26
FEATURE
Instead , we put a couple of questions to industry bodies and two merchants just to obtain an overview , and allowed the matrix to speak for itself when it came to manufacturers / suppliers .
We approached two official bodies representing manufacturers and two plumbing merchant groups to get a feel for the state of the pipes and fittings market . As regards any noticeable trend in pipe choice , the feeling was not any noticeable shift . ( This excludes pipe that is required in the compulsory standards .)
The issue of price has seen great movement , the CDAA remarked , “ The copper price has increased dramatically over the last year which has an effect on the selling price .” SAPPMA commented , “ Polymer prices , and particularly PVC , had massive increases . By way of illustration , the SAPPMA index for PVC increased from 109 April 2020 to 201 April 2021 .”
One merchant put it directly , “ There have been significant price increases over the last year .”
All agreed that supply of raw material was an issue both locally and internationally . Merchants were comfortable that they had managed their stocks well enough through this period but added that there has been a “ dramatic impact in both supply and pricing since Covid -19 .”
The question was put to all about any increase in complaints on pipe quality during this period and the response was a clear no regarding their members and merchants maintain their usual suppliers , so no change beyond the normal complaints which are few . The question was important in that a few non-compliant manufacturers are around . One even claiming they have a SABS test report to a specific standard . Not , under any circumstances , anywhere near obtaining the Mark .
Our final question was what should technical publications , like Plumbing Africa , be doing to add to the ongoing education of all professionals and trades in our industry ?
• CDAA – “ The SABS standards should be finalised , reinforced , and advertised .”
• SAPPMA – “ Adopt the long-term view rather than the shortterm gain – cannot be over-emphasised .”
• ON TAP – “ Do not substitute quality for price . The end user needs to be educated about the importance of what is going into the ground .”
Standards * - why do we have them ? Correctly stated , standards are a set of rules that outline specifications of dimensions , design of operations , materials , and performance , or describe quality of materials , products , or systems . These standards should cover the performance expectations for applications , as well as , in the case of drinking water contact , the chemicals that may be leached from the product into the water . The intent of standards is to provide at least – minimum quality , safety , and performance for particular applications . They reduce the risk of error by installers and provide assurance to the plumbing system owner . Standards also provide direction to the manufacturers in respect to the expectations of the products they produce .
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline September 2021 Volume 27 I Number 7