The plumbing trade has come a long way in the last century and a quarter.
Manufacturing standards, along with plumbing codes and licensing, have made
American plumbing systems some of the most advanced in the world.
At the same time, there are many who believe that in some ways the industry has
regressed in recent decades. Unprecedented growth in building construction has
coincided with a shortage of skilled plumbers. In the rush to accommodate business
interests, regulations have been weakened or winked at. A growing tendency is to
use apprentices or semi-skilled workers to do many of the tasks that used to be
performed by fully trained journeymen plumbers.
Concurrently, a do-it-yourself (DIY) craze has arisen among homeowners, for
economic reasons or simply self-satisfaction. This trend has given birth to some of
the world’s largest retail stores that specialize in selling construction materials to
non-trade customers.
This has not been good for the plumbing craft and its allied businesses in the trade
channel of distribution. One also could argue that it has not been good for society
as a whole. Evidence of shoddy plumbing abounds.
These trends make professionalism in the plumbing trade as important today as it
was in the 1800s. As with its NAMP forerunner a century and a quarter ago, PHCC
stands at the forefront of efforts to maintain and strengthen professionalism in
plumbing and allied trades.
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Excerpted from:
The Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association Celebrates 125 Years