05/11/2018
Mr. Daniel Hill (left), CEO, Hill Mechanical with one of his plumbers getting preparing for a job site
I recently visited and spent time with Hill Mechanical in Metro Atlanta in the USA. This is Metropolitan Atlanta’s Premier plumbing, heating, and cooling contractor who is experienced in multi-family, commercial, industrial, and residential applications. I gained valuable business and operational experience that I hope we can transfer to our operations here in Kenya that will impact our industry. In a series of articles, I would like to highlight the major differences between plumbing in America and how we practice here in Kenya. Most importantly what we can borrow and adopt.
A plumbing or sanitation code is a set of rules and regulations imposed by different countries. In the United States, the codes are set by cities, counties or states. In Kenya, we operate under the British standards or EN standards whereas in the USA they operate under American National Standards (ANS). We also typically use BSP (British Standard Pipe) while Americans run on NPT (National Pipe Thread). Basically the codes regulate everything from pipe dimensions, installations of fixtures mechanisms, pressure standards and so on.
I noticed the plumbing industry in the US is very sensitive about the spread of diseases. They like to say that “plumbers have saved more lives in the last century than doctors have!” The fact is that disease control has always been a joint effort accomplished by many parties, including: plumbers, doctors, public health officials, mechanical engineering consultants, contractors, water utilities inspectors and we can all play our role by increasing this sensitivity.
In the US, sanitation codes dictate work done on drinking supply water systems and sewer or toilet facilities systems for homes, offices, factories, schools and hospitals. Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and adequate treatment and disposal of human waste. Human waste has been implicated in the transmission of many infectious diseases including cholera, typhoid, infectious hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, and ascariasis. They codes guide anyone are responsible for work in these systems to avoid accidents and spread of disease.
Make it a great week!
