Plumbing Africa March 2018 | Page 7

NEWS PIRB board update The new board of the Plumbing Industry Registration Board (PIRB) is all set to build on the current objectives of the regulatory body for plumbers and industry stakeholders. In August 2017, the new board of the PIRB was voted in after a nomination committee, headed up by Rory Macnamara of Interact Media Defined, engaged in a process to assist with the nomination of the best candidates for the relevant board positions. The current chairperson, Lea Smith, who has been a member of the board since its inception and has occupied the position for the past four years, says the next meeting is scheduled for March this year, when the process of electing a new chairperson will be carried out. Smith explains that the board meets four times a year and has only met once after election, towards the end of 2017, and still needs to get up to speed with the inner workings and processes of the PIRB. Particularly high on the agenda is building on the current objectives of the PIRB, including emphasis on the Certificate of Compliance and promotion of the PIRB to industry at large. The board predominantly comprises plumbing employers/employees along with other plumbing industry stakeholders. Board member training and the transfer of skills is another of the board’s priorities, Smith continues, and once everyone has applied their minds in an open forum free of any political or commercial agendas, the collective can decide the direction of the body. Lea Smith, Steve Brown, and Martin Coetzee are the board directors. The other executive committee members include Henry Bonthuys, Lorraine Mooi, Richard Bailie, Sello Mokawane, Adriaan Myburgh, Daniel Pentasaib, Gary Chandler, Malcolm Harris, and Susan Walls. PA 5