Plumbing Connection Summer 2017

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3 4 PLUMBING CONNECTION Summer 2017
FOUR PILLARS OF PLUMBING
FRAMEWORK
T he World Plumbing Council
(WPC) describes the Four
Pillars of Plumbing as the
frameworks of plumbing industries in
four dimensions:
∫ Participation: primarily the training
requirements to work in the industry
∫ Practices: standards and
accountability in day-to-day work in
the industry
∫ Products: features and quality of the
materials, fittings and appliances
used in plumbing work
∫ Protection: measures to minimise
risks and provide redress when
failures occur.
The first step for this initiative is
simple. The WPC is asking for a clear
description of the training requirements
to participate in the plumbing industry
in your country or jurisdiction. The
WPC has a guideline for producing the
descriptions but will be happy to receive
a description in any form.
The second step is
optional but should
also be simple for
many stakeholders
in plumbing
industries. The
WPC asks you
to state any
changes you want
regarding training
requirements
for your plumbing
industry and to
note any evidence or
arguments supporting your
wanted changes.
In other words, the first step asks you
to give a straight factual picture of the
current training requirements for your
plumbing industry, the second step asks
you to state what you think the training
requirements should be and why.
Through these two steps, the aim is
to create a storehouse of per-country
or per-jurisdiction case studies
concerning training requirements to
participate in plumbing industries.
After we have gained a collection
of case studies for the Participation
(training-requirements) ‘Pillar’, we
will repeat the process to obtain case
studies for the other three Pillars.
The WPC held its first Four Pillars of
Plumbing Forum, focused on training
requirements, on 19 October 2017 in
Abu Dhabi, in conjunction with the 2017
WorldSkills Competition. The initial
phase of the Four Pillars program will
culminate in the next World Plumbing
Conference in September 2019, in
Melbourne Australia. The theme for the
Conference is: What’s the best way to
build a plumbing industry?
Plumbing industries can get ideas for
improving their industry frameworks by
learning about the features
of frameworks in other
jurisdictions. We
can jointly gather
evidence and
arguments
that support
establishing
– and in some
cases defending
- strong
frameworks for
plumbing industries.
WPC Members,
and other organisations
that contribute case
studies, will be able to draw on this
unique storehouse of knowledge. WPC
Members will also be able to obtain
tailored information from the WPC
Secretariat drawn from analysis of the
case studies.
The WPC does not think there is
a one-size-fits-all ‘best’ plumbing
industry framework. The economic,
institutional and cultural environments
of plumbing industries, and the scopes
of plumbing industries, are too varied
globally for there to be one ideal
framework. But we do think better
frameworks bring better outcomes,
with the outcomes ranging from better
availability of clean water and efficient
sanitation services to better prosperity
of plumbing businesses and better
growth of strong plumbing industries.
If you are willing to help this initiative,
whether by contributing a case study
for one or more of the Pillars or some
other means, please contact the World
Plumbing Council on secretariat@
.
The World Plumbing Council wants strong industry frameworks for plumbing industries, and believe
it can be achieved from plumbing industries learning from each other. The president, Shayne La
Combre asks for your help.
WORLD PLUMBING COUNCIL
Shayne La Combre asks for the
plumbing industry to contribute to the
Four Pillars of Plumbing