ASSOCIATIONS
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Standards. That means that there are potentially around
25 000 illegal or non-compliant installations taking place each
month, with no oversight from any organisation or body.
There are two recognised bodies in the plumbing industry,
the professional body PIRB and the voluntary-membership
organisation IOPSA. However, there is no legal requirement for
plumbers to register with either of these bodies. This simply
means that they have voluntarily chosen to register and to
adhere to a code of conduct. If a member of the public had a
complaint against an unregistered plumber, these bodies would
have no authority to act against the un-registered plumbers.
Unfortunately, with the confusing legislative environment, the
public is left with only one avenue open to them and that is the
courts – a very lengthy and expensive exercise.
The lack of adequate enforcement and confusing legislative
environment has left the proverbial barn door wide open for
un-qualified ‘plumbers’. With little or no enforcement, they can
do installations in any way they want, using any materials they
want, without consequence. The homeowner is none-the-wiser,
they simply want clean water to come out of the tap, hot water
when they need it and the poo to disappear when they flush.
They do not know about the very real dangers associated with
poor or non-compliant installations, until it is too late.
This leaves the qualified plumber trying to compete against
non-compliant installers using non-compliant products. It
simply makes their businesses unsustainable; they cannot
compete and are eventually forced down to the same
level. They stop investing in training for their staff and their
businesses, they stop using permanent employees and
shift to casual laborers, reduce fixed capital investments
and generally start treating plumbing as a way to ‘make a
buck’ and no longer as a vocation. The public perception
of plumbers becomes severely damaged which impacts on
plumbing as a viable career choice. An unsustainable negative
spiral with disastrous consequences for public health and
safety and the country.
The reverse could also be true, a well-legislated industry
with decent enforcement would lead to sustainable growth
for plumbers. With the removal of what is essentially unfair
competition, plumbers would be far more inclined to invest in
their staff and their businesses, pride would be restored, and
employment opportunities created. This is not a fairy tale or
wishful thinking, there are stark differences between countries
which are well regulated versus those that are not. In countries
such as Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada, and
many others, this is the reality. What seems like a fairy tale to
us is as natural as taking a breath for them. In other words,
a well-regulated environment will lead directly to investment,
employment opportunities and economic growth, all while
protecting public health and our precious water resources.
The answer
So, what do we need to do to achieve this? Honestly, it is not
as difficult as it may seem:
• Firstly, we already have most of the required legislation,
we simply need to clarify it and put it into a single set
of meaningful and understandable regulations which
covers the plumbing industry.
• Secondly, we already have a professional body for
plumbers, which should be given similar recognition,
responsibilities, and powers as other professional
bodies. It should be a requirement for all plumbers
to register with this body and to abide by the rules.
The professional body should be given the right and
responsibility to act against those who transgress.
• Lastly, there is already a proven system in place to
inspect or audit plumbers’ workmanship through the
professional body, this system needs to be expanded to
include all plumbers.
The building blocks are already there it is now up to us to put
them together in a way that makes sense to everyone.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO): “Plumbers
are the most important frontline health workers around the
globe.” This statement only holds true for professionally
trained and qualified plumbers, done incorrectly by unqualified
‘plumbers’ it could have the opposite effect on public
health. We need a clear set of rules that everyone complies
to and, as a community, recognise the value of professionally
trained and qualified plumbers or face the dire health
consequences that will follow. PA
“Fortunately,
we have good
and wellmaintained
installation
and product
National
Standards
(SANS) but
for them to
be effective
they need
the support
of clear
legislation.”
September 2020 Volume 26 I Number 07
www.plumbingafrica.co.za