| 59 T T Hugh de Lacy Apprentice shines at plumbing awards Tristan ‘Harry’ Harris was the only apprentice to make the 2023 final of the Plumbing World Young Plumber of the Year Award. Revolution Plumbing & Gas Ltd CONTRACTING Architectural Homes Extensions Renovations 027 540 0996 | ben@riseresidential.co.nz | www.riseresidential.co.nz 0RUH WKDQ \HDUV RQ DQG RYHU KRPHV ODWHU [[[ XSHE]LSQIW GS R^ It was a big day for Christchurch company Revolution Plumbing and Gas when 22-year-old Tristan “Harry” Harris became the only apprentice to make the 2023 final of the Plumbing World Young Plumber of the Year Award. The award is for plumbers under 30, and several of the nine regional finalists had been in the trade long enough to have launched their own businesses, so for Harry to end up fourth when there was little to choose between the top place-getters was “remarkable,” according to Revolution Plumbing and Gas owner-founder Simon Lines. “The competitors get as many as three goes at the competition before they turn 30, so Harry will be back next year with a good chance of going even further,” Simon says. “The final was in Hamilton, and it was an amazing spectacle with the entrants having all the components laid out for them to install a hot water cylinder, shower, toilet, vanity and drainage system. “The judges measured everything to perfection – heights, distances, lay-out – and the entrants also had to sit a written exam. “The competition was followed by a big awards ceremony, and it was all very professionally done.” Simon launched Revolution Plumbing in 2011, having served out an apprenticeship in Wellington after being attracted to the trade by working on super-yachts in the Bahamas. He went there as a diving instructor, something he’d qualified for back in New Zealand, only to find himself drawn more and more into the construction and engineering of water craft, to the degree that it seemed a logical step from there to the plumbing trade back home. Simon started his time with E G Glennies Plumbing in Wellington, then went home to Christchurch and worked for another company there before launching out on his own. Today Revolution Plumbing has a staff of four, and it’s a company that’s prepared to look at any work in the plumbing and gas sectors, but finds itself enthusiastically working on new homes for the long-standing residential construction company Today Homes. Today Homes has completed over 2500 quality homes over the years, and Revolution Plumbing is working mostly on its large sub-divisions in the Christchurch satellite towns of Rolleston, Leeston and Darfield. “These are quality builds, and Today Homes are great to work for because they’re a very stream-lined and well-organised family business that’s been running for 35 years, and their developments happen really fast – it’s amazing to see the way they can complete a house in as little as four months.” But new builds are not all that Revolution Plumbing takes on. “We do everything from household plumbing and gas maintenance, and from installing 9kg gas hobs and replacing hot water cylinders, to bathroom renovations that make the old look new again.” Revolution Plumbing is currently offering a special deal on gas hot-water or mains cylinder conversions at $3000 – including GST – involving the disconnection and removal of the existing hot water cylinder and replacing it with a Thermann Bosch, Rinnai or Rheem system. “The competitors get as many as three goes at the competition before they turn 30, so Harry will be back next year with a good chance of going even further.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=