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Kindly elaborate on your plans to launch Plumbing Education to Employment Programmes (PEEP) in tandem with educational and vocational training institutes?
PEEP will include academic and certification courses and the basis of education will be UPC-I. Clearly structured courses such as Plumbing Systems Design, Plumbing Construction Management and Plumbing Technology Programme will be launched.
Like the publication of UPC-I, implementation of PEEP also will be through collaboration between IPA and the US-based International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), an eighty year old, globally recognised organisation. IAPMO and IPA are members of the World Plumbing Council (WPC).
The IPA-IAPMO partnership will launch PEEP through existing colleges, polytechnics and industrial training institutes several of whom have shown interest. The target for launch is May-June 2009 when new semesters start in our institutions.
How do you plan to leverage PEEP with your Indian Institute of Plumbing that also focuses on education and training?
Indian Institute of Plumbing (IIP) is a charitable trust formed by IPA as our training and education arm. IIP will represent IPA in implementation of PEEP. IIP had conducted some Professional Development Courses in Pune and assisted the College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) to prepare a curriculum for plumbing as an optional subject for graduate students of civil engineering.
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To what extent has IPA been successful in educating the industry on the need for safe plumbing? What has been the role played by technology?
Fifteen years of relentless efforts by IPA has created awareness in construction industry. Even till ten years ago, only a few reputed hotel and hospital groups employed plumbing consultants and contractors.
Few from the real estate business sought professionals to do their plumbing works. Skyscrapers were built with masons and casual labourers doing the plumbing works. Plumbing was ‘recognised’ only when troubles started.
All these have changed to some extent now. The irony is that just anyone can go and start a plumbing company as no licensing system is in place.
There is a new realisation of bright prospects in virgin territory and people with little or no education or experience have joined the bandwagon. New technologies have emerged in the plumbing profession as well. Slowly but surely, our domestic industry has started adopting them.
How do you assess the role and efficacy of global bodies like the IAPMO and the World Plumbing Council in ensuring the global competitiveness of the Indian plumbing industry?
The mission of WPC is to ‘unite the World Plumbing Industry to safequard and protect the environment and health of nations for the benefit of all’. From its inception in 1990, WPC has been able to propagate the cause of good plumbing across the globe.
With its global reach, WPC’s work has been beneficial to India. IPA’s collaboration with IAPMO for example, was facilitated due to the forum provided by WPC.
With financial contributions from its member organisations including the IPA, WPC has been able to arrange secondment of a plumbing expert to work with WHO. Benefits of such work will obviously reach across the globe through the WHO network.
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