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PLUMBING CONNECTION
AUTUMN 2015
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
A
s we farewell 2014 and look forward to a new
year in New Zealand, we are looking forward to
unprecedented growth in the construction industry in
our major cities with Auckland and Christchurch starting to
show signs of major projects which will, in some instances,
take two to three years to complete.
As constructors bring these projects out of the ground,
we are facing a lack of resources to accommodate the
plumbing, gasfitting and drainlaying portions of these
projects. It is worrying that compromises will not only be
made in design but in the way services are delivered too.
Part of the pressure on our manpower and materials
is coming from the fact that construction has been on a
rapid rise after three or four quiet years – not only from the
commercial side but from residential builds as well.
Migration is at an all time high too. Kiwis who are
renowned for their travelling and overseas expeditions,
are returning as job prospects and general prosperity
has increased. There has also been a marked decline in
Kiwi’s wanting to reside in Australia as news filters back
that, at the time of writing, the Australian economy is not
performing as well as ours.
It is perhaps the residential market where you see
compromise taking place on a day to day basis. The
availability of flexible pipe systems allows for less skill and
a lessening of the standards. Where you once saw pipe work
installed in tramlines, parallel piped with bends and elbows
that ensured the installation had a professional edge, is now
a thing of the past.
I have recently been on a building site where the pipe work
resembled a spaghetti layout. No logic had been applied to
how the plumbing system had been installed and although
it may have worked it didn’t appear to have any trade
knowledge or logic in its installation.
This was borne out when the pipe was accidentally
penetrated during the project later in the contract as other
trades had no idea where they could safely screw and fix
their appliances. Unfortunately, this aspect also seems to
be creeping into the gasfitting industry, where the lack of
knowledge and shortcuts being taken are creating a hazard
to health and safety as well as a risk to property.
The technological advancement of these products is
amazing but they do have to be used in an appropriate
manner. If pipe work requires UV protection it actually does
need UV protection and should not be installed without.
Installers must be given adequate training and it is
interesting to see that our skills organisations within New
Zealand are putting together new parameters for training
and the initiatives are to ensure the trainees have not only a
grounding in basic plumbing, gasfitting and drainlaying but
are fully trained in new product development.
This gives me confidence in our industry and I am looking
forward to seeing the new prescription for training taking
effect and the new products being introduced into our
industry used in the appropriate manner.
There is no doubt that these products are easier and
faster to use. Due to their ease of installation they don’t
require shortcuts either and I am hopeful this will alleviate
some of the resource shortages we are facing without
compromising the quality of installations required to enable
us to still be world leaders in plumbing, gasfitting and
drainlaying.
PETER JACKSON
DISCUSSES THE UPRISE OF THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN NEW ZEALAND AND HOW THE
SUDDEN INCREASE HAS CREATED A SHORTAGE IN MANPOWER AND MATERIALS.
H20 Design
www.h20design.co.nzDESIGN TIME
PETER JACKSON