Rwanda moves to standardize plumbing profession

By Elias Hakizimana.

Plumbing professionals in Rwanda are soon to embrace plumbing certification scheme and standardization to be regionally and globally recognized.

The journey began with an awareness workshop organized by Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) in partnership with Rwanda Plumbers Organization (RPO), gathering all professionals in this sector.

Philbert Zimurinda, the Division Manager of National Metrology at Rwanda Standards Board said that they initiated this program to strengthen Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) especially those teaching plumbing and electricity.

“The scheme aims at boosting the skills of all professionals in plumbing so that they reduce the errors committed in their job, such as failure to use proper and specific pipes, and ensure sanitation based on international standards. The initiative also aims to help people get jobs at local, regional, and global levels. RSB trains them based on international standards to form professional technicians in this sector,” Zimurinda said.

He explained that professionals do not have the opportunity to learn plumbing standards at school. He said that lack of such assets causes disorders at work.

Clovis HANGANE, a professional plumber said that having plumbing standardization certificate is very important to tackle common problems encountered when practicing plumbing.

“The first challenge is to have some people who work as plumbers but who are not real plumbers, because when they are doing piping or installation sometimes, they do it wrong because they do not know when and how to use a certain material. There is knowledge gap among technicians, but we are trying to help people to understand this. Technical skills must be conducted according to international standards,” Hangane explained.

Another problem as he says is customers’ mindset who most of the time prefer to use cheap materials to avoid spending much money.

“Plumbing system is not only a technical thing; it is also a science. My first recommendation is to ask RSB to help professional plumbers change professionals’ mindsets, to establish a certification program and evaluation of professional plumbers based on plumbing codes, myself, I adopted the universal plumbing code because it helps me to solve all these problems that are encountered in my career journey,”

Jean Claude Twagirimana, Director General of the Rwanda Plumbers Organization, reiterated the need for standardized practices, emphasizing that certification would enable plumbers to secure jobs globally and enhance labor mobility within the East African Community (EAC).

“We thank RSB for the good initiative to start the journey of establishing standards and certification scheme. People used to qualify themselves professional plumbers, which is wrong, the certification will allow people to get jobs everywhere in the world,” Twagirimana said.

The EAC Common Market Protocol acknowledges the significance of labor mobility and emphasizes the establishment of national frameworks for skills development and competence recognition to facilitate access to regional labor markets.

RSB’s documentation underscores the importance of certification systems, citing ISO 17024:2012 as a crucial framework for evaluating individuals’ competencies for specific occupations. Certification systems bridge gaps in education and training, enabling better integration into the global job market by assessing readiness for the workforce comprehensively.

With 180 professional plumbers registered countrywide under the Rwanda Plumbers Organization, the move towards certification and standardization holds the promise of enhancing the quality of plumbing services while empowering professionals to compete effectively in local and international job markets.

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