12
ASSOCIATIONS
12
ASSOCIATIONS
IOPSA celebrates its
30th anniversary
Formed in 1998, IOPSA on 25 August this year
celebrated its 30th anniversary. IOPSA is represented
by three distinct groups, namely plumbers, merchants/
wholesalers and manufacturers. Their concern as a
group is to work together as one in ensuring the best
practice plumbing methods are used, the products
are of a high standard and that plumber members are
suitably trained to perform this task using compliant
products and engineering.
By Rory Macnamara
The Institute exists for the interests of
plumbing and through this the health
and safety of all people of South Africa
as well as preserving the environment
through water conservation and using our
resources efficiently and effectively.
A brief history
Following the universal franchise elections of
1994, the new government made it clear it would
not discuss issues with individuals, be they
companies or people, but only with representative
bodies that would speak on behalf of them all.
Earlier, under the initial leadership of Vollie Brink,
during the 80s, a need was felt to create a home
or an institute for building services. Writing in
IOPSA’s 21st anniversary publication, ‘Celebration
of Plumbing’,Brink noted, “The thought was that
all disciplines be housed in this institute and we
therefore assembled a number of people from
different disciplines within the building services
environment. These included:
• Plumbers
• Civil engineers
• Mechanical engineers
• Architects, and
• Quantity surveyors.”
It was called the Institute of Building Services,
but had a transient lifetime, due to the fact that
most of the leadership of the Institute moved
to other fields of work, resulting in the Institute
being dissolved and funds from it transferred to
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the Institute of Plumbing of South Africa (IOPSA).
Just as many plumbers had felt uncomfortable
with the Institute of Building Services, which
catered for all bodies involved in the design and
construction of buildings, so most engineers felt
uneasy with IOPSA, focused on the plumbing
industry only, and did not find a home with
it. IOPSA’s policy was to not allow individual
membership and it came to be a membership
body for plumbing contractors.
Notwithstanding this inevitable schism, the growth
of IOPSA was phenomenal.
Through the 30 years since, IOPSA has developed
channels of communication to its membership via
a variety of methods: mail, email, publications,
the internet and social media. Initially, the
institute produced its own A5 publication,
Plumbline, which served the essential purpose
of informing members of the activities of the
institute, regulatory changes and so on. In 1994
discussions started with an independent publisher
(which subsequently evolved into the present
publisher of Plumbing Africa, Interact Media
Defined) to produce a publication that would not
only communicate to members but to a wider
readership. This was to position the institute as a
provider of information on all matters plumbing,
as well as encourage readers to join IOPSA and
be part of the body so that together the industry
could speak with a single voice.
Following the dropping of sanctions against
South Africa ahead of democracy, the country
was opened to a flood of imports, few of which
deemed it necessary to comply with SABS
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October 2019 Volume 25 I Number 8