SANITARY PLUMBING IN SUBURBS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 179, 29 July 1913, Page 7

SANITARY PLUMBING IN SUBURBS.

(To tDe Editor.) a Sir.—l crave a little of your valuable g space in answer to your correspondent * signing himself '•'Plumber." The so-called unqualified inspector appointed by the suburban bodies in moat caees has a great many duties to perform, and .probably he has to act as foreman of wc'rks, traffic inspector, turncock, etc., etc., and is by no iceans paid to stand by and watch that the qualified plumber carries out hU dutiee. Bat speaking of plumbers as I have found them, this course is absolutely necessary under the present conditions. The trouble is that most plumbing work is let by contract, and accepted by a qualified plumber at a cut price. He then engages an unqualified plumbor and an apprentice to do this work, well knowing that the price will not permit good sanitary work being done. Then the inspector comes along, and condemns the whole of the work, and reports to the body represented by him, with the result that this qualified plumber seeks protection under the wings of the plumbers' associations, and they squeal and kick and will raise heaven and earth to have this inspector choked, killed, or sacked for carrying out hU duties. The said inepector has his character and ability ripped and torn by this so-called qualified plumber association, with the result that the inspector will tolerate any fair plumbing without reporting same, and do this to retain his position, and not because he is unqualified, no fear. Result: Qualified plumber puts in long eink wastes without traps, prides himself on having scored a point, and considers himself a gentleman of some importance because he holds a certificate presented by the board of the plumbers' registration. Ha, ha. Now, Mr. Plumber, if a qualified plumber had the appointment under a suburban body, and was placed in the same position ac the inspector who he condemns so harshly, and were asked to give an estimate for tarring and sanding his district or a price to kerb and channel one side of any named street, what would his answer be? He would probably be dispensed with, and he would then learn that good footpaths and roads are just as important to guard against accidents as house plumbing is to prevent smallpox. Now, Mr. Plumber, what we want is a proper scale of charges, drafted by the Board of Registered Plumbers, and made absolutely universal, say, with a seven-mile radius of the city. If thia matter had your attention there could be no cut prices, and qualified or unqualified inspectors could assist and insist on this price being maintained and each house having its proper attention re sanitation.—l am, efcc - UNQUALIFIED.