14 ASSOCIATIONS
In conversation with PIRB
By
PIRB
The PIRB ’ s Complaints and Escalations department recently discussed the nature of complaints within the PIRB and how they go on to handle these complaints .
“ I am truly glad we as consumers have the PIRB to assist with noncompliance issues .”
“ The complaints that we can assist with are complaints where the plumber is registered with us and where they issued the homeowner with a Certificate of Compliance ( CoC ),” explains Justiene Botha , Complaints Administrator at the PIRB .
She says that the PIRB focuses on technical compliance issues – and can help homeowners if they notice that the registered plumber did not do their job according to the national standards .
“ Unfortunately , we cannot assist with commercial or monetary complaints like refunds . Or if a homeowner does not like a specific plumber , we have to refer the complainants to the consumer council .”
It sometimes happens that a dispute arises between a homeowner and a plumber about payments and completion of work . This type of disagreements requires the intervention of an ombudsman and the PIRB can unfortunately not assist with such cases .
“ We can assist where there are technical problems with an installation , and we try to solve complaints as quickly as possible . So as soon as we receive a PIRB complaints form , it takes about three to five working days for the complaint to be validated . Once it is validated , then we will allocate an audit if needed .”
Some complaints obviously do not get solved as quickly as others as some situations are more severe than others .
“ Sometimes homeowners are a bit impatient – but we explain to them why things might be a little bit delayed . After a while they always realise it is a win-win situation as the installation will most likely be rectified .”
Justiene particularly references an incident that happened during the national lockdown in South Africa .
It turns out a homeowner called Serena * from Fourways had various complaints about plumbing non-compliances and geysers that were not installed correctly ( which incidentally could lead to fatalities ). According to the complaints form , one geyser almost “ fell through the roof ”.
“ All in all , the incident posed as more of a challenge as it was during the hard-national lockdown . Serena also had her elderly parents staying with her , but she understood that for us to get the plumber to go back and do the refixes – she needed to be patient .”
As the situation was rather urgent , the PIRB arranged for the plumber to go back and do the necessary refixes as quickly as possible .
And in the end the homeowner was incredibly happy with the way in which the situation was dealt with .
“ I am truly glad we as consumers have the PIRB to assist with non-compliance issues ,” the homeowner , Serena later wrote in an email to Justiene . “ I would like to thank you for all your support and assistance . I wish we had more people like you assisting consumers during these difficult times .”
Justiene believes that homeowners have burned their fingers in the past by using non-registered plumbers .
“ The public is definitely more welcoming to the PIRB as they realise we are there to assist them as well .”
To find out more about the PIRB ’ s audit department , please visit our website at : pirb . co . za . PA
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline March 2021 Volume 27 I Number 1