Plumbing Supply Forum 2010
For the second year in a row, the Powerhouse Museum in Darling Harbour Sydney played host to the Plumbing Supply Forum. Industry professionals including manufacturers, engineers, regulators, politicians and of course plumbers gathered to demonstrate support for their peers and in doing so debate and discuss the issues that most affect the industry.
The Forum addresses issues that are fundamental to the plumbing industry’s future. It provides a networking environment that encourages attendees to meet, discuss and learn from peers within the industry by creating an event that fosters co-operation and communication.
Topics for the day included the effect of the GFC on building and construction, the National Construction Code (NCC), the Federal Opposition’s response to current government regulatory issues and failures, a hot water sector update, regulatory planning, how dry drains affect business, point of sale offences for non-compliant product and related penalties, urine diversion technology, the role of the Plumbing Products Industry Group (PPI) and plumbing in the United States of America.
Seats were difficult to come by, as the industry turned out in spades to listen to what the guest speakers had to say. When Connection Magazines publisher Jeff Patchell opened proceedings, he reminded those in attendance of the importance of coming together for events like this to create unity within the industry.
Following Jeff was the first speaker of the day, Ben Philips the former chief economist for the Housing Industry Association (HIA). Ben began the presentations with a discussion about the effect of the global financial crisis on new housing and renovations. He gave an overview of unemployment rates, which he says have peaked at 5.4%, well down on last year’s forecasts, explained the reliance of Australia’s economy to China, the effect of interest rate hikes on housing affordability (which will worsen in the near future), tax reforms, the tapering off of new home lending since the withdrawal of the first home buyers grant and why housing recovery depends on upgrade buyers and investors.
In a nutshell Ben made the point that Australia is not building enough houses to meet demand, nor is there new stock in the rental market and therefore prices will remain high. As such, renovation activity is sustained and has been buoyed by strong house price growth and positive news on the outlook of the labour market.
David Sharp, speaking as chair of the National Construction Code Working Group, was next at the lectern. His job is to galvanise the industry to accept that the NCC is the best move forward as a nationally consistent approach to on-site building and plumbing regulation.
The objectives of the project are to deliver a National Construction Code for plumbing and resolve the future administration of the WaterMark Certification Scheme.
The Working Group consists of a partnership between the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) and the National Plumbing Regulators Forum (NPRF). It is the ABCB’s job to provide administration and technical support.
The NCC is well represented across the industry and includes Lance Glare of Building Codes Qld, Jeff Clark of SA Water, Graeme Hunt and Alan Humphreys of Building Standards Tasmania, Phil Payne from the WA Plumbers Licensing Board, Charlie Gauci from NSW Fair Trading and Shayne La Combre or the Plumbing Industry Commission Victoria among others.
It is hoped that the launch of the new Code for referencing will occur by 1 May 2011, comprising consolidated BCA provisions. A new IGA, governance and funding arrangements have been slated for June 2011 and complete legislative amendments and all related transitional arrangements to be completed by June 2012. Also by May 2011, it is hoped a new WaterMark administrative model will be in place.
Currently there are three States in Australia (NSW, WA and NT) that do not adopt the Plumbing Code of Australia which was published in 2004 and was marred by variations. The NCC is designed to eliminate these variations and bring all States together. The aim is not to destroy the identity of plumbing, but to unite the industry.
David called for all interested parties and plumbers to make their voice heard in order to address areas of inconsistency and remove overlap where practical and without causing unintended consequences in licensing or certification.
One of the major gripes industry has with the current Federal Government is its lack of consultation with industry. Before morning tea, Jeff presented an interview he conducted with Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage.
Greg explained that when it came to changing legislation regarding construction matters, it was in the Liberal Party’s interest to bring industry in on the discussion and build policy around learned recommendations. He mentioned the need to do this with water and hot water issues and vowed to get to the bottom of problems plaguing the industry at present including WaterMark, gas and electricity scale backs and water saving initiatives that have made no sense and hurt consumers and manufacturers.
It remains to be seen whether there will be a change in government or whether Greg follows through on his word is also up in the air, however, if he is true to his word, industry will be consulted in matters that affect them and should be stronger for the interaction.
After morning tea we saw presentations spanning the hot water sector, regulatory planning and fair trading. Dux sales manager, Simon Terry gave an overview of all that has happened in the hot water sector (from a Dux perspective). He mentioned that high REC prices and additional government rebate support provided strong demand for solar heat pumps.
The rebate was mutually exclusive for solar/heat pump or insulation. You couldn’t get both, however 100,000 houses participated in the scheme and installed a solar hot water system or heat pump. Simon made the point that unlike the botched insulation scheme, only qualified plumbers and electricians were able to provide installations.
Storage electric systems still dominate the sector, however it is estimated that by 2013 the hot water category will even out a little bit with less sales in the storage electric and gas sectors and a rise in solar.
While the industry has been coming to terms with the changes, they are still in shock with rapidly changing rebates. There have been 25 changes since February 2009. Proposed Federal changes will change the market forever, not necessarily in a good way, as banning electric storage will have a vast economic impact. For instance, of the 3.7 million homes with an electric water heater, 46% have no access to natural gas and a further 12% are unlikely to have access to natural gas. This affects regional NSW and Queensland and adds large cost increases for electric off peak use. Simon also stated that as continuous flow is fully imported, it puts Australian manufacturing jobs at risk. Therefore, as new markets unfold, training will become a key to industry sustainability.
As NPRF chair, Shayne La Combre’s presentation was all bout the NPRF’s strategic direction during the past four years and what we can expect looking forward. Key issues for the NPRF include the Plumbing Code of Australia and Plumbing Standards, occupational licensing and registration, harmonisation of plumbing regulation across Australia and New Zealand, plumbing product certification – WaterMark, water and energy efficiency initiatives, innovation in regulation, training and industry practices and projects such as World Plumbing Day.
Shayne gave timelines for the National Occupational Licensing System as well as the NCC, spoke about processes for certification and authorisation, WaterMark and dry drains research.
A lively discussion presented by Michael Cooper and Les Barnard followed. Michael is acting assistant commissioner for Home Building Service at NSW Fair Trade (NSWFT) and Les is manager Plumbing Policy Standards and Regulation at
Sydney Water.
Michael began by explaining how NSWFT regulates those in the construction industry, licensing approximately 176,000 of whom 10% are plumbers. He then went on to describe point-of-sale offences, penalties for companies who commit these offences and penalties for individuals. He also gave a list of gas appliances that must be approved prior to sale.
Strangely, there are no acts of parliament that make it an offence to sell unapproved plumbing appliances, however the Sydney Water Act, Hunter Water Act and Local Government Act make it an offence to use unapproved plumbing appliances.
Approved appliances are those that carry the WaterMark label.
Les went on to explain what constituted a non-compliant plumbing product or installation. He gave two examples: non WaterMarked reflux valve sold in NSW and WaterMarked pan imported and installed in WA. In the case of the NSW product, the product as a whole did not have WaterMark certification, even though the IO fitting that houses the flap valve is WaterMarked. The problem is the manufacturer uses three different IOs. Plumbing contractors purchase the product believing it is certified, however only a small part has been certified. It meant the manufacturer was selling a stormwater product as a watermarked product, when clearly this was not the case.
In the WA case a pan was imported for a mining project. The manufacturer produced WaterMark certificates for the product, however the pans failed to maintain water seal and were not constructed to meet the requirements of AS1172.
Les called for stronger regulation over non-compliant products as Sydney Water only looks at the installation side.
(Pictures of these products can be found at the Plumbing Supply Forum site located at www.plumbingsupplyforum.com.au Just navigate to the relevant presentation link.)
After lunch Steve Cummings gave an update on the dry drains issue, highlighting the industry concerns and implications of flow reductions in sanitary drainline systems. Steve then went through the latest testing that is being undertaken and called for consultation with international groups making similar studies.
The most entertaining of the presentations was Cynthia Mitchell’s. Cynthia is professor of sustainability at UTS. Her take home messages were that to meet our basic food needs, we have to begin the shift to phosphorous recovery and reuse. Urine diverting toilets (UDTs) are one of several feasible paths. For the full UDT story see page of this issue.
David Hagopian flew all the way from the United States to give his presentation. David was a guest of the Australian plumbing industry and the Plumbing Supply Forum and is the director of strategy and technology for the Plumbing Manufacturers Institute (PMI). PMI is the trade association of plumbing products manufacturers and its member companies produce most of the nation’s plumbing products.
The Institute functions as a sounding board for its members, a source for industry and market information, and as a coordinating and decision-making body for dealing with industry issues. It is active in many arenas as it helps develop and maintain Standards and Codes, and works closely with government agencies at all levels – Federal, State and Local.
Membership in PMI is open to manufacturers of plumbing industry products including potable water supply system components, fixture fittings, waste fixture fittings, fixtures, flushing devices, sanitary drainage system components and plumbing appliances, which are marketed and sold within the territorial limits of the NAFTA countries.
According to David, the state of the American economy has had an impact on PMI member companies, which has seen short work weeks and had to introduce layoffs and pay cuts.
David spoke in length about the US economy and its effect on industry. It is currently still bleak, however there is a light at the end of the tunnel as employment and production begins to increase. The housing sector is starting to look stronger as well. David mentioned that in 2012 demand is expected to be 1.9 to 2 million housing units.
Also affecting the plumbing and construction sector are the new lead laws, water efficiency targets and greywater use. PMI supports national legislation to harmonise requirements for lead in plumbing products.
“It is essential that the playing field be fair and level for all manufacturers,” David says.
On PMI’s radar is the WaterSense program, which means they are promoting legislation which offers rebates for the purchase of high efficiency products. (NB: WaterSense is similar to WaterMark.) The PMI is working to promote water efficiency in all areas including consumer behaviour, whole house savings, Codes and Standards and legislation.
The United States have also created the Plumbing Efficiency Research Committee (PERC), which is tasked, among other things, with examining drainline transport and low flow products.
PMI’s strategic objectives are similar to that of the Plumbing Products Industry Group (PPI) in Australia. They are to promote, inform, educate, enhance and advocate. As such, David believes it is necessary that PMI meet its objectives by knowing its market.
“Business success in the US is a function of knowing and meeting needs better than your competition.”
David’s presentation led nicely into Carmel Coate’s, who was there to represent the PPI. Carmel explained the work of the PPI Group whose strategic objectives are similar to PMI: promote the industry, be proactive, promote certification schemes, represent the interests of members and provide a forum for the industry. Carmel gave an overview of where WELS is headed, what is happening with the Managing the Flow project and ongoing frustration for the industry including the lack of WaterMark on certain WELS rated products, the integrity of the Standards Committees, imported products that don’t meet compliance and the lack of feedback from government with regard to complaints made about non-compliant products.
Carmel brought up many issues that affect the plumbing industry and that had been previously discussed during the course of the day. There were many issues discussed and debated on the day and many questions raised and debated, however the day did as was intended and that was to inform the industry of what was going on throughout the various sectors.
The 2010 Plumbing Supply Forum again proved to be a great success for the 120 delegates who attended from around the Australian plumbing sector.
They were treated to unique professional development day that provided an enormous range of relevant information and talented speakers.
We thank everyone who attended or participated in the program.
Our sincere thanks also go to our valued sponsors – Reliance Worldwide – IAPMO – Tradelink, who assisted us in producing the event.
NB: To read all the presentations go to www.plumbingsupplyforum.com.au