Local plumbers assist Benevolent Park
Benevolent Park recently benefited by a whopping R60 000 worth of donations by local, IOP(SA) registered plumbers and their suppliers on World Plumbing Day.
Bad plumbing is often the cause of waterborne illnesses that cause many a death across the globe. While Mossel Bay has excellent water reticulation facilities, bad plumbing in residential homes can still place residents at risk.
This year local plumbers who are members of the Institute of Plumbers of South Africa celebrated World Plumbing Day by attending to plumbing problems at the Benevolent Park Home for the Aged in Tarka, where they assisted the residents free of charge with several problems they experienced.
World Plumbing Day is celebrated in the Southern Cape to create an awareness among consumers that life is a non negotiable - so why should the adequate maintenance of the plumbing of your residence be negotiable.
Why to use certified plumbers
“Too often plumbing companies are branded as being too expensive, but other professionals such as doctors, architects and lawyers are equally expensive.
“However, when you need to consult one of the latter you would go out of your way to establish the practitioner with the best reputation and consult with that person no matter the cost, as your life may depend on their expertise.
“These practitioners are expensive because they operate from a specific premises, they have to pay insurances, staff, regulatory organisation fees, to name but a few. They also have to complete Continuous Professional Development (CPD) interventions annually in order to renew their respective accreditation and or licences.
“Plumbers, in fact, are required to do exactly the same. The only difference is that they always have to travel to their clients in order to deliver their service, which is even an added expense and risk compared to some of the other professionals mentioned,” says Marius van Wyk, the treasurer of IOP(SA) Southern Cape.
The consumer has the choice to make use of a plumbing company registered with IOP(SA), which employs licenced plumbers registered with the Plumbing Industrial Registration Board (PIRB).
The PIRB does annual renewal of their licences for plumbing, solar installations and heat pump installations after proof that the compulsory CPD training throughout the year was completed. This CPD training ensures that plumbers are continuously upskilled in the latest standards and regulations pertaining to plumbing.
Why Benevolent Park?
For the past four years IOP(SA) Southern Cape celebrated World Plumbing Day by using their skills to help the less fortunate residents in the greater Mossel Bay.
“This year we noted the Executive Mayor of Mossel Bay, Mr Harry Levendal’s dedicated focus when he said
2018 is the year of Benevolent
Park. Subsequently the management of Southern
Cape IOP(SA) did an investigation into the plumbing needs that may exist. “With the help of sponsors and registered IOP(SA) Southern Cape plumbers who gave of their time, expertise, equipment and spares willingly and freely, we replaced 130 taps, fixed a number of leaking taps, leaking toilets and blocked drains. The monetary value of the day’s donations was a whopping R60 000,” Van Wyk said.
While Ben Botha from Cachet (tap headparts), Timothy Juries from LIXIL (Cobra Taps), Herman van der Poel from ISCA (taps), Junade Sheik SSM (braided hoses), Petrisna Lohr-Mietzner from On Tap Mossel Bay and Jacques Bruwer from Plumblink in Mossel Bay kindly donated various plumbing parts, only a number of the sponsors could attend the World Plumbing Day commemoration onsite to see what relief their donations had brought to the many people of a very deserving institution.
Mayor Levendal paid an impromptu visit to the plumbers while they were hard at work at Benevolent Park and profusely thanked them for choosing the old age facility for this year’s outreach.
Alderman Levendal thanked the participating plumbers, saying it is with the help of such business people that Mossel Bay will always grow in stature. “You have today made a marked difference in the lives of a small, marginalised community, you have put yourselves in their shoes and chose to make their lives somewhat better. I thank you.” “In addition to the materials, our dedicated IOP(SA) Mossel Bay Plumbers have sponsored five hours of their companies’ time to do all the installations,” Van Wyk said. He thanked the participating plumbers, Dawie du Plessis of Wings Plumbing (Chairman IOPSASC), Clive Parsons of Parsons Plumbing (Vice Chairman IOPSASC), Max Griffiths of Black Hammer Industries (Training IOPSASC), Marius van Wyk of Stefmar Construction & Plumbing (treasurer IOPSASC) and Jacques Bruwer (IOPSASC co-ordinator George/ Knysna). “Our member companies, Dup du Plessis of Crest Plumbing, Johan Stadler of Ocean Select, Danie Botha of Plum-Rite and Hanno Pretorius of Power Plumbing also deserve a hearty thanks,” Van Wyk added.