September 24, 2007

Associations

Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating builds partnerships for growth

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

OTTAWA

The Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating (CIPH) is an organization with a clearly defined mission: to build and cultivate alliances that will benefit and strengthen the industry.

To that end, the Toronto-headquartered institute has forged partnerships with more than 20 North American industry associations, among them the Mechanical Contractors Association of Canada (MCAC).

CIPH chair Barry Raycroft says the institute values working closely with MCAC and its provincial counterparts through trade shows and collaborating on codes and standards as well as delivering “meaningful” training programs.

“Joint initiatives continue to open the lines of communication and help us serve our respective members better,” said Raycroft, vice-president and general manager of Bardon Supplies Ltd. of Belleville. In May, for example, MCAC and CIPH jointly delivered a one-day pilot workshop in Toronto on profitable project management. Raycroft said feedback was “very positive.

“CIPH and MCAC will determine what other parts of the country would benefit from this workshop,” he told the association’s annual general meeting in Ottawa last week. The two organizations, along with MCA Alberta, have teamed up to bring the 8^th world plumbing conference to Calgary next September. “You can see that CIPH’s partnership with MCAC is meaningful, ambitious and far-reaching for both of us,” Raycroft said.

Alliances aside, the institute is developing a strategy to raise “the positive awareness” of the industry as a whole and CIPH in particular in the eyes of potential industry recruits, regulators and legislators.

Raycroft said this initiative includes:
• Developing a curriculum to train plumbing inspectors.
•Working with federal and provincial governments to regulate and combat counterfeit product and create an enforcement strategy against use of non-approved plumbing product
•Participating in the Canadian Standards Association’s “collaborating on standards solutions: sustainable buildings in Canada” workshop in November.

“This is an important initiative as we collectively work to provide a clear path forward to support market transformation, contributing to sustainable communities and a sustainable built environment across Canada.” CIPH, which has 260 member companies, is celebrating its 75^th anniversary next year.

Print | Email | Comment