Design: Dear Mr Plumber
21
Cutting corners
I woke up in the middle of the night and realised that the engineer is at the mercy of the plumber in terms of income. My reason for saying this is that the fee of the engineer is based on the tendered amount of the plumbing, if it had not been agreed to be based on time and cost.
By
Vollie Brink, Pr Eng
The problem for the engineer is that in some cases the plumber undercuts his or her costs to win the tender— sometimes it is even below the real cost. This then puts the engineer in a difficult financial position.
Perhaps I must tell you a true story to demonstrate what I am telling you.
The engineer was asked to design the water services for a new block of‘ apartments’ in an upmarket area. You must understand that an apartment is for rich people, whereas we as poor people live in flats, so the services are also supposed to be upmarket. The developer had been doing houses, but this was to be his first block of‘ apartments’.
The developer only wanted the design input, as he had a project manager who would be doing the project management and supervision, and even the procurement of the materials, with limited input from the engineer— and only when required.
From the start, many things went wrong, but the engineer was not consulted in an attempt“ to save money”. The things that went wrong included that the developer had appointed a‘ plumber’ with no qualifications and no financial resources.
This‘ plumber’ was going to do the job for less than the cost of the materials. This‘ plumber’ was appointed very late in the game when the construction had already progressed considerably, so the plumber started late as a result.
The plumber ignored the design drawings and where a pipe diameter was shown to be 50mm, he just used a 15mm diameter pipe. And so it went on and on.
All the systems had been designed complete, but the hot water system, water tanks, and pumps were left to the last moment and then completely changed.
The water pipes, including the hot water pipes, were bundled together— literally in a bundle— without insulation and placed on the roof, exposed to the rain and the weather.
SANS 10242-1, SANS 10400-XA, and SANS 10106 were totally ignored as if it does not exist. The engineer had to withdraw from the project, as he was unable to sign off the work; however, when he drove past the project some time later, people were happily moving into their‘ apartments’.
The question is, how did the developer get a CoC from the council?
We sit around the tables at the SABS and spend many hours and hours developing appropriate standards and there are compulsory regulations to comply with, but then the authorities do not apply it.
The plumbers took many years to upgrade their standards and registration and they eventually have IOPSA and the PIRB, but‘ apartments’ are being‘ plumbed’ by unregistered, incompetent persons— why is that? Why is it still allowed?
After 64 years of working, I expect that we have moved forward, but it seems as if we move one step forward and 10 steps back.
On another project, it was found that the references and specifications were also ignored and all the hot water piping were not insulated with the required compulsory type that has an R = 1 insulation value. This hot water generation system also does not render 60˚C and the system does not comply with the specifications. I could go on and on, but perhaps you will think that I am just whining so I will stop here.
These are some of the stories that have come to my attention, and I believe that one must not only learn from your own problems but also from those of other people.
Vollie Brink
Vollie Brink is one of the industry’ s longest serving wet service engineers. He continues to serve on SABS committees and has been involved in the Green Building Council Star rating system. Brink continues to consult for various organisations while enjoying a well-earned retirement.
It is critical to follow the design of the designer carefully, comply with the compulsory performance requirements, follow the institutional requirements, and stay within the law.
If you disagree with the designer, discuss it, and come to an agreement. Allow the designer to revise the design if necessary, because ultimately, he must sign the completion certificate and you must sign off your work and guarantee it for many years to come— and so is the engineer responsible for a long period.
Always remember that everything you do has a potential legal implication.
There is a well-known proverb that says, let the cobbler stick to his last, which means that you should not perform work for which you are not qualified— and this is relevant for you and me. PA
www. plumbingafrica. co. za May 2017 Volume 23 I Number 3