TECHNICAL 39
Three generations of plumbing excellence
By
David Smith
This month we chatted to Mike Goodrich of 3G-Plumbing to find out more about being a plumbing contractor .
David : “ Hi Mike . So the idea is that we are interviewing local plumbing contractors , just to find out a bit more about the trade and how you personally came to this point in your career ?” Mike : “ Hi David . Basically , when I finished up with high school I had a gap year where I just needed to decide what I wanted to do with my life . I always knew I loved working with my hands so I knew I would be some sort of tradesman . At first I was I thinking of becoming an electrician but unfortunately I ' m colourblind . That was a big problem , but after some thinking I then basically fell into plumbing . I decided to take one of those 45-day plumbing courses and that ' s when I discovered that I really enjoyed the physical aspect of it . I then followed suit from there . It actually turns out that my grandfather was a master plumber . Not only that , his father himself was also a plumber . So that ' s actually how I came up with the name , 3G-Plumbing . That ' s three generations of plumbers .”
David : “ That ' s really clever . Actually , I was curious about the name .” Mike : “ Yes , yes . A lot of people always ask me , ‘ What does 3G mean ?’ I always gently mock my father , just saying that he ' s the only generation that skipped it as he became a draftsman instead . So , I did the 45-day course . I really enjoyed that . Then I did my apprenticeship with Hudson plumbing in Bedfordview . I did my trade test and started immediately on my own .”
David : “ I see . And how ' s that been going ?” Mike : “ Well , we have ups and downs . I think it ’ s been 12 or 13 years now and we ' re still learning every day . We do everything from general maintenance to construction plumbing , to specialised leak detections , camera inspection , and so on . We do a wide variety of plumbing work , we ’ re not just your standard plumbers . But over the last few years , we ' ve been doing big contracts . That ' s also been quite a nice learning curve .”
David : “ Among these big contracts is there anything which stands out for you as an interesting challenge that you faced ?” Mike : “ Certainly , one of the biggest things we have learned is you really need to have your paperwork in order . One of the biggest learning curves for us was learning to have your ducks in a row with regards to your paper trail , all your completion dates , and so on . Though , we found basically on-site that any verbal communication means nothing unless it ' s in writing .”
David : “ That ' s an interesting point .” Mike : “ Yeah , unfortunately with these guys if it ' s not in writing then it never happened .”
David : “ That is understandable . It ’ s challenging because plumbing is already a physically demanding job and then you also have to ensure that everything is compliant as well as sorting out all the admin .” Mike : “ Basically we find that you need two or three Mike Goodrich of 3G-Plumbing . people working full time just doing all the paperwork , to make sure that you ’ re in order with your projects . We have to do things like weekly updates to talk to the contract managers to see where you are at ; if you ’ re falling behind in any aspects of the job ; if so , where are you falling behind ? What ' s the reason for it ? So , it essentially becomes quite a full-time job , just doing paperwork and such . But it ' s something you don ' t always budget for when you tender these things . My one piece of advice would be to always do your paperwork .”
“ In the long run it really saves your costing . When these guys on a contract charge you they can really overdo it if your paperwork is not in order . So that ' s probably the biggest thing I would say , to get right your paperwork right in addition to the actual plumbing work you need to do .”
David : “ Agreed , I think that ' s very important . Okay , and then is there anything else which you feel is some extra knowledge that you could share with apprentice plumbers who are just starting out – as somebody who built yourself up from the beginning ?” Mike : “ Absolutely , I ' d say the biggest thing I have noticed is that a lot of the guys today just want to be the foreman on site and not actually do the hard work to get there . My advice to apprentice plumbers is to be patient and not get frustrated by the day-to-day activities . A lot of the time it can get repetitive , whether it be working with a hammer and chisel or replacement of geysers . Don ’ t be afraid to ask questions either – too often new guys will be nervous about asking questions in case it seems like they don ’ t know what they ’ re doing but you must remember that you are an apprentice and you are there to learn , so asking these questions early on will serve you well in the long run . The most important thing is to be patient and take the time to learn everything step by step to make sure you are always doing the job right .” PA
Mike Goodrich
August 2022 Volume 28 I Number 6 www . plumbingafrica . co . za