Curriculum
Instruction Pack I: Introduction to Plumbing
In Pack 1, you will be introduced to the field of professional plumbers and will learn how to set expectations for earning conditions, work conditions, personal qualities, and educational requirements. You will discover the tasks a plumber will perform and what a typical day on the job looks like. After learning about apprenticeship and licensing, including common apprenticeship standards, you'll study the importance of developing a good rapport and effective communication with clients, employers, supervisors, and vendors. You will learn how the importance of documentation applies in your dealings with customers and employers. You'll wrap up by exploring how ethics apply to the job performed by plumbers.
Study Guide: Plumbing Basics
Pack 2 is a Study Guide to accompany the textbook Plumbing: Level 1, Revised Fourth Edition. Pearson. 2019. In this Pack, you'll learn the causes (and impact) of on-the-job accidents. Identify methods for preventing these accidents, including safety precautions required for hand tools, power tools and work area safety. After learning the proper use of hand tools, including measuring, leveling, and cutting implements, you'll examine the proper use of power tools, including cutting, drilling, boring, threading, and soldering tools. You'll discover how a pipe is measured, from markup to fitting allowance, and calculate pipe length using various methods. Then, you'll learn how to interpret symbols and schematic diagrams, scale drawings and explain the role of specifications and codes for plumbing applications. After learning how to identify the types, uses, and properties of plastic pipes and fittings, you'll discover the special methods of joining plastic pipes. You'll know how to identify the different types of copper pipes, as well as the uses and properties of copper tubes and fitting. After examining cast-iron pipes and fittings, including hub-and-spigot and no-hub pipes, you'll learn methods for installing and testing cast-iron pipes. You'll continue by exploring the types, uses and properties of steel pipe before examining the materials used to make fixtures, including bathroom fixtures, water closets, urinals, kitchen features and other fixtures (including laundry features). This course will help you identify the major components of a DWV system and describe the functions of each, from traps and fittings to sewer installations and the plumbing codes that affect them. You'll discover the process by which water is distributed in municipal, residential, and private water systems. Finally, you'll look at various case studies to work through troubleshooting scenarios before you apply the knowledge you've acquired to real-world problems by completing the practicum.
