Plumbers Donate Services and Materials to Somerville School

This article originally appeared at MassPlumbers.com.

When Saint Theresa’s Catholic School, which was founded in 1923, wanted to update its aging bathrooms, Plumbers & Gasfitters Local 12 and the Greater Boston Plumbing Contractors Association (GBPCA) answered the call. The union’s members provided the labor for the remodeling project, and the contractor group donated the fixtures and the materials.

According to Rick Carter, director of Local 12’s training center, the crew for the project was mostly first-year apprentices. As he explains, it’s great to be able to help a needy organization, but the project was also a wonderful learning experience for the new apprentices. Because they were retrofitting and demoing the existing bathrooms, it offered a rare opportunity for them to see and work with older fixtures, piping, and materials.

“The great thing about doing a job where we are donating our time is that there is a lot less stress. The deadlines are often less strict,” Carter notes. “The journeymen aren’t under the gun either, so they can take the time to really watch over the apprentices and make it educational.”

The project included the replacement of 16 toilets and two sinks in the girls’ bathroom as well as eight toilets, eight urinals, and two sinks in the boys’ bathroom. The work was done off hours on Saturdays. Business agents Jim Vaughan and Frank Amato helped oversee the project.

The Somerville school serves students in pre-K through grade 8. Its diverse mix of students are from Somerville, Medford, Cambridge, Everett, Arlington, and other

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“This was a great opportunity to give

Fuss & O’Neill Grows its MEP/FP Practice

Boston – Fuss & O’Neill has welcomed two new project managers, Joseph Saint Germain, PE, and George Baberkov, to its Boston Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) team. These new team members expand the firm’s MEP offerings and enhance its fire protection (FP) offerings throughout Massachusetts and New England.

Saint Germain is an electrical engineer who has worked in both the private and public sector on Massachusetts construction projects for more than 10 years. He specializes in code-compliant electrical designs, arc flash analysis, coordination studies, and renewable energy designs.

The firm’s representatives say that Baberkov’s and Saint Germain’s talents pair well with Fuss & O’Neill’s established MEP team, which assists New England clients by providing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design services for new and renovation projects for educational facilities, water/wastewater treatment plants, public safety complexes, and housing.

Baberkov has more than 18 years of experience in healthcare- and laboratory -related plumbing and FP system designs. His expertise is in medical gas systems and specialty FP systems within public and private industries.

Kevin Sullivan, PE, LEED AP, vice president and office manager for the Boston and Quincy offices, said, “I have always been proud of the MEP projects we’ve completed throughout Massachusetts. With the addition of George and Joseph, we are able to expand our MEP/FP offerings to better service our clients and communities and meet their energy needs. I am excited about the potential of this team.”