The official launch of WaterSafe will be the UK’s first all industry national plumbing assurance scheme to set new standards within the UK plumbing sector.
Constituting the first plumbing body of its kind in the UK, WaterSafe is a new dedicated online search feature. The assurance scheme is designed to provide recognition for competent plumbers, this will protect consumers when seeking water supply plumbing work which will contribute to the safety of drinking water supplies for homes and businesses.
The scheme will bring seven existing Approved Contractors’ Schemes operating in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This has approval from all the water companies and key plumbing bodies in the UK.
The scheme will include recognised plumbers which are employed by an approved business on the WaterSafe register and will need to have successfully competed an NVQ Level 2 in Mechanical Engineering Services (plumbing) (6089), as a minimum. They will also need to have a water industry recognised Water Fittings Regulations qualification to ensure that they are competent and have relevant knowledge.
The official launch event took place early last month on Tuesday 8 October at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminister, where key stakeholders within the water and plumbing industry come together to receive a sequence of presentations on the launch of WaterSafe. It included speeches from well known supporters such as Andy Foster, operations and policy director at The Trading Standards Institute.