New digital portal helps Singapore plumbers to find clients

LICENSED plumbers in Singapore can explore job listings from industry clients on a new digital portal launched on Friday (May 26).

On the Singapore Plumbing Society (SPS) website’s new Tender/Job Portal, plumbers can find opportunities posted by interior designers, industry professionals and management corporation strata titles (MCSTs) in need of plumbing services.Contact details are provided with the job listings, so the plumbers can communicate with potential clients directly.

The initiative is a collaboration between SPS, national water agency PUB and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

SPS expects at least 1,000 MCSTs to get on to the platform within a year, ensuring a steady supply of job listings for plumbers to tap into. There are about 4,000 MCSTs in Singapore.

The portal will help service buyers “who often face challenges in finding and engaging licensed plumbers for their projects”, said SPS.

While the PUB has a public list of around 1,100 plumbers, only about 370 of them are registered with the SPS, the society’s president Dickrose Masalamani told The Business Times. As many plumbers on PUB’s list are “not active”, MCSTs have faced difficulties finding plumbers, he added.

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With its wealth of job opportunities for licensed plumbers, the portal will ”encourage more handymen and unlicensed plumbers to undergo accreditation to obtain their licence with PUB”, said SPS.

It also “paves the way for educating the public on the importance of engaging licensed plumbers to do certain plumbing works”, said Member of Parliament Yeo Wan Ling, who was the guest of honour at the launch.

Skilled tradesmen such as plumbers are a major focus for the NTUC, which aims to improve their career ladders and wages. Plumbers are one of three prioritised essential trades, along with electricians and air-conditioner technicians.

Yeo, who is director of NTUC’s U SME and U Women and Family, invited other trade associations to reach out to NTUC for similar collaborations, saying: “Let us work together to create similar opportunities for all skilled trades, to uplift skilled trades sectors, improve the job outcomes of our tradesmen, and ensure a sustainable supply of local talent in the sector.”

The new portal was developed in partnership with technology company Dino Digital Tech, which SPS also engaged to update its website and launch a supplier directory. Licensed plumbers, engineers, MCSTs and the public can consult the latter to find approved and alternative suppliers available in Singapore.