Commercial Plumbing

Plumber

Residential plumber at work.
Occupation
Occupation type	Vocational
Activity sectors	Construction
Description
Education required	Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Apprenticeship
Related jobs	Carpenter, electrician

A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, hot-water production, sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.^[1][2]

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The origin of the word "plumber" dates from the Roman Empire.^[3][4] Roman roofs used lead in conduits and drain pipes^[5] and some were also covered with lead; lead was also used for piping and for making baths.^[6] The Latin for lead is plumbum. In medieval times, anyone who worked with lead was referred to as a plumber; this can be seen from an extract about workmen fixing a roof in Westminster Palace; they were referred to as plumbers: "To Gilbert de Westminster, plumber, working about the roof of the pantry of the little hall, covering it with lead, and about various defects in the roof of the little hall".^[7]

Years of training and/or experience are needed to become a skilled plumber; some jurisdictions also require that plumbers be licensed.

Common plumbing tasks and skills include:

• Reading drawings and specifications, to determine the layout of water supply, waste, and venting systems
• Detecting faults in plumbing appliances and systems, and correctly diagnosing their causes
• Installing, repairing and maintaining domestic, commercial, and industrial plumbing fixtures and systems
• Locating and marking positions for pipe connections, passage holes, and fixtures in walls and floors
• Measuring, cutting, bending, and threading pipes using hand and power tools or machines
• Joining pipes and fittings together using soldering techniques, compression fittings, threaded fittings, solvent weld, crimp and push-fit fittings.
• Testing pipes for leaks using air or water pressure gauges
• Paying attention, in all work undertaken, to legal regulations and safety issues
• Ensuring that all safety standards and building regulations are met.

Plumbing work is defined in the Australian Standards (AS3500) Regulations 2013 and refers to any operation, work or process in connection with installation, removal, demolition, replacement, alteration, maintenance or repair to the system of pipes and fixtures that conveys clean water into and liquid waste out of a building.

To become a licensed plumber a four year apprenticeship and a Certificate III in Plumbing is required. As part of this course, instruction in the basics of gas fitting will be undertaken. Upon completion, these basics in gas fitting will allow the plumber to not only apply for their plumbing license but also an interim gas license, and carry out gas work under the supervision of a fully qualified gas fitter.

To obtain a full gas license from the Department of Mines and Energy, the plumber will need to have worked on an interim gas license for a minimum period of twelve months and successfully completed a Certificate IV in Plumbing.

In Canada, licensing requirements differ by province; however, the provinces have pooled resources to develop an Interprovincial Program Guide that developed and now maintains apprenticeship training standards across all provinces. The Red Seal Program, formally known as the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program, is a program that sets common standards to assess the skills of tradespeople across Canada.^[8] The Red Seal, when affixed to a provincial or territorial trade certificate, indicates that a tradesperson has demonstrated the knowledge required for the national standard in that trade.

Plumbing is not regulated in Colombia, so anyone can provide this service. Plumbers usually learn the trade because their families work in the construction industry, and they specialize in this field, but anyone can legally offer plumbing services. The most popular training institution for trades is SENA, a public school that provides high-quality education, though it is not mandatory.

In Ireland, a four-year apprenticeship plus qualification exam was necessary for someone to practice professionally. Accreditation of businesses is of great help in order to show their credibility and experience in the job.

National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) remained the main form of plumbing qualification until they were superseded in 2008 by the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF)^[9] and then again, in 2015, into the National qualifications frameworks in the United Kingdom. The terms NVQ and SVQ (Scottish Vocational Qualification) are still widely used.^[10]

Plumbers in the United Kingdom are required to pass Level 2 and Level 3 vocational requirements of the City and Guilds of London Institute. There are several regulatory bodies in the United Kingdom providing accredited plumbing qualifications, including City and Guilds of London Institute and Pearson PLC.^[11]

Each state and locality may have its own licensing and taxing schemes for plumbers. Some states license journeymen and master plumbers separately, while others license only master plumbers. To become licensed, plumbers must meet standards for training and experience, and in most cases, pass a certification exam.^[12] There is no federal law establishing licenses for plumbers.^[13]

There are many types of dangers to a plumber. These include electric shock, strains and sprains, cuts and lacerations, bruises and contusions, fractures, burns and scalds, foreign bodies in the eye, and hernias.^[14] Working at height or in confined spaces, or working with lead and asbestos are all on-site dangers that plumbers can face.^[15]

Plumbers risk infections^[16] when dealing with human waste while repairing sewage systems. Microbes can be excreted in the faecal matter or vomit of the sufferer onto the toilet or sewage pipes. Human waste can contain infectious diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, ascariasis, and schistosomiasis.

The term "White House Plumbers" was a popular name given to the covert White House Special Investigations Unit established on July 24, 1971, during the presidency of Richard Nixon. Their job was to plug intelligence "leaks" in the U.S. Government relating to the Vietnam War (i.e. the Pentagon Papers); hence the term "plumbers".^[17]

• Pipefitter
• Piping

Look up Pipe, pipe, or pipes in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to:

• Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules
  • Piping, the use of pipes in industry
• Smoking pipe
  • Tobacco pipe
• Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ramps for performing skateboarding/snowboarding tricks
• Piping (sewing), tubular ornamental fabric sewn around the edge of a garment
• For the musical instruments, see below

• Pipe (instrument), a traditional perforated wind instrument
• Bagpipe, a class of musical instrument, aerophones using enclosed reeds
  • Pipes and drums or pipe bands, composed of musicians who play the Scottish and Irish bagpipes
• Organ pipe, one of the tuned resonators that produces the main sound of a pipe organ
• Pan pipes, see Pan flute, an ancient musical instrument based on the principle of the stopped pipe
• Piped music, or elevator music, a type of background music
• "Pipe", by Christie Front Drive from Christie Front Drive, 1994

• Pipeline (Unix)
• Anonymous pipe and named pipe, a one-way communication channel used for inter-process communication
• "PHY Interface for PCI Express" (PIPE), the name of a specification for the PCI Express physical layer
• Yahoo! Pipes
• sspipes.scr, a screensaver for Microsoft Windows
• PIPE Networks, an Australian company primarily involved in setting up peering exchanges

• Pipe (casting), a type of metal-casting defect
• Boatswain's pipe, an instrument used for signalling or to issue commands on a warship
• PIPES, a common buffer used in chemistry and biology laboratory work
• Pipe (car), a Belgian automobile manufacturer

• Pipe, Wisconsin, United States
• Pipe, the Hungarian name for Pipea village, NadeÈ™ Commune, MureÈ™ County, Romania

• Jules Pipe CBE, Mayor of the London Borough of Hackney, UK
• Pipes (surname)

• Vertical bar, sometimes called "pipe", the character |
• Pipe (letter), the IPA letter for a dental click
• Pipe (unit) or butt, a cask measurement for wine barrels
• Volcanic pipe, a deep, narrow cone of solidified magma
• PIPE deal or private investment in public equity
• Pipes, a slang term for arm muscles
• The Pipes, a 1966 Czech film
• "Pipes", an episode of The Good Doctor
• Monotropa uniflora, a plant also known as ghost pipe or Indian pipe

• Pipeline (disambiguation)
• Piper (disambiguation)
• Pipette, used in chemistry and biology laboratory work

• Piping bags or pastry bags, in cooking, are used to pipe semi-solid foods onto other foods (e.g., icing on a cake)
• Postpipe, archaeological remains of a timber in a posthole
• All pages with titles beginning with Pipe
• All pages with titles containing Pipe

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