60 TECHNICAL
Make the standards and CPD work for you
By
Mark de Wet
Many a plumber finds it difficult to understand the standards, and some believe that the standards and the required CPD point system are out to make our lives difficult.
Mark de Wet
Mark de Wet is the national technical manager at IOPSA. He is a qualified plumber and registered gas installer. He also sits on the SABS technical committees and working groups on behalf of IOPSA and the IOPSA National Executive Board, as well as being a PIRB inspector.
As I have come to see with the last few site inspections, we are our own worst enemy.
We may think we deliver the best installations with the neatest work, but if we do not apply the standards and we do not make the effort to upskill ourselves, we will become the downfall of our own industry. This will exacerbate the problem of inferior quality workmanship that will see us, the licensed plumbers, having to compete increasingly with the jack of all trades with a shifting spanner and hacksaw blade calling himself a plumber, at a rate that cannot even buy a scafting( lunch), let alone feed our families.
But I do not want to go into the same old story we hear every day about the standards; I will leave that for now. I want to talk plumber to plumber on a level we all understand. I’ m no varsity degree expert— I’ m a plumber like most of you reading this article— but I believe we need to educate and upskill ourselves, because with the correct knowledge, we can all gain so much from our industry.
I recently had the privilege to attend a SANS programme that went into some finer details on the standards we as plumbers need to work with daily. Believe me when I say you can open a world of opportunities for yourself by understanding the standards. I am sure we all see ourselves as businesspeople and not just plumbers, and by understanding and working with the standards as part of our day to day activities, not only will we not fear the PIRB inspector coming to do an audit on our work, but we will also become respected businesspeople in our industry.
Or, we can look the other way and decide,‘ I have been a plumber for years and I don’ t need to know the standards.’ Well, you might find yourself never fully recovering from the tackle on your livelihood, much like the tackle Derick Hougaard received from Brian Lima in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. And the day will come when a client’ s house is flooded and your work is being questioned by the insurance company:‘ Did your plumber do the work to the required standards? Did your plumber use approved materials?’ Then comes the knockout like a Corrie Sanders left hook and you are left liable for all the damages to the property, even though you believe everything was done perfectly.
Now, you may still believe this can never happen to you. I recently had to try to assist a homeowner who found her house flooded after returning from holiday. Her plumber was a qualified plumber and she had been happy with the plumbing work overall and service she had received before, so much so that she contacted IOPSA and asked that we assist the plumber, since the insurance would not pay out the claim as the work had not been completed to the required standards for the installation.
After having looked at the issue and trying to find an answer from the manufacturers and technical experts, maybe even a possible loophole just to help a plumber in need, I had to concede that I had no way of assisting, as the work had not been done to the required standard with approved materials.
This was a small basic mistake that we have all possibly made in the past, but had the plumber understood the risk and ensured that his work was being done to the required standards, we could have assisted him and the insurance would not have had a leg to stand on— but this was not the case.
If we take the time to understand the SANS standards and use it as a working document daily, we can ensure that our work is covered and we are providing our clients with only the best in plumbing work.
We as plumbers have so much power and influence in our industry, but by not wanting to educate and upskill ourselves, we are leaving our fate in the hands of others. The standards may not always be perfect and the CPD programme may not always be easy, but neither are going to go away. The sooner we accept and use it as a tool in our plumbing arsenal, the sooner we can go from strength to strength. PA
July 2017 Volume 23 I Number 5 www. plumbingafrica. co. za