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PLUMBING CONNECTION Summer 2017
TAKING PRIDE IN MY WORK
P
roof that social media does have its benefits, a recent
post on LinkedIn by a plumber suggests that pride in
workmanship is still healthy in the industry.
It was simple enough, a corner of a basement with a hot
water system, some valves, some taps and copper pipework
linking it altogether. It’s clean – no sign of rubble or plaster
and there is no sign of pipes going at weird angles and
everything is accessible.
The work was completed by Nick Rizk of JDR Plumbing in
Sydney, who posted the photo up on the company’s LinkedIn
page, mostly because he was happy with the result. The post
received its fair share of negative responses,- the downside
of social media - but in amongst those were congratulatory
comments acknowledging that it was a job well done.
Here at
Plumbing Connection
we hear a lot of grumbling
about dodgy work practices, non-conforming product and
regulation. To see Nick’s post was a breath of fresh air.
So who is Nick and why such pride in his work?
Nick and his business partner, Leithen formed a company
JDR Plumbing in the past year after contracting since
2016. The company’s philosophy is to provide high levels of
workmanship, attention to detail, use quality products and
above all, develop lasting relationships with clients. Nick
credits this attitude in part to his training as an apprentice,
plus his own desire to do the very best he could.
“When I first started to consider doing an apprenticeship,
it was always going to be in the construction game and I knew
that plumbing would always be in demand,” says Nick.
“The guy who took me on to do the apprenticeship for the
first three years had a huge impact on me, he was still pretty
young himself, but was very much hands-on, in the office and
onsite. He was a terrific mentor on how a business should be
run.”
Broadening his horizons, Nick completed his apprenticeship
with another company before moving on to other facets of the
plumbing industry to gain a greater depth of understanding
about the industry. Amongst that experience was as a plumber
on some of Sydney’s notable Tier 1 projects.
“Doing the Tier 1 projects gave me exposure to the higher
end of construction,” says Nick. “At that level, you don’t see
cut corners and poor quality product. If it costs a little bit
more money, so be it. The client will appreciate it in the long
run.
“Ultimately, we want to be able to set up different divisions
with the company so that we can be involved in landmark
construction projects in Sydney, but develop at a slow and
A post on social media from a plumber showing his work, begs the question – what makes for good
workmanship?
Deborah Andrich
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WORKMANSHIP