is sloped towards non-water tight garage door.

As it happens, my water heater just started leaking last night and my wife saw water pouring down the driveway before we turned the water off. It didn’t do any damage so would a replacement continue to not need a tub under the code?

My reluctance to putting in the tub is, of course, not the tub itself but the drain line. As there’s no tub now, there’s also no drain line so I’d have to install one for the tub to be any value.

OR would I?

My A/C system is on the other side of the wall from the water heater, would it be allowed that I tap into the HVAC condensate line as it drains directly outside already?

The code says

The pan shall be drained by an indirect waste pipe of not less than 3/4 inch (19 mm) diameter.

It doesn’t say it needs to be dedicated although I could see that being implied by stating a diameter.