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Development of a Plumbing Assurance Scheme

Article for Institute of Water 2011 Conference Review

At the Conference, delegates will hear much about maintaining the achievements made in drinking water quality and in protecting public health. And the water industry in the UK has a record to be proud of. Drinking water quality compliance, measured at the customers’ taps has consistently been above 99.9%.

Delegates will also be aware of the ‘water safety plan’ approach now adopted by the water companies across the UK. This risk assessment and risk management approach is intended to cover the protection of customers’ water supplies from source to tap. But does it actually do this? Water companies are responsible for a chain of assets from source intakes through treatment works, pumping stations, trunk mains, service reservoirs and distribution networks down to service pipes. But that is where their responsibility stops – at the boundary of the customer’s property. Their ‘accountability’ for maintaining water quality continues though into the property to the tap(s) used for drawing water. This is encompassed in the Drinking Water Directive and in national regulations. But water companies do not own or maintain pipework inside customers’ properties, so how can they ensure the high quality of water they produce is actually received by the customer? This is where other regulations – the water fittings regulations (Byelaws in Scotland) come in. In England and Wales the 1991 Water Act gives the water undertakers the obligation to enforce these regulations.

However much plumbing work can be done without reference to the water company. Customers therefore have to rely on the competence of any person they employ for the ‘correctness’ and compliance of plumbing work done in their property. That person can have a direct impact on the safety of the drinking water received by the customer or the safety of their hot water system.

There are though a number of trade bodies representing plumbing businesses and there is the chartered institute, the CIPHE, for individuals. All these organisations have competency requirements and set business or professional standards. Water companies have also set up schemes to promote competent plumbers, Severn Trent has its ‘Watermark’ scheme; Anglian Water its ‘A Plus’ scheme and Thames its ‘TAPS’ scheme. Other companies are members of the WRAS run WIAPS (Water Industry Approved Plumber Scheme).

However most customers are totally confused by the proliferation of different acronyms for plumbing schemes. And national promotion of the approved contractors’ schemes has not been possible because of there being seven different organisations running them across different parts of the UK.

It is not easy then for a member of the public to recognise a good (i.e. competent) plumber or to know what to look for. This is reflected in the comments we have had back from consumer organisations, e.g. “anecdotally we know that consumers are confused about trade association membership and accreditation bodies…” (Which?)

Of greater concern though is that water companies are reporting more bad plumbing practice and increasing non-compliance with the regulations. Serious backflow risks are now being found installed from new. The recent experience in Northampton with water re-use systems that led to contamination of household drinking supplies emphasised the need for better competency by installers and the need for greater awareness from customers of the risks from poor or untrained plumbers.

To tackle these two related issues WRAS and Water UK engaged Policy Consulting Network to work with them and develop a new approach to ensure the safety of drinking water supplies and protection of consumers. The objective was to develop a national plumbing assurance scheme that will

  • Promote consumer awareness of the need for a competent plumber
  • Provide consumer recognition for designated competent plumbing businesses
  • Provide assurance of competency and compliance (with the regulations) to consumers
  • Raise awareness of and reduce the number of above ground drainage misconnections

The drainage issue was included as that is becoming an increasing problem for water companies and the Environment Agency and it is an issue that plumbers can have direct influence over.

WRAS and Water UK have now had two Roundtables with stakeholders to discuss and develop the proposed Plumbing Assurance Scheme. The stakeholders have included the plumbing institute and associations (CIPHE, APHC, SNIPEF, and JIB), Defra, DWI, CCWater, the water companies and the Society of Public Health Engineers. To be fair, before the first Roundtable in January a number of the plumbing bodies were sceptical. Following further discussion during early 2011 with all stakeholders and with a range of consumer bodies – Consumer Focus, Which? ‘Buy with Confidence’, Trustmark and OFT, a follow up Roundtable was held on 13 April with a more detailed proposal and approach. This won a broad and high level of support from all stakeholders.

Around the same time the Chair of WRAS, Stephen Kay, presented the proposal to the Water UK Board and won approval from the water company chief executives to progress the Scheme and provide support and promotion once it is launched.

An interim Board will now develop the strategy and programme. It is the intention that the Plumbing Assurance Scheme will have a nationally recognised brand – the working title is “WaterSafe” - and will register businesses that meet the criteria of the existing WRAS approved contractor schemes. These businesses would then be “"WaterSafe Assured” and their competent plumbers, with the appropriate qualifications would carry the “"WaterSafe" card. The scheme would be promoted nationally through e.g. Yellow Pages and by the water companies, both through their own customer communications and web sites. In the longer term, with successful promotion and branding, customers will expect and ask for a "WaterSafe" plumber, just as they do a “Gas Safe” installer.

There is more work to do but the launch of the Plumbing Assurance Scheme is planned for 2012.

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Phill Mills

Policy Consulting Network

Abbreviations

CIPHE - Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering

APHC – Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors

SNIPEF - Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation

JIB – Joint Industry Board (for Plumbing, Heating, Mechanical Engineering Services)

WRAS – Water Regulations Advisory Scheme

The author would like to thank Stephen Kay and Steve Tuckwell at WRAS and Jim Marshall at Water UK for their permission to produce this article