PlumbMate

Legislation you work under

Your employer — and you — have to work within a set of laws that govern the employment relationship. The ones named in this unit are:

• The Equality Act 2010 — a single legal framework for tackling disadvantage and discrimination, implemented by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). From October 2010 it replaced most of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
• The Employment Relations Act 2003 — gives you an itemised pay statement, the National Minimum Wage, terms and conditions in writing, protection against unfair dismissal, and the right to a written contract of employment.
• The Data Protection Act 1998 — gives everyone the right to know what information is held about them, and sets rules for handling it properly.
• The Freedom of Information Act 2000 — lets you ask any public body what information it holds on a subject. They normally have a month to reply.

Regulations

Plumbing is one of the most regulated trades in building services, and failing to comply often ends in prosecution. Three sets of regulations matter most:

• the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations
• the Gas (Installation and Use) Regulations
• the Building Regulations

British Standards and approved codes of practice

These are not enforceable. They are recommendations that set out how to achieve the minimum standard the regulations demand — follow them and the regulations will be seen to be satisfied. Regulations and standards often cross-refer to one another, and one regulation may point at several British Standards.

Manufacturers’ guidance — and why it comes first

Installation, servicing and user instructions are the most important documents you will have in front of you when you are working on an appliance. They tell you, in plain installation language, what has to be done for the equipment to work correctly and safely.

Ignore the manufacturer’s instructions and three things follow: the warranty is void, the installation may be dangerous, and you may be breaking the regulations without realising it.

The paperwork that runs a site

• Time sheet — completed weekly by each operative, or sometimes by the trade foreman. It records hours worked and a description of the jobs done. Employers use it to calculate wages and to inform future estimates, which is why it has to be filled in accurately.
• Delivery note — also called a delivery advice note. Lists the type and amount of materials delivered. Check it against what has actually arrived and only sign it if the two match. Keep a copy.
• Job specification — describes the installation being quoted for, including the materials and appliances it contains. It may name a particular manufacturer or British Standard.
• Working drawings — the plans, elevations and details, accurately scaled and fully dimensioned, that the contractor prices and builds from.
• Work programme — establishes start and finish dates, shows the order of operations, sets out the labour and plant needed, and lets progress be monitored. On a large site this is the document you check to find when your first fix begins. It is also known as a Gantt chart.

Policy documents

• Health and safety file — held by the client, and a legal requirement of the CDM Regulations. It identifies the key risks on site and holds the operating and maintenance manuals for the building and everything installed in it.
• Customer care policy — also called a customer service charter. Sets the standard of service the company promises: response times to enquiries and call-outs, reliability and punctuality, courtesy towards the customer, and how compliments and complaints are recorded and reviewed. It exists so that every employee behaves in the same way rather than each doing as they see fit.
• Environmental policy — a written statement of intent to prevent, reduce or remove harmful effects on the environment. Delivered through an Environmental Management System. Writing one is currently voluntary in the UK.

Company policies you are expected to follow

• Behaviour — customers expect respect, efficiency and a professional attitude towards both the work and themselves.
• Timekeeping — customers will not tolerate lateness unless it is unavoidable. If you are going to be late, tell them at the earliest opportunity; do not simply turn up late.
• Dress code — a uniform presents a professional image the customer comes to recognise, and is expected to be kept in reasonable order.
• Contract of employment — a mutual agreement between employer and employee setting out agreed hours, rate of pay and holiday entitlement. It is made the moment an offer of employment is accepted.

In a company large enough to have one, all of this — contracts, pay, disputes — is handled by the human resources department. In a small firm the owner deals with it directly.

Limits to your personal authority

The higher your qualification, the more responsibility you are given.

• Apprentice — very little responsibility for the installation itself, and under constant supervision. Still fully responsible for the company image through timekeeping, appearance and customer care. The main job is learning the trade.
• NVQ Level 2 — installs non-complex hot and cold water, domestic sanitation and basic central heating pipework, working under their own initiative with some supervision. This is the minimum to be considered a qualified plumber. An intermediate apprenticeship framework leads to Level 2.
• NVQ Level 3 — runs their own jobs and works without supervision, and takes responsibility for hot and cold water and heating installations. May also be gas qualified and on the company’s Gas Safe registration. Unvented hot water is a separate ticket — the Level 3 on its own does not cover it.
• Plumbing supervisor — many years of experience, at least a Level 3 and sometimes a Level 5 such as an HNC, with overall responsibility for the operatives and installations under them.

A site meeting is the formal method of on-site communication for this: a group meeting held periodically so that progress, problems and changes are raised and recorded rather than passed on word of mouth.