1. To be eligible a Contestant must:
a) Be an affiliated member of PWLYPC at the time of the competition (aged 31 years of age or under as at the 31st of December in the Competition season).
b) Enter the branch competition that their membership sits (exceptions only with YP Steering comm. approval and/or if the branch competition is announced ‘Open’).
c) Young Plumber members are eligible to enter, however if they wish to progress through to the Regional Final, they must meet all entry criteria.
d) Not have won a previous National Final of the Competition.
e) Not have competed in a National Final more than three times before.
Entry closing dates are final and not a guideline.

2. The Contestant:
a) Competes at their own risk.
b) Must undertake all competition activities in a safe manner complying with all health and safety requirements.
c) Must be competent in the use of and aware of safety issues relating to tools and machinery use etc. Contestants may ask for guidance if not competent in these areas and points will be adjusted accordingly.
d) Must enter in the home branch in which their company is associated to the Principal Sponsor. Exceptions can be made however to be considered these must be communicated to Competition Officials ahead of entries closing. If enough consideration and effort is not made (at least 5 working days prior to the closing date) then Contestants will not be allowed to compete. Approval is at the sole discretion of the YP Steering committee.
e) The first region a Contestant competes in is the region they must compete in for the current competition season.

3. At any level of the Competition, if family members or partners of Competition organisers wish to compete, they must declare this conflict of interest prior to the event with organisers. This conflict will be discussed, and the Contestant will be notified of the decision.

4. The Contestant agrees to allow PWLYPC to use their image(s) for media purposes and to allow contact details to be forwarded to media.

5. The Contestant must do their best to meet all requests and respect all decisions made by Competition Officials to help run the competition.

6. The Contestant agrees to be bound by the PWLYPC judges’ decisions. The judge’s decision is final.

7. No correspondence is to be entered into with any official/judge unless for a positive manner e.g to ask how they could improve their performance for future events. If a Contestant withdraws from a Regional Final, they must advise PWLYPC of their withdrawal immediately, or no less than four (4) weeks of a regional final event. Any Contestant failing to do so within this timeframe will have one of their possible three (3) national final attempts revoked. If withdrawal is within one (1) week of a Regional Final, the vacancy will not be replaced.

8. At all events the 1st, 2nd and 3rd safety infringements receive a 3-point deduction. All infringements that follow will incur an additional 5-point deduction.

9. The judge can use their discretion to issue red flags/points deductions for any other safety infringements that have been overseen at any event briefing. These will incur an additional 5-point deduction.

10. The Contestant agrees to arrive at the Practical venue of the Regional or National Final no later than the time stipulated and will compete in both the Practical and Theory event sections. If the Contestant does not attend the event and has not satisfied the Competition Staff/YP Steering committee that they had just reason to not attend, the Contestant will refund any expenses relating to that Contestants nonappearance.

11. The Contestant will not communicate with any member of the public regarding competition challenges or content during the competition event. Contestants risk disqualification or point(s) deduction if they are deemed to have gained advantage through breech of this rule.

12. Media / Social Media:
a) The Contestant agrees that no communication shall be entered into with any judge, member of the media, sponsors, or organising committee member other than the Competition Event Manager in a letter, private email or verbal conversation but must not be conducted over social media, in respect to a disputed judging decision or any other disputed issue that may occur during the course of the Competition. The Contestant must follow the appeal process as stated in clause 18 of this agreement.
b) Contestants must not enter into any social media conversations that publicly bring the Competition and NZ Young Plumbers or the sponsors into disrepute. This includes any photos, comments, or a combination of the two. If a Contestant does this, they risk losing points and/or disqualification. Any prizes they have received in current or past Competition seasons could be retracted. This is at the discretion of the YP Steering committee.
c) Contestants must make themselves available to media at all levels of the Competition. It is in the Contestant’s best interest to be positive and to portray the Competition in a constructive manner. Please refer to clause 15.b for consequences should the Competition not be portrayed in a positive manner.

13. During the National Final competition, Contestants are obliged to wear Competition clothing as directed and as appropriate. The wearing of any apparel displaying logo types of companies other than those approved by the YP Steering comm is not permitted. Contestants will be asked to remove unsuitable clothing. Any additional non-Competition clothing must be approved by the Event Manager prior to the day of the Final.

14. Damages.
a) Any damage that occurs when using equipment in a manner for which it was not designed or intended will be replaced/repaired at the expense of the Contestant.
b) Anybody who brings the Competition into disrepute on social media, or any other form will receive point’s penalties not only for the current Competition season but any further Competition seasons that they might enter.

15. All health and safety briefings must be attended, and all PPE must be worn where and when appropriate.

16. The judge/supervisor of the skills test module has the power to stop a Contestant at any time due to unsafe work. All instructions must be followed.

17. If a Contestant does not feel comfortable undertaking a task it is in their best interest to inform the supervisor and ask for their assistance. Marks will be awarded accordingly.
Please note: a Contestant who attempts something beyond their knowledge or skillset in a dangerous manner will receive less marks than a Contestant who asks for help/assistance.

18. Contestants are entitled to appeal any decision made regarding their results at any stage of the competition. To initiate an appeal, contestants must inform a member of the PWLYPC organizing team immediately during the event. The appeal will then be assessed and reviewed, and if deemed successful, the results will be adjusted accordingly. It should be noted that appeals can only be made during the event, and any such appeal will be resolved prior to the ratification and announcement of the event or competition’s results.

19. The prizes are to be accepted as awarded by the Sponsors and no other product or cash in lieu of the prize shall be negotiated for, nor given. Prizes and/or endorsements other than those provided by Competition Sponsors are not to be accepted without consent from the Competition Event Manager and YP Steering Comm.

20. All prizes must be redeemed, or arrangements made with the Sponsors or YP Steering Comm within six months of the date of the Competition to be redeemed. All prizes must be kept for a period of one year following the Competition. Failure to do so may result in the loss of prize(s).

21. The Competition shall use their best endeavours to ensure that the Sponsors provide the prizes that they have agreed to provide the Young Plumber of the Year but shall not be liable to any Contestant if any Sponsor changes the prize originally offered or fails to supply the prize.

22. All National Final Contestants within 12 months of this year’s National Final shall:
a) Make themselves available for the purpose of promoting future Competitions and, if required, advertising purposes for the Competition Sponsors in consultation with the YP Steering Comm.
b) The winner of the National Final will be required to make themselves available for marketing purposes without payment, at a time agreed to by both the Sponsor and the winner, within twelve months of winning the Competition. The sponsor will meet travel and accommodation expenses if they have requested the winner’s participation.
c) Unless approved in writing by the YP Steering committee, National Finalists shall not endorse or lend their name to other advertisers’ products for eighteen months from the date of the National Final.

23. Airfares/travel to the National Final where practicable for the Contestant shall be paid for by the Competition when the Contestant is more than four hours driving distance from the location of the National Final venue.

24. Accommodation and meals as stated in the National Final Contestant Guidelines are paid for by the PWLYPC during National Final.

25. In the event of a tie at the completion of the Competition, the Contestant with the highest score in the practical will be deemed the winner. In a situation where the scores are still tied it will fall back to the highest theory score.

26. Any complaint/protest by the Contestant that will bring the Competition, its Sponsors, judges and organisers into disrepute or ridicule will risk elimination and or disqualification.

27. The YP Steering comm reserves the right to review the eligibility of Contestants.

28. PWLYPC delegates the responsibility and running of the Competition, including the development and enforcement of the ‘Conditions of Entry’, to the YP Steering comm. All decisions made by the YP Steering comm. are final and binding on all Contestants. National rules set by the YP Steering comm over-ride any other Competition rules developed by individual branches or Plumbing World Regions.

29. Any breaking of these rules or failure to comply will lead to immediate disqualification. No exceptions.

30. The Contestant agrees they will not bring the Sponsors (including but not limited to Principal Sponsors), Competition and the Competition Officials into disrepute. This entails appropriate behaviour on a day-to-day basis, not only while approached by media for publicity purposes in relation with the Competition.

31. The Contestant must declare to the YP Steering comm in writing to the following email ypc@plumbingworld.co.nz at least one week prior to first competing in the Competition if they have been charged or convicted with a criminal offence within the last 7 years. Contestants must also declare whether they are a fit and proper person to be competing in the Competition.

 

Failure to adhere to these ‘Conditions of Entry’ may result in point deductions, a stand down period or disqualification at any stage during the Competition Season at the discretion of PWLYPC Competition Officials.