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PLUMBING CONNECTION
SPRING 2015
WHEREFORE ART THOUWATERMARK?
P
roducts such as bath tubs and
shower bases are no longer
scrutinised as well as they used
to be for their on-going compliance
with Australian Standards.
Products that are covered under
the WMCS are those which have been
deemed as having a higher associated
risk in terms of maintaining the
integrity of our potable water supply,
and the safe and effective removal of
waste water. The WMCS also exists to
ensure products are manufactured to
meet minimum quality requirements
in Australian Standards so they are fit
for purpose once installed. Products
which are, and are not, covered by
the WaterMark scheme are listed and
can be easily found on the Australian
Building Codes Board (ABCB)
website by navigating through to the
WaterMark section.
While there are valid reasons for
having products now deregulated from
the WMCS, their departure from the
scheme has also created some unusual
side effects. One problem created
actually speaks of the robustness
of the WaterMark scheme. There
are plumbers who don’t realise that
products such as baths or shower
bases are not covered, as they have
been removed from the mandatory
certification scheme. The scheme
works so well for products it covers
that plumbers can easily let their
guard down on products which they
were unaware had lost that level of
protection. It is worth noting that while
baths or shower bases are deregulated,
the waste outlets (integral or non-
integral) fitted to these products must
be WaterMark certified.
The unfortunate result is that
unknowing plumbers sometimes
end up the ones having to face the
misdirected wrath of consumers who
have, and often at no fault of their own,
purchased a sub-standard product.
As bath tubs and shower bases
are two products now exempt from
WaterMark, they often fly under the
radar as they are not seen as products
which pose much threat to the
community from a health perspective.
Although this is true, they are also
two products which often create the
largest re-work cost due to product
failure. There are horror stories of
home owners having to rebuild entire
bathrooms only weeks old after faulty
built-in fixtures (such as baths and
shower bases) required removal, and
matching tiles to complete the repairs
were then unable to be re-sourced.
Baths and shower bases are
susceptible to failures from triggers
like thermal shock, impact, chemical
and UV exposure just to name a few.
Recent times have also seen these
PLUMBING PRODUCTS IN AUSTRALIA ARE WELL-KNOWN TO HAVE HIGH STANDARDS COURTESY OF THE
MANDATORY WATERMARK CERTIFICATION SCHEME (WMCS). HOWEVER, WHAT IS NOT AS WELL-KNOWN IS THE
NUMBER OF PRODUCTS INTEGRAL TO OUR PLUMBING NETWORK WHICH LACK THIS PROTECTIVE BLANKET.
TERRY
NGUYEN
EXPLAINS.
PROVE STANDARDS
WITHOUT A STRUCTURED CERTIFICATION SCHEME,
INFERIOR PRODUCTS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO
REACH OUR MARKET THROUGH MULTIPLE AVENUES.
Bath tubs and shower bases are two products now exempt from WaterMark.