Illegal plumbers could cost you dearly

HIGHWAY residents may end up having to flush thousands of rands down the drain should they have hired unregistered plumbers.

In an interview, chairman of the Master Plumbers Association eThekwini, Mike Randall, revealed there are roughly 50 unregistered plumbers currently working in the area.

“As a vital service industry the professional trade of plumbing is slowly deteriorating into a jack of all trades master of none scenario, providing an illegal measure of service, but, sadly excludes the expertise required by the consumer at large.

“These jack of all trades operating as legitimate plumbers have little or no qualifications, some have no idea what they are doing, are not registered, or qualified, or have no title to operate/function as a legitimate professional business enterprise as is required by local and national government,” said Randall.

Every plumber is required to be Metro Water registered and must have completed an Apprenticeship/Learnership and a trade test, followed by an aptitude test with Metro Water before being issued with a Responsible Plumbers number and a Contractors License number. Certification and receipt of both numbers are required in order for the plumbing contractor to issue a valid Certificate of Compliance.

Randall, who has been in the trade for more than 40 years, said that most of the plumbers who are unregistered are able to work at a cheaper rate, and usually work on a cash only basis, as they:

* Do not have a legitimate Trade Test qualification

* Do not have a Metro Water Responsible Plumbers/Contractors number or license

* Are not registered with SARS or UIF,

* Do not have their installations inspected or passed by Metro Water (above ground) or a building inspector (below ground)

* Do not have public liability insurance

* Are not registered with the Department of Labour or Man Power with regards to workmen’s compensation insurance

Should a home owner hire an unregistered plumber and should an incident occur where the plumber, or one of his employees, is hurt or involved in a fatal accident, the home owner may be held liable.

“Should a body corporate hire an unregistered plumber, and if something happens in one of the homes, such as a geyser bursting, they may also personally be held liable for damages,” said Randall.

He noted that in May this year there were only 149 registered plumbers working in the whole of the eThekwini area.

“Plumbing is not just about fitting pipes together, plumbing theory plays a major role in an installation. We have had many unhappy clients needing to have their installations redone because of bad plumbing.

“We are talking about public health, inadequate or badly constructed sewer systems and water loss. Geysers in ceiling may explode, pipes that burst, and the costly repairs that will need to be done to rectify the problems that may arise,” said Randall,

Many registered plumbers are planning to leave the country as they seek out greener pastures mainly due to being unable to afford to compete with the unabated influx of unregistered plumbers/fitters in the area.

According to another plumber who has been in the industry for 27 years, but did not wish to be named, his business has decreased by more than 50 per cent in the last five years.

“If we don’t do something about it now, the quality of workmanship is going to decline. We just want these plumbers to go and register themselves,” he said.

As a newly formed NGO, the Master Plumbers Association Ethekwini – Outer West are willing to help Trade Test Qualified Plumbers who are not yet registered yet and are seeking information on how to become a legitimate practice, contact Mike on 082 327 3081 or 031 767 0073 or Tony 0721113383.