Master Class Program leads the way in CIPP Relining Industry

Nuflow Pipe Relining

Nuflow now offers a master class program in CIPP relining. The program aims to arm:

  • Facility & asset managers with information
  • Installers with training, and
  • Overall quality control for the industry

Nuflow are leading the way in providing much-needed education and training. As most developed cities and regions of the world are facing a looming crisis in terms of deteriorating underground pipe infrastructure.

Expansion of underground pipe infrastructure

The two great wars in the first half of the 20th century were devastating but they did provide impetus for advances in telecommunications, transport and technology. After the wars ended, those tools were put to use rebuilding, expanding and developing communities and an integral component of that development was the installation of underground networks of water and waste pipes. Many of those pipes were made of materials with an anticipated lifespan of 60 years, and with the bulk of them being laid between 1960 and 1970, they are now failing as they reach end of life.

Urban development means pipes originally laid in open ground are often no longer accessible, making traditional methods of digging up and replacing them no longer feasible. Those responsible for maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of pipe infrastructure are therefore looking to new technologies that require no digging, to ensure the ongoing efficiency of these vital networks.

CIPP relining technologies

Known as trenchless, or no dig pipe repairs, materials such as highly advanced epoxy resins, similar to those used to build today’s aircraft, are cured to form a new, stronger pipe inside the old, damaged one without the need to dig or disturb any of the surrounding environment.

Whilst cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) relining is commonplace in Canada, the USA and Europe, it has taken longer for information about the technology to filter through to the Australasian market. Despite this, Nuflow has been operating successfully throughout the region for nearly 20 years. When enquiries about relining increased, along with concerns from those in the field about the lack of education available, they developed a Master Class program to communicate what was possible and to ensure pipe repair solution decisions were well-informed, cost effective and appropriate

Nuflow master class program

To date Nuflow has run over 60 Master Classes across Australia and New Zealand for facility managers, council engineers/maintenance teams, water authority asset managers, insurance assessors, specifiers and a host of others looking for better ways to manage aging pipe infrastructure.

We’ve also put in place a stringent training and accreditation program in conjunction with TAFE which they require all their installation partners to complete.

Jeff Hildtich, National Sales and Operations Manager, oversees the program and has delivered many of the classes himself.

“The big thing here is that we hold education and training as a priority,” he said.

“It’s all very well to make claims on packets or marketing material and then just sit back and hope people will buy a product, but for us we genuinely want to be known as the best in the business at what we do and the only way that is going to happen is if we really are the best.

“That means really listening to what those in the field need – their issues and concerns – and then working out how we can meet that need.

“Once we’ve got the solution, we have to make sure it’s communicated to the right people and that they have the realistic product and technical information they need to support them.”

Hilditch says that whilst Nuflow has a reputation for being able to solve some of the most difficult pipe repair scenarios, they are not necessarily right for every job.

“We are not going to take on a job if we know we’re not the right fit,” he said.

“Our reputation is very important to us and at times we do have to be selective.

“That’s why the classes and the awareness, questioning, open discussion and feedback they bring is so important, because it gives us a better understanding of what’s needed by the market, and it gives the market the tools to make more informed choices.”

Nuflow is part of the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) steering group for education and matters of training in the CIPP relining industry and are supporting state building authorities on installation.

Participants are not charged for attending the Master Classes, which are held at Nuflow’s research and training facility on the Gold Coast on Mondays and Tuesdays. They also conduct on-site classes for larger organisations and associations throughout the Australasian region and offer an interactive, online class for organisations wanting the information to reach large numbers of staff.

Hilditch says demand for the Master Class is high.

“Everyone is very interested in learning about the capabilities of the technology,” he said.

“We run classes for councils, water authorities, facility and strata management groups, insurance companies, state governing bodies and more.

“A great proportion of those in the classes know very little about how relining works, and even those who do usually have no idea that we can now do things like cure resins underwater, create heavy load bearing relines for road and rail, make liners for box culverts and manholes and even have liners with certification for drinking water pipes.

“So it’s fair to say most people leave the classes very excited.

“They usually go off and do some research of their own, and then they call us up a few days later to discuss their particular issues and ask how we can help.

“They also appreciate that someone is actually doing a service to the industry and giving honest explanations about where we sit compared to other products in the marketplace.”

Hilditch says the classes, which rely heavily on two-way interaction, have given planners, engineers, project managers and technical staff the opportunity to come together to ask questions specific to their circumstances.

“Each class is different, depending on what the group is interested in, which industry sector they are from and what is going on in their geographic region,” he said.

“For instance, discussion and education on advancements in technologies around asbestos cement pipe relining for large diameter storm water and sewer pipes is a common theme of New Zealand classes, whereas how we reline internal water pipes in high-rise apartment blocks might be of much more interest to strata management or insurance industry audiences.

According to Hilditch the classes have resulted in positive outcomes they hadn’t anticipated.

“Not only are they significantly improving people’s understanding of what’s possible, but we’ve seen the group setting open up lines of communication between different role-types within organisations who sometimes perhaps don’t get the opportunity to problem-solve together,” he said.

“We’ve also seen communication opening up between people from different organisations who suddenly realise they have shared objectives, which in turn stimulates wider discussion about how things can be collectively applied to their specific projects.”

Nuflow’s accredited CIPP relining training

The other element of the Nuflow education and training model is their CIPP relining training which is jointly run and accredited through TAFE Australia.

Rather than simply offering relining products ‘off the shelf’, Nuflow creates partnerships with reputable installation professionals and requires that they complete two-weeks of accredited training.

Even once certified, partners are required to attend annual refresher courses which, according to Nuflow’s Marketing Manager, Jacqueline Perris, ensure they are well versed in how to get the best out of the products.

“We have a great product we know we can rely on,” Perris said.

“But when it comes to relining, a product’s success is always going to be reliant upon the quality of the installation process.

“That’s why we bring everyone together to learn directly from the people who’ve developed the products, to share and ask questions, and to talk about new developments coming up.

“It’s about looking at the whole process from start to finish that’s key.

“Knowing that we’ve listened to what the market has told us they need, that our own chemists, engineers and technicians have developed and manufactured the products, and that we’ve trained our installation partners to know exactly what to do to get the most out of them gives us great confidence in what we do.

“It’s also the reason we can offer warranties of up to 50 years on the whole job; and why we can custom design fit for purpose liners to suit each job’s particular circumstances – which is something other relining companies using overseas products often just can’t do.”

For more information on our master class program contact us by emailing solutions@nuflow.net

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