The Hindu Business Line : Plumbing in the depths

Plumbing and sanitary installations are a key part of construction but are neglected in India, says Mr Sudhakaran Nair, President of the Indian Plumbing Association (IPA). Water and sanitation facilities need to improve to safeguard human health. Access to clean potable water and safe sanitary facilities should logically be considered as basic human rights, he says

In the US, a plumber has to complete a seven-year course to take up plumbing as a profession. However, the story is different in India, he says. .

Mr Nair says, the provisions of the National Building Code in India are only recommendatory and not mandatory except for those dealing with areas like electrical and fire fighting installations. IPA aims to spread awareness that plumbing should not be treated as just another building service because of its impact on health and safety.

Not more than 10 per cent of the plumbing works in the Indian building industry are carried out by the organised sector consisting of skilled plumbing designers and installers. The remaining 90 per cent is carried out by people with no formal education.

The plumbing standards we follow today are that of the British system which is over six decades old, says Mr Nair, who is also the Executive Board Member of the World Plumbing Council.

The real-estate industry in India was estimated at Rs 64,000 crore in 2007. Assuming that the real-estate sector represents 50 per cent of the total construction activities in the country, the total value of construction works was to the tune of Rs 1,28,000 crore.

However the share of plumbing works in the construction cost was only five to 15 per cent. The Indian Plumbing Association has entered into a partnership with the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) of the US, an 80-year-old organisation in development and publishing of plumbing and mechanical codes.

The IPA has also undertaken two missions for the plumbing industry in India — publication of Uniform Plumbing Code-India (UPC-I) and launch of Plumbing Education to Employment Programme (PEEP).UPC-I is based on uniform plumbing code published by IAPMO . Like the UPC, UPC-I was also prepared through a process of consensus. A code committee of the best known plumbing experts from India was formed to edit and modify the provisions to suit Indian conditions. Free copies of UPC-I are being distributed to government bodies and educational institutions dealing with the subject. UPC-I will be revised and updated every three years to incorporate the latest advances in technology across the world, says Mr Nair. A team of experts appointed by IAPMO is formulating the syllabus and training materials to be tailored for India for the PEEP. The documents will be shortly presented for review to IPA’s expert committee.

After ratification, IPA and IAPMO hope to launch PEEP by May next year in partnership with educational and vocational training institutions. PEEP will offer structured courses namely Plumbing Design Engineer, Plumbing Construction Manager/Supervisor and Plumbing Installer/repairer.

Besides, IPA’s training and education arm, the Indian Institute of Plumbing, has established a plumbing laboratory within the campus of College of Engineering Pune, which offers live demonstrations of correct and incorrect plumbing systems.

The Association conducts two conferences each year across the country alongside exhibitions of plumbing products and systems by manufacturers from India and abroad.

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