It is important for the Plumbing Industry Registration Board to support both the consumer and the plumber within the plumbing industry, to ensure a safe and healthy environment. The Consumer Protection Act ascertains for the promotion of a fair, accessible, and sustainable marketplace for consumer products and services. In addition, the Act makes provision for improved standards of consumer information to prohibit unfair business practices. The PIRB’s Complaints Procedure creates a platform for consumers to raise concerns in cases of incorrect plumbing installations, which in turn gives an opportunity for those concerns/complaints to be addressed in a professional manner. This process should only begin once every attempt has been made to resolve the matter with the plumber who completed the work/installation. For the PIRB to address consumer grievances, the following ought to be considered:

• Complaints are registered only on receipt of a completed complaints form. Consumers are urged to fully complete the complaints form with as much detail as possible and to attach all supporting documents.

 

• To enable PIRB to implement its Complaints Procedure, the complainant must be willing and able to submit relevant evidence supporting the complaint.

 

• It is important to note that PIRB assists in facilitating a resolution between the complainant and the plumber. Ultimately, the plumber remains responsible for fixing any non-compliant plumbing work if such non-compliance is confirmed.

 

• If the complaint is received within the first six months of the initial plumbing work, the PIRB can authorize an audit depending on the merits of the complaint. Once the audit report is completed, the PIRB will engage with the responsible plumber about potential refixes.

 

• Should the complaint be received more than 6 months and less than 3 years after the initial plumbing work, the PIRB can only compile an audit report that the complainant may use if they wish to take further action in accordance with the CPA.
• For work done more than 3 years prior a motivation may be submitted to the PIRB to justify evaluation of the complaint. Such requests will be evaluated based on the merits of the motivation.
• All the communication between the plumber, the consumer and the PIRB is kept confidential. In addition, it is required that consent is given by the homeowner before any form of investigation is conducted.

For the purpose of resolving matters in a timeous manner, the PIRB requires the consumer to contact the plumber directly to resolve the matter before involving a third party (i.e. the PIRB). Should a matter not be resolved directly, then complainants are invited to formally register their complaint by completing the Complaints Form, which may be requested from the PIRB via email from pirb@pirb.co.za On receipt and validation of the completed complaints form, the PIRB will inform the plumber of the complaint and offer the plumber an opportunity to comment on the contents outlined in the complaint. In the case where the complaint is valid and requires further action, a compliance auditor may be allocated to inspect the installation. For installations that were done less than 6 months prior to the complaint, a PIRB audit report will be provided to the responsible plumber to attend to the non-compliances as noted on the audit report. If the plumber fails to rectify any non-compliance, disciplinary action will be taken against the plumber. The complainant will be provided with a report listing all outstanding non-compliances. Compliance of a plumbing installation is verified against the requirements of the applicable South African National Standards and local bylaws. All decisions, regarding the application and interpretation of PIRB’s Complaints Procedure, rest with the PIRB. The PIRB is committed to ensuring a satisfactory outcome for parties involved, and as such, there is a need to address complaints in a just, consistent, and methodical manner. The length of this process is dependent on the nature of the case which means resolution times vary on a case-by-case basis. For further information, please contact the PIRB on 0861 747 275 or email pirb@pirb.co.za.

The homeowner is responsible. Your responsibility as a professional plumber is to draw attention to the pre-existing non-compliance and the risk associated with it.

First and foremost, all notifications of non-compliance are a requirement of both the Consumer Protection Act and the mandatory standards. Not issuing the notice means you are falling foul of the regulations and further you will be issued with a rectification notice by the PIRB. Secondly, in the case of any future liability, you may be held jointly and severally liable for claims resulting from the installation.

Your duty as a professional plumber is to notify the homeowner of non-compliance. It is the responsibility of the homeowner to rectify the non-compliance. If the homeowner wishes for you to quote on the rectifying of the non-compliance and make use of your services, you are free to do so. You are not precluded from doing this in any way. We do however caution you that the notification and quoting should be done before any work been undertaken as this will most likely lead to a dispute if done after.

A rectification notice is a notice that may be given by an auditor after an audit has taken place. The rectification notice will denote any particular findings of the relevant plumbing works. The notice may outline the failures and the rectifications required by yourself.

In the case of newly built installation undertaken by yourself, there should never be any non-compliance, and therefore no non-compliance notice should have to be issued. In the case where you are working on a pre-existing installation, the actual work undertaken by yourself must be complaint and as part of meeting that compliance requirement, you must notify the homeowner in writing of any non-compliance. Also Read: <<Frequently indicated non-compliance notices>>

The rectification must be corrected within five working days, however, if a request is made to the auditor with valid reason and/or proof, extensions can be provided.

If a plumber does not complete the remedial action concerning the rectification notice or provide substantiated reasons as to why the rectification was not undertaken, disciplinary action will be taken against the plumber, which may lead to suspension of registration with the PIRB.  To safeguard the homeowner the PIRB may also need to provide the homeowner with the findings, and they may choose to take legal action against the plumber.

Certainly, yes. The Auditors themselves are also audited to ensure consistency, fairness, and transparency.

An auditor may not engage with or attract work from your customer resulting from the PIRB audit process. If you find that an auditor has done this, please inform PIRB immediately so that it may be investigated and if required, the necessary corrective action will be taken.