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PLUMBING CONNECTION
AUTUMN 2015
COPPER COMEBACK
T
he Australian building industry is changing as the
focus shifts from single houses to apartment blocks
and large infrastructure buildings. That’s putting a lot
more focus on plumbing systems that can handle all those
heights and homes.
That’s been good news for copper as alternate systems
like plastics have struggled to handle the complexities of
multi-residential buildings and high-rise buildings.
Apart from the system pressures generated by high rises,
the special installation requirements for alternate products
either haven’t been well communicated to plumbers or
there’s limited training options out there. In fact many
plumbers have to rely on their existing knowledge that may
not always be applicable for these alternate products.
For example current commercial building designs provide
little room for service ducts for pipe work and limited post
construction access, but copper’s compact nature and ease
of installation means that’s not been a stretch.
Some alternate products have severely limited life
expectancies when exposed to hot water temperatures
greater than 70°C and cannot be exposed to direct sunlight
or ultraviolet light. That’s also not a problem for copper.
The fact that plastic pipes need increased support with
bracketing up to 3 times greater than metallic piping is
another market opportunity that’s opened up for copper.
Expansion and contraction is a major issue in hot water lines
with plastic pipes expanding significantly (up to 10 times)
more than metallic pipes.
The growth in solar heated hot water is now a major
source of heated water throughout Australia and only
copper or stainless steel pipes are approved for connecting
the solar collector and storage container. This is due to
the potential extremely high temperatures (up to 120°C)
that can be generated in the solar cells. Similarly when
connecting to electric or gas water heaters, metallic pipes,
primarily copper, must be used between the isolation valve
and the inlet to a water heater or within 1 m of the outlet of a
water heater. (See AS/NZS 3500.4)
SMART, SIMPLE & SWIFT
Over the past decade the Australian copper industry has
introduced the Press-Fit joining system that’s been another
major reason for the resurgence of copper plumbing.
Press-fit has been used in Europe and the USA for more
than 30 years. This flame free connection system is fast
and easy to use providing a high quality joint guaranteed
up to 1,600kPa for hot and cold water. One of the major
advantages of Press-Fit is that each supplier’s product
can be used with any WaterMark compliant copper tube
and most have the ability to use one type of pressing tool
irrespective of the brand of Press-Fit fitting being used.
There are now a number of brands of Press-Fit fittings
that are fully certified and WaterMark approved for most
sizes of copper tubes. Although the use of press-fit is being
taught to the current apprentices, experienced plumbers
need to ensure they follow the following hints and always
refer to the relevant products installation manual prior to
use.
John Fennell. CEO, International Copper Association
Australia.
A RAPIDLY CHANGING BUILDING MARKET AND SMARTER PRODUCTS ARE GIVING COPPER PLUMBING A WHOLE NEW
SHINE SAYS
JOHN FENNELL.
A shift from single houses to apratment blocks has seen
more demand for copper as plastic systems don’t match up.
COPPER CONNECTION
JOHN FENNELL