CELEBRATING
CORPORATE PROFILE
50 Years
61
• And of course, there is the ongoing problem of crime,
especially the theft of building materials from sites.
Contracting is problem solving
The bulk of what Industrial Plumbers does is contract work
involving the costing and tendering of contracts, quantity
surveying and performance, and that area falls to Contracts
Director Neil Mole.
Efficiency is central to day-to-day activities, as all work
is tendered for in a tough market and awards are based
primarily on price. “One of the solutions to efficiency is to
identify good staff and focus training and other resources
on them, rather than wasting resources. The secret to
success in any venture is the quality of communication
between myself, the teams that are on the ground, and
the professionals on site. It is important that my staff be
empowered to communicate with the professionals on site
because I cannot be there all the time.
“Furthermore, efficiency in the plumbing industry is not
necessarily about doing work faster – but doing it correctly
first time. That’s the challenge – we have a huge problem
with lack of skills among workers in South Africa, and
consequently we do a lot of training. My QS, for example,
has been put through a welding course on copper and HDPE
pipes so that she can see what is actually involved in costing
a contract, and that welding a pipe takes 20 minutes, not
two. This is important for tendering and measurement
because there are a great many items that are not in the
bill of quantities that we nonetheless have to claim for. That
training contributes to us getting a lot more things right first
time,” says Mole.
At the moment, through its company IPM, they are ‘very
involved’ with Sasol. In terms of the contract, every job has
to be scoped prior to IPM quoting in a price, albeit at set
January 2020 Volume 25 I Number 11
“I’m a problem solver,” says Mole bluntly. “Our guys on site
come to me with problems, whether it be how to go forward
with a project, how to resolve a situation with materials,
whether there are new products that could make us more
competitive, or a more efficient way of doing something. We
do our own designs to a certain extent, though we can’t sign
them off or offer professional indemnity.”
Enzio Zambetti, finance director
prices that were agreed in the tender. “Sasol is strict about
maintenance – because if something were to go wrong there
it would go seriously wrong. If there’s a gas explosion, then
entire areas have to be sealed down and whoever is there
cannot get in or out.
“Every year Sasol shuts down sections of the plant for
maintenance for up to six weeks, and that is when we are
exceptionally busy and we have to draw resources from our
construction side, which consequently quietens down.”
Going forward
Industrial Plumbers is currently engaged in a variety of
projects in South Africa and Zambia for various clients, and
while Mole reflects on the recent difficulties that the industry
is experiencing in South Africa, he remains optimistic about
the future – and the next 50 years for the company. PA
www.plumbingafrica.co.za