The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-28
MASTER PLUMBERS
 OF CITY OBJECT ID
 NEW ORDINANCE
Exhibit Being Held to Show Where 1t Makes Plumb ing Unnecessarily
 Expensive

To show that the recently enacted
 plumbing ordinance imposes greatly in-
 creased costs and unnecessary conditions
 on the property owners of the city is the
 purpose Of an exhibit in one of the stores 1 of the new Birmingham Railway. Light
 and Power company building. Quite a lumber of fittings and fixtures required by
 the new ordinance are shown in contrast
 with the fittings and fixtures used hereto 1 fore, all of which are far more expensive and. it is claimed, are unnecessary. The l exhibit is being shown under the au- l spices of the Master Plumbers associa- ton and the Real Estate exchange. The public is invited to call and see the con- ] trast.
 1 Harry Gilbert, who is in charge of the
 exhibit, gave out the following statement
 from the Master Plumbers association: We licensed plumbers In Birming ham
 feel that it is right for the sovereignty
 of this city to be informed as to any and all conditions relative to the plumbing business in Birmingham. and that it is our duty, as business men and taxpayers, to enlighten you upon the subject l We also wish 1t understood that we l are not in favor of anything that tends to increase the cost of plumbing. Plumbing cost too much before this new ordinance was adopted and this one gives it another boost upward.
 We are laborlng under the same im- pression as the bushler, who said: If
 1t was against the law to wear brooches that cost less than $l5 a pair, patched
 brooches would not be frowned upon. | We believe that if plumbing did not 1 cost so much money there would be more 1 plumbing installed.
 ''On November 4. 1914. the city commits l sioners approved the plumbing ordinance l under which plumbing work is being in l stalled at this time in the city of Bir- mingham. We give them no credit for
 the ordinance because we are aware of the fact that they are not plumbers and, l not realizing the existing conditions in the 1 plumbing department, acted In good faith, ! and upon the advice of certain subordi- mates who are supposed to be familiar with the plumbing business.
 I've offer objections to parts of the ordinance to which we are opposed and will state that there are other re- quirements in the ordinance that are not fair to the public and to which
 we are opposed, but they will not be covered in this statement
 We are opposed to being compelled
 to run water services from the mains ir streets or avenues. We believe that the Birmingham Waterworks company should be required to run service pipes inside of property line (not curb line) and that it should be the city's duty
 to run sewer connections inside Of property line
 'We are also opposed to the plumb- ing inspector cutting out nonsyphsn traps under sinks, or any other minor fixture and the distance from main stack should be the 20-foot limit as called for in the old ordinance. While opposed to the elimination of nonsyphon traps we are also op posed to being required to use any one particular manufacturers make. There are several nonsyphon traps on the market, all of which are as neat dur able and sanitary as the .McAuliffe' trap and less expensive.
 ''We are also opposed to the, use of the heavier lead which he requires in the new ordinance unless the property owner wishes to pay for it.
 "We are opposed to the compulsory
 use of backs on sinks when the prop erty owner does not feel able to pay inc added expense attached to same. eve are opposed to plumbing in- crectors carrying firearms when making inspection of our work on the grounds that we are living in civ ilized country and are self-respectirg business men and not a set of out laws To eliminate this imposition l.upon anyone connected with the plumb ing business in Birmingham We res cmmend that all journeymen plumb CTS work under license, for which they pay s3 per annum in advance, and upon the established evidence of .he inspector being badly harmed by tLe
 plumber, revoke his license and let him engage in some other business other than plumbing if he wishes to remain in the city of Birmingham. At this juncture we might add that only a few weeks ago a serious shoot ing affray was narrowly averted be- tween an inspector and a plumber. "The man who builds a home ln Birmingham pays the building depart ment for a permit at the rate of about | Sf65~ per 5000 on the total cost Of | the job Then if he wishes to have | plumbing in his house, which he is | forced to do he must shell out to tho plumbing department S6 to ST for more | permits and inspections. In other words. he pays the building department S4.15 to build $2500 home and then 1 pays the plumbing department s6 to SI 1 to install a $2O0 job of plumbing A | double tax.
 l 'sWe submit these conditions under | which the licensed plumbers are com | pelled to work and for which the pub | lie is paving it's share If they suit | the public let the public put aside tho l hammer on the plumber charging too much for his work. If the citizens wish | to dispense with these conditions we