BUSINESS AND TRAINING 21
Do not shy away from pointing out shoddy work !
By
Plumermag . com
You ’ re a qualified plumber and are called to a job , and notice work that has previously been done which is not up to standard . What do you do ?
There is a twofold objective here , but the most important is educating the consumer . Now one might say that this is unprofessional , and all the other noble opinions that can come up . Remember , we are not talking about a job that one could have done better in one ’ s own opinion , but one that is not up to standard .
Is pointing this out to the consumer a responsibility , or a case of professional conduct in that one will not comment on another ’ s work ?
If one goes the professional conduct route , one is allowing the consumer to remain ignorant and the plumber who did the job potentially downgrading the trade . It is a fact that work not up to the standards will leave the consumer with a poor opinion of the trade .
By pointing out the poor work , it is not because one wants to make it right yourself ; and make money on the job ( that would be unprofessional ), but to encourage the consumer to request the plumber to bring it up to standard .
An example of a hairy installation was a kitchen sink drain , with no trap , ran down a staircase doubling as a handrail and finally ending up onto the concrete floor near a floor drain – not even into the drain , but near it . There are many stories like this , perhaps not so hectic , but it boils down to the consumer going the low-cost route and shying away from paying real time charges that a qualified plumber may charge .
The second objective is to share this information with the industry , whether it be in print or one of the numbers of social media groups or both . Either way , one is reinforcing that standards exist for a reason , and the inspection role is critical . Now , our building inspectors may only inspect Part P of SANS 10400 , which is drainage , so what happens with the rest ? What about geysers and solar and heat pumps and other items / work that the consumer needs in the home / building ?
Certainly , this is where PIRB comes in and IOPSA can also be part of this should the offender be a member of IOPSA .
Doing both these are part of education in the marketplace and calling out the ‘ not so professional ’ people , giving the trade a bad name .
Bear in mind one is not talking about naming , blaming , and shaming individuals , but using poor installations to enable others to learn and yes , one may well make the installer and others of their ilk , think twice about doing a non-standard installation again . PA
September 2021 Volume 27 I Number 7 www . plumbingafrica . co . za