24 DESIGN : DEAR PLUMBERS

By D . S .( Vollie ) Brink Pr . Eng . MSAICE . MPMISA .

Vollie Brink is one of the industry ’ s longest-serving wet services engineers . He continues to serve on SABS committees and has been involved in the Green Building Council ’ s Green Star rating system . Brink continues to consult for various organisations while enjoying a wellearned retirement .

This month , we look at how the engineer , technologist and technician never stop learning and so too the plumber also never stops learning .

I work mainly as mentor and trainer to prepare young engineers for professional registration . This mentoring period begins after they have obtained their degree or diploma , and takes about a minimum of 4 to 5 or more years . the design process and perhaps I must let you have a copy of it someday .

The work of the Wet Services Engineer is multifaceted and perhaps the following will give you an idea of what it contains .

During this period , the engineer must work through a course that consists of ‘ 11 outcomes ’ and it is very important because the engineer will have to submit his / her application based on these 11 outcomes and be interviewed by other very senior engineers .

These 11 outcomes are extremely valuable for the engineer and extremely relevant .

Once the engineer has been registered the engineer must re-register every five years and prove that he / she has attended several continuing learning courses for CPD points per year ( 1 point is an 8-hour lecture ).

In the first instance , this person must be an engineer , a civil or a mechanical engineer and professionally registered .

“ The most important element of communication is that it must always be on record , verbal communication must always be followed by confirmation in writing .”

These courses are expensive and range from around R4 000 per course and up to R8 000 and more .

The engineer must also pay various yearly membership fees which make it expensive for the engineer to practice .

One of the outcomes is on ‘ communication ’, which is a critical element of engineering and it covers from the design , specifications , drawings , quality control , financial control to management and many more .

The appointment of the engineer is mostly in terms of the Professional Client / Customer Service Agreement ( PROCSA ) contract which specifies the design process and deliverables and the sequence to follow .

The work of the Wet Services Engineer is also addressed in the PROCSA document and worthwhile for the plumber to read .

Design is a ‘ process ’ and there are multiple milestones in this process to comply with . I have created a document on

And other relevant competencies which relate to the water services of a building which are the hot- and cold-water system , the sanitary drainage system , and the rainwater / storm water system and the fire water system .

In the case of industrial buildings this engineer must also be competent to design the water and drainage systems and gas and compressed air systems and the steam generation and reticulation system .

If an engineer is not competent in any of the abovementioned engineering work , then he or she must refrain from accepting such work as the engineer ’ s code of conduct does not allow it .

A Pr . Eng . registered engineer is not allowed to sign for the design of the wet services if he or she is not personally competent to design wet services . ( See the definition of the competent person in SANS 10400 .)

Communication ranges from the design drawings to all the formal legal , technical , and institutional documentation and the

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