Tools, Equipment, Materials and Pipework Fundamentals
This domain covers identifying, selecting and caring for plumbing tools, knowing the common pipe materials and fittings, and applying basic pipework rules for sizing and support. Exam items often show a task and ask for the correct tool or material, or describe a joint failure and ask for the cause.
Hand tools and their uses
- Stillson (pipe) wrench for threaded steel; chain wrench for large or coated pipe; basin wrench for tap backnuts in tight spaces; adjustable spanner for compression nuts.
- Hacksaw: 18 teeth per inch for steel, 24 TPI for copper and plastics. Pipe cutter with deburring tool for copper; stock and die for BSP threads; bending spring for annealed copper.
- Drainage tools: plunger, drain rods with plunger head and auger, lifting keys. Test gear: pressure test pump, gauge, manometer, gas detector.
- Care: clean and oil after use, store dry, check plugs and leads on power tools, never use a wrench as a hammer or a cheater bar.
Materials and selection
- uPVC for soil, waste and vent (solvent-weld or ring-seal), pressure classes 6, 9, 12 and 16 bar.
- HDPE (PE100) for buried mains, joined by butt fusion or electrofusion; PPR for hot water; copper to EN 1057 for potable water; galvanised steel for exposed or legacy work.
- Soil fittings: 87.5° bends and branches (the 2.5° gives the fall), rest bend at the foot of a stack. Joint types: solvent weld, push-fit, compression, capillary, threaded.
- Support: clip 15 mm copper horizontally about every 1.2 m and 22 mm every 1.8 m, within 150 mm of a bend, with allowance for expansion.
Worked example
A 24 m run of 22 mm copper in 3 m lengths. Allow 8% waste for cuts and bends: 24 × 1.08 = 25.92 m; 25.92 ÷ 3 = 8.64, so order 9 lengths. Reason: the waste factor is applied to the measured run before dividing by the stock length, then rounded up. Rounding down leaves you short and forces a second trip to the merchant.
Traps
- Solvent cement applied to wet or dirty pipe - the joint will fail.
- Mixing PVC and ABS cement, or forgetting the primer.
- Joining copper directly to galvanised steel without a dielectric union (bimetallic corrosion).
- Over-tightening compression nuts and splitting the olive.
- Choosing a blade with the wrong tooth count and burring the pipe end.