SA Affordable Housing March - April 2020 // ISSUE: 81

FEATURE For the recipient of the COC, this is also beneficial as they can be assured of safe and compliant plumbing work.” Last year a new product labelling system was launched by IOPSA and PIRB with Strauss as its executive director, SA Watermark. This voluntary register provides plumbers and other trades with a list which verifies a product’s compliance whether at store or prior to purchase by scanning its barcode. The private sector has - and indeed should - become more involved in certification, which culminated in the establishment of SA Watermark as an alternative avenue of certification based on SANS standards. However, plumbers struggle to differentiate the new certification marks. Today there are any number of testing bodies and accreditation facilities including SAPCS, SABS, IAS, Omega, Bureau Veritas, AENOR, Agrément, SATAS, as well as SA Watermark and JASWIC. Some of these do both testing and certification, including SAPCS, SABS, and AENOR do certification, the others do only testing. THE STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS SANS 10400 – The National Building Regulations (NBR) Part P Drainage, and Part A – the application of the NBR – every consumer installation must comply with SANS 10252, water supply and drainage for buildings et al, and SANS 10254 – installation, maintenance, replacement and repair of fixed water heating systems, or any other similar… SANS 10252 consists of two parts: (reference above comment from NRCS) • Water supply installations for buildings • Drainage installations for buildings Consumer Protection Act • Section 40 – Right to fair and honest dealing – Unconscionable conduct (non-compliance for example) • Section 55 – Consumer’s rights to safe, good quality goods. Sub section (d) “Comply with any applicable standards set under the Standards Act, 1993 (Act no 29 of 1993), or any other public regulation” • Section 58 – Warning concerning fact and nature of risks Vollie Brink, a veteran design engineer of 65 years, says: “It seems that so many people still do not understand the institutional hierarchy of the NBR Act, which is so easy to understand, and which are as follows: • The NBR Act • NBR regulations: there are only a limited number of regulations for each part of the NBR. These regulations are compulsory and the only part that is compulsory. These regulations are in the annexures • Deem-to-satisfy rules: these rules are not compulsory, unless the owner decides to follow the deem-to-satisfy rules through the designer • SABS standards: these standards are grouped into some deemed-to-satisfy rules and the ‘you shall’ non- negotiable regulations.” WHAT ARE THE CORRECT STANDARDS IN TERMS OF VENTS? The answer in this case can also be found in SANS10400-P. The following are some important aspects that relate to the DTSR: • There must be a 100mm-diameter open vent pipe at the highest, furthest point of the drainage system of a building • All branch drains longer than 6m shall have a vent pipe of at least 50mm in diameter. This is a minimum requirement • The vent pipes shall rise beyond the roof and above all windows as detailed in SANS10400-P • It is very important that a vent valve shall also be situated above the window and above the roof • A two-way valve shall not be installed inside a building WHY IS THE QUALITY OF MATERIALS IMPORTANT? The basis of the NBR is health and safety, and quality directly relates to health and safety. It also relates to longevity (lifespan and durability) and it also relates to operation, maintenance and costs. Inferior quality of materials can be dangerous and require more costly maintenance and may be a health threat. Low- quality piping has caused serious technical problems, costly replacements, and expansive water wastage. The SABS standards for materials and many other international standards are for good quality, safe, and economic installations. When it comes to the installation and management of drainage, it is crucial to consider not only the obvious health risks, but when using products of a lower quality that do not last, the risk of human contact becomes greater, which leads to greater probability of health issues. This includes the risk of leaks contaminating potable water supply or boreholes, which not only affects a single point but can harm entire communities. Better quality, or best quality, is important for a long- lasting system. The general lifespan of a commercial building is between 20 and 25 years and the quality of piping, fixtures, and equipment must be able to last for this period. Updated standard development requires piping to last as long as 50 years. WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH NEWER TECHNOLOGY LIKE Herman Strauss, executive director of SA Watermark. 24 MARCH - APRIL 2020 Vollie Brink, a veteran design engineer. SAAffordHousing NO-FLOW OR LOW-FLOW DEVICES? These types of fixtures are still not officially approved and saaffordablehousingmag SA Affordable Housing www.saaffordablehousing.co.za

SA Affordable Housing March - April 2020 // ISSUE: 81 | Page 26