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Plumber

Residential plumber at work
Occupation
Occupation type	Vocational
Activity sectors	Construction
Description
Education required	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

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Trap" plumbing – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In plumbing, a trap is a U-shaped portion of pipe designed to trap liquid or gas to prevent unwanted flow; most notably sewer gases from entering buildings while allowing waste materials to pass through. In oil refineries, traps are used to prevent hydrocarbons and other dangerous gases and chemical fumes from escaping through drains. In heating systems, the same feature is used to prevent thermo-siphoning which would allow heat to escape to locations where it is not wanted. Similarly, some pressure gauges are connected to systems using U bends to maintain a local gas while the system uses liquid. For decorative effect, they can be disguised as complete loops of pipe, creating more than one U for added efficacy.

In domestic applications, traps are typically U, S, Q, or J-shaped pipe located below or within a plumbing fixture. An S-shaped trap is also known as an S-bend. It was invented by Alexander Cumming in 1775 but became known as the U-bend following the introduction of the U-shaped trap by Thomas Crapper in 1880. The U-bend could not jam, so, unlike the S-bend, it did not need an overflow. In the United States, traps are commonly referred to as P-traps, as an elbow and horizontal run of pipe on the outlet side of a U-bend creates a (horizontal) P-like shape. It is also referred to as a sink trap because it is installed under most sinks.

Because of its shape, the trap retains some water after the fixture's use. This water creates an air seal that prevents sewer gas from passing from the drain pipes back into the building. Essentially all plumbing fixtures including sinks, bathtubs, and showers must be equipped with either an internal or external trap. Toilets almost always have an internal trap.

Because it is a localized low-point in the plumbing, sink traps also tend to capture small and heavy objects (such as jewellery or coins) accidentally dropped down the sink. Traps also tend to collect hair, sand, food waste and other debris and limit the size of objects that enter the plumbing system, thereby catching oversized objects. For all of these reasons, most traps may be disassembled for cleaning or provide a cleanout feature.

Where a volume of water may be rapidly discharged through the trap, a vertical vented pipe called a standpipe may be attached to the trap to prevent the disruption of the seal in other nearby traps.^[1] The most common use of standpipes in houses is for clothes washing machines, which rapidly dispense a large volume of wastewater while draining the wash and rinse cycles.^[2]

In chemical engineering applications, a trap may be known as a lute.^[3]

An S-shaped trap is also known as an S-bend. It was invented by Alexander Cumming in 1775 but became known as the U-bend following the introduction of the U-shaped trap by Thomas Crapper in 1880. The new U-bend could not jam, so, unlike the S-bend, it did not need an overflow.

Once invented, despite being simple and reasonably reliable, widespread use was slow coming. In Britain, the requirement to use traps was introduced only after the Great Stink in London, in the summer of 1858, when the objectionable smell of the River Thames, which was effectively an open sewer, affected the nearby Houses of Parliament. That motivated the legislators to authorise the construction of a modern sewerage system in the city, of which the S-bend was an essential component. As of 2017^[update], only about two-thirds of the world population have access to traps,^{[citation needed]} in spite of the evidence that good sewage systems significantly improve economic productivity in places that employ them.^[4]

Maintaining the water seal is critical to trap operation; traps might dry out, and poor venting can suction or blow water out of the traps. This is usually avoided by venting the drain pipes downstream of the trap; by being vented to the atmosphere outside the building, the drain lines never operate at a pressure much higher or lower than atmospheric pressure. In the United States, plumbing codes usually provide strict limitations on how far a trap may be located from the nearest vent stack.

When a vent cannot be provided, an air admittance valve may be used instead. These devices avoid negative pressure in the drain pipe by venting room air into the drain pipe (behind the trap). A "Chicago Loop" is another alternative.

When a trap is installed on a fixture that is not routinely used—such as a floor drain—the eventual evaporation of the water in the trap must be considered. In these cases, a trap primer may be installed; these are devices that automatically recharge traps with water to maintain their water seals.

In some regions of the US, "S" traps are no longer accepted by the building codes as unvented S-traps tend to siphon dry. It may be possible to determine whether a household uses an S- or U-bend by the presence of an overflow pipe outlet.^{[clarification needed]} What is required instead is a P-trap with proper venting. Certain drum-styled traps are also discouraged or banned.^[5]

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