The House of Representatives is working on a bill (House Bill 8659) meant to raise the plumbing profession to an engineering profession.
A technical committee was tasked to iron out some provisions and harmonize the bill with those of related professions such as sanitary engineering.
“I first give credit to my friend and colleague, Congresswoman Atty. Margarita Nograles, who filed HB 8659.”
“I first give credit to my friend and colleague, Congresswoman Atty. Margarita Nograles, who filed HB 8659 because she had the vision to improve the lives of thousands of master plumbers and community-based plumbers by repealing Republic Act 1378, which became law in 1955 and amended in 1959,” Bohol Representative Alexie Besas Tutor said.
“This law is as old as the leaking pipes nationwide laid into the ground after World War II.”
“The Plumbing Law has been in effect for nearly 70 years. It is more than obsolete. It is long overdue for repeal. This law is as old as the leaking pipes nationwide laid into the ground after World War II,” Tutor stressed.
The lady legislator noted that the first five sections of RA 1378 about plumbing per se have been superseded by the National Building Code (PD 1096), the 1999 National Plumbing Code, and the National Structural Code of the Philippines and rendered obsolete by regulations issued by the DPWH, local government unit engineering offices, and the standards of the national association of master plumbers.
“However, Sections 6 to 24 of RA 1378 remain in effect until now because these are the legal bases of the Master Plumbers licensure examinations of the Professional Regulation Commission and Professional Regulatory Board for Master Plumbers. Hence, the need to repeal this obsolete law,” the lawmaker explained.
“So what Congresswoman Nograles and the Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation are doing is aligning the proposed Plumbing Engineering Act to the other professional laws that are already in effect. The scope of the plumbing board exam will test for general engineering, plumbing design, practical problems and installation, and the Plumbing Code,” she added.
Tutor said matters about degree programs and technical education will be the purview of the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
“I see the need to include a provision that ensures the 1999 Plumbing Code remains in effect until eventually and properly updated,” she noted.
“Transitory provisions of the bill provide ways to allow professionals and graduates of related fields to take the plumbing board exams during a transition period,” Tutor added.
