The Plumbing Industry Registration Board (PIRB): Truths, Half-Truths and Lies

For many years, the Plumbing Industry Registration Board (PIRB) has bombarded the industry with falsehoods and misrepresentations about their legal mandate versus their self-proclaimed mandate.

Let’s start with the legal mandate, which is reliant on the NQF Act and administered by SAQA (South African Qualifications Authority).

PIRB’s Legal Mandate

The PIRB is responsible to individual plumbers for:

• Registering their qualifications on a national database

• Maintaining a record of their further development via the CPD (Continuing Professional Development) program

This is why they are called a Registration Board.

What SAQA Says

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) has clarified its regulatory mandate and scope in relation to non-statutory bodies such as PIRB.

Key points from SAQA’s mandate:

• Derives from the NQF Act, 2008 (Act No. 67 of 2008)

• Expressed in SAQA’s Policy and Criteria for Recognising a Professional Body and Registering a Professional Designation

• Section 13(1)(i) of the NQF Act requires SAQA to:

  1. Develop and implement policy and criteria for recognising a professional body and registering a professional designation.

  2. Recognise a professional body and register its professional designation if criteria are met.

Statutory vs Non-Statutory Bodies

• Statutory bodies: Established by an Act of Parliament, governing specific professions. Registration is compulsory for practice (e.g., medical councils, engineering councils).

• Non-statutory bodies (such as PIRB): Considered voluntary. No law compels professionals to be registered in order to practice. They are not established by an Act of Parliament but by practitioners identifying a need.

Recognition from SAQA does not give a professional body statutory status.

Both statutory and non-statutory bodies must meet SAQA’s criteria for recognition as professional bodies.

What the PIRB Claims

The PIRB often manipulates their professional body status, implying they hold more authority than they do. In reality:

• They are only a registration board.

• Unlike professional bodies such as the Engineering Council, PIRB has no members.

• With no membership base, PIRB should have no authority over plumbers.

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