DESIGN: DEAR MR PLUMBER
25
Time to upgrade the
plumbing syllabus to 2020
My hope is that IOPSA will focus on plumbing as an excellent
occupation for women and open the doors for them to be
educated and trained for employment as artisan plumbers. It
would be a good time to revisit the entire training syllabus.
By Vollie Brink, Pr Eng
I have had the pleasure of being invited to work
with the working group responsible for the
updating of the Plumber Trade Test (PTT) for
the Department of Higher Education (DHE). This
working group has dwindled from a large number
down to only a few bodies. Perhaps it is because
they are not paid, (however we always have very
good coffee and sandwiches in the morning and a
wonderful meal at lunchtime).
Unfortunately, the people who would benefit most from it
are not there and have disappeared. Nick Joubert and Louis
Kruger among others are the kingpins supporting this good
work (and the Department). I was asked to assist with the
technical and theoretical content to see if we cannot come up
with a profile of a more ‘modern plumber’ who can meet the
demands of higher levels and to fit into a modern workplace.
The work of the plumber is basically construction and/or
maintenance. The Department’s requirement for this final
examination or trade test must only address what is in the
educational syllabus of the plumber, which makes sense.
However, I personally feel that the syllabus is not addressing
the needs of the economy.
Where will 4IR fit into plumbing? How will plumbing adapt to
4IR? Will it become part of training?
When someone becomes a certified plumber, having just
passed the trade test, and walks into the real world, then
I believe he or she may now find that more is expected
from him or her than is contained in just the trade test. For
instance, the qualified engineer, technologist or technician
who has passed their equivalent ‘trade test’, whether it’s a
degree, diploma or certificate, must thereafter work a further
three more, and sometimes five, years, before writing a final
test which they have to pass to become registered as a
professional person. The development path of such a person
can stretch over four or more years before they become
eligible for the registration.
There are some bodies that feel that artisans should similarly
fall under the jurisdiction of the Engineering Council of South
Africa (ECSA) and the Engineering Act, as it is part of the
engineering fraternity. Is it not perhaps timeous to relook at
the plumbers’ system of training, and perhaps have various
grades or statuses of registration after their initial trade test?
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 well-
earned retirement.
This initial level should make the plumber ready to enter the
plumbing workplace, thereafter they may be graded upwards
to a final level and trade test. Would this not perhaps create
more work and varying levels of competence? The registered
engineer, technologist or technician must also re-register
every five years. This is necessary to maintain the status and
competence of the engineering profession.
The present trade test is a ‘once off’ and the plumber is
registered for life with no requirement for reregistering? Is his
knowledge still valid?
There is a saying that ‘old is the enemy of change’. If you
compare the ‘toolbox’ and the theory available to the plumber
of 1920 with that of 2019, there is a vast difference. Can
you imagine what would have happened if there had been
no adaptation, no renewal of knowledge, no advances in
technology – only complete stagnation?
The syllabus must not stagnate – we must try not to fix the
trade test to an outdated syllabus. PA
October 2019 Volume 25 I Number 8
www.plumbingafrica.co.za