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Meet the member
With an aptitude for plumbing evident at the tender age of 13, it seemed that Paul Williams was destined to be an installer. His career has seen him take on a variety of roles, including the accolade of the youngest Master Plumber and National President of the CIPHE
PAUL WILLIAMS’ father was a plumber, so going into the family business was always a strong possibility. During his childhood he worked alongside his father after school, so by the time he turned 16 he had plenty of experience under his belt. It was then that he started a plumbing course at Ammanford College, working as an apprentice for his dad’s business.
“I have to admit that I wasn’t the greatest of students, but I always enjoyed the practical aspect of learning,” recalls Paul. “I did, however, pass the course and was advised by my lecturer to continue onto Level 3.”
On completion of his course, Paul worked with his father for some time, mainly doing domestic plumbing and heating jobs, but also carried out a lot of bathroom installations, too.
“I worked with my dad for around 10 years, but I wanted to do more central heating work and boiler servicing, so I decided to go self-employed,” says Paul.
PAUL WILLIAMS EngTech LCGI MCIPHE RP RHP
Director, Albert Williams Ltd Installer with a history of working in the construction industry. Former lecturer and past National President of the CIPHE
Shortly after branching out on his own, Paul was o ered a position lecturing in plumbing at Ammanford College in South Wales. It was during his two years here that he became more involved with the CIPHE at a national and a local level. His next role was as a lecturer in plumbing and assessor at Gower College in Swansea.
With help and advice from Kevin Wellman and Colin Stainer of the CIPHE, Paul set up the Carmarthenshire branch in 2004. Then followed the opening of the South Wales branch, where he was involved with area committees and became a deputy area co-ordinator, assisting the area co-ordinator and attending meetings.
In 2007 Paul became a professional standards inspector for the CIPHE and still attends training. He believes this helps with evaluating new members who don’t quite meet the criteria, as well as assisting with any complaints raised between consumers and members.
“It was the same year that I decided to take a
break as my mental health was suffering,” explains Paul. “It was then that I realised that, even though I enjoyed the teaching, the environment didn’t suit me at the time, so I went back to working with my dad until he retired in 2017.”
Paul started up his own company, but soon reverted back to his father’s company name, Albert Williams.
“Having worked with some customers for over 20 years I had built up good relationships,” he explains. “You get to know people and their whole family. I do a lot of call-outs for small things like changing washers because it’s a good way to check in on people, some of whom can be very lonely.”
Professional agenda
“I’m probably better known for my role as National President of the CIPHE from 2016-17,” says Paul. “It was a tremendous year – I met many wonderful people at great events, such as presidential dinners, plaque presentations to our approved training centres, which included colleges. It was great to speak to both lecturers and students. I attended
award ceremonies, plumbing exhibitions, branch dinners and, of course, presented Stan Rawcliffe and Jim Walley with their membership awards. The honour of representing the members at these events was fantastic and something that I will never forget.”
Paul has also helped to promote WaterSafe, the free online directory and national accreditation body for competent and qualified plumbers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, via radio interviews and press releases. The latest of which was what to do in case of emergencies such as cold spells, ensuring people know where their stop tap is and how to find a plumber who will come out and do a good job for a fair price.
“Education should play an integral role for installers, particularly when it comes to water regulations,” says Paul. “I believe that water regulations should be covered in level two as standard as it deals with back flow prevention and the risk of cross contamination if it is not installed correctly.”
Sustainable movement
The government’s plans to implement greener heating technologies is a subject that every installer has an opinion on and Paul agrees efficiency is key, but this doesn’t necessarily mean investing in new technology.
“Although the industry has evolved, there is heating in homes that has been around since the 1970s, so it’s these systems that need to be looked at,” says Paul. “The heating courses are good because they focus on the importance of design and how this impacts on efficiency in homes.”
As alternative fuels and technologies are introduced, Paul believes it’s important to match the right system with each home, whether that’s LPG, HVO or heat recovery. The key is to ensure that existing set-ups are as efficient as possible and that means educating consumers on how to use their systems to maximum effect.
“Heat pumps may be suitable for certain positions, but this will not help with heat poverty,” points out Paul. “A lot of people simply don’t have tens of thousands of pounds to spend on a new heating system.
“People are making more enquiries about heat pumps, but my concern is when you have got apprenticeship schemes by certain companies who offer short courses to boost the numbers of qualified installers, this could result in poor set-ups, which could be the downfall of the industry.”
As National President of CIPHE, Paul attended many award ceremonies, plumbing exhibitions and branch dinners
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