Quarterly Report - 2nd Qtr 2013

Overview:

At the request of PMI CEOs attending the inaugural February 5 CEO Forum, here is the second of the quarterly reports to be issued to CEOs this year to highlight completed and on-going projects.

  • Revitalized the PMI Strategic Advisory Council to engage PMI member company CEOs in PMI’s strategic issues.
  • Established the date for the inaugural PMI CEO-only Fly in to Washington DC. Networking dinner September 10 followed by the Hill visits on September 11. A Save-The-Date Notice and draft agenda has been sent to all member company CEOs.
  • PMI received the Storehouse World Vision’s Crystal Vision Award during K/BIS in New Orleans (Higgens received the Lifetime Achievement Award, from the same organization in 2011).
  • PMI Spring Conference in Austin Texas featured a presentation on the successful outcome of the USA vs. China sink anti-dumping case. The process began at the PMI Spring 2012 meeting
  • Board approved application for new allied member: Reed Construction Data
  • Attended ISH Fair in Frankfurt for meetings with allied associations, BMA (UK), PPIG (Australia), VDMA (Germany) and ARCSA, as well as PMI members and prospects.
  • PMI participated in the World Plumbing Council meeting held during ISH Fair to pursue key industry issues including needed research and enhancing the professionalism of plumbing.
  • Higgens featured as a panelist during the CEIR (European valve) conference to discuss EPA Water Sense program importance of product labeling.
  • Higgens with FECs to build relationships with the European ceramics community
  • Robinson attended the 2013 NAM Summit in Washington DC and made Hill visits on behalf of PMI; focused on infrastructure, retrofits and education issues
  • Held a PMI Board strategy session in June at PMI headquarters to set PMI goals
  • Gateway Community College—Plumbing as a Profession; partnering on research

Advocacy/Outreach:

  • PMI’s Higgens was featured in special pull out section in three trade journals (the State of Lead-free). They were located in phc News, Plumbing Engineer and The Wholesaler.
  • Wrote a myth busting document about Legionella that was published by Maintenance Solutions in their May report; beginning research for a Hex Chrome paper
  • Contributed to articles in Contractor Magazine and Architectural Products
  • Established contact with representatives from HGTV to position PMI as a potential expert consultant for future projects
  • Conducted a mobile app evaluation; finalizing the appropriate agreement and timing
  • Established the next steps for the ‘How Low Can We Go?’ evaluation to itemize current set of information for each product category and identify the areas where information is missing in order to establish ways to define unknowns
  • Twitter Stats: Safe Plumbing: 419 followers (40.3% company, 59.7% individual), 46 mentions, 25 favorites/re-tweets; PMI: 300 followers (43% company, 57% individual), 49 mentions, 17 favorites/re-tweets
  • LinkedIn Stats: PMI: 945 followers (24% manager, 19% entry, 12% senior, 11% director, 10% owner, 8% VP); Safe Plumbing: 18 followers (22% entry, 22% director, 17% senior, 11% management, 11% owner, 6% partner)

Technical:

  • Reviewed over 150 ICC International Residential Code proposals were reviewed by PMI members. The one PMI proposal was approved and nine of nine proposals targeted for rejection disapproved by the committee.
  • 369 IAPMO Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) proposals were also analyzed for comment. Two PMI proposals were approved and 27 of 32 proposals targeted for rejection by PMI were successfully disapproved by the committee.
  • Voiced objection the DOE’s Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking strongly rejecting their proposal to create unique test procedures under EPAct.
  • Responded to the US EPA’s request for comments on their Frequently Asked Questions on the Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act.
  • Requested changes to the State of Florida Housing Finance Corporation’s Universal Design and Visibility Manual to correct application of compensating valves on kitchen and lavatory faucets.

Industry Coalitions and Outreach:

  • GTLOP: (Lead law compliance); PMI led three local training sessions
  • PERC: Seeking funding for the second phase of drain line transport research
  • ETS: PMI’s work continues as a sponsor committee of the 2014 Emerging Technology Symposium ; PMI led the development of new logo
  • PILC: Second annual meeting in Washington DC of the Plumbing Industry Leadership Coalition which PMI founded with partners ASPE and IAPMO.
  • Gateway Community College: Plumbing as a Profession; partnering on research