Building the Future, One Bathroom at a Time: Introducing the Plumb Perfect Competition

This fall, CIEF and PHCC Texas launched a new initiative to inspire the next generation of plumbing professionals — the Plumb Perfect: Dream Bathroom Challenge.
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Running from September 8 through October 17, 2025, this six-week virtual competition brought together high school students and professional plumbing mentors to explore the real-world art and science of plumbing. Each team of five to six students was paired with a licensed plumbing contractor who guided them through the process of designing and planning a fully functional bathroom — from layout and fixture selection to slopes, P-traps, drain lines, and finishing touches.

How It Worked

Students completed four interactive modules, each building on the last:

1. Design Your Bathroom – Choosing fixtures, understanding blueprints, and spatial planning.
   
2. Plumbing the Bathroom – Learning slopes, drains, and venting fundamentals.
   
3. Venting and Water Lines – Running water lines using PEX pipe and mastering code requirements.
   
4. The Finishing Touches – Submitting a complete bathroom plan that demonstrated their workmanship and understanding.
   

Each week, mentors spent 1–2 hours guiding students through lessons, sharing real industry insight, and answering questions.

The Result

The inaugural competition saw:

• 7 schools and 19 student teams participate
  
• 17 mentors signed up, with 9 active mentors guiding students
  
• 2 industry judges reviewing final projects
  
• Winning team scored a perfect 30/30
  

Student and mentor feedback was overwhelmingly positive:

• 83% of students rated the experience 7/10 or higher
  
• 100% said it gave them a better understanding of plumbing careers
  
• All students said they’d recommend the program to a friend
  

Instructors praised the balance between virtual and applied learning — and expressed excitement to see more hands-on modules added next year. Mentors described the competition as “a great program that gets students thinking and working on code and sizing,” even suggesting new resources like isometric drawing tutorials to expand student skills.

What’s Next

Building on this success, Plumb Perfect will expand in 2026:

• Adding options for instructors to incorporate hands-on activities and video submissions.
• Introducing the program to other PHCC chapters and CIEF service areas.
• Growing into a yearly statewide program, bringing more high schools — and more future plumbers — into the pipeline.

Get Involved

Want to help grow Plumb Perfect?
Industry sponsors play a vital role in supporting the program’s materials, mentorship, and outreach.
Contact Brittany Albaugh at [email protected] to learn how your organization can help expand this innovative program and build the next generation of skilled trades professionals.