TĒNĀ KOUTOU,
A warm welcome to our 2026 Young Plumber of the Year (YPOTY) family of sponsors.
Thank you for your continued support of the YPOTY initiative. Without you, we simply wouldn’t have a competition. We are excited to once again be working with you all in this space during 2026.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Timeline
To view the full timeline, Click Here The first branch events will kick off on 5th May in Palmerston North and Invercargill. Your specific event schedule will be circulated shortly. Please lock these dates in your teams’ diaries.
Over the next month or so our branch network will be holding launch events focusing on competition promotion and registration. Please feel free to get involved in any of these if they fit in your schedule.
New Apprentice Division
In 2026, we are proud to expand the Young Plumber of the Year programme with the introduction of a new Apprentice division, proudly supported by Nexa. Open to 1st – 3rd year plumbing apprentices (as at 1 January 2026), the competition will run alongside our YPOTY branch and regional events, ensuring maximum exposure and operational efficiency. This will mean bigger events and better engagement both with our tradies and industry as a whole.
Following the regional heats, eight apprentice national finalists will advance to the National Final, competing in their own standalone apprentice competition, alongside the main event. This will broaden our exposure and allow us to increase engagement and align with industry as the workforce changes.
Official Sponsor Logo
Please utilise this as you wish. If you require this in a different format or are having difficulties downloading it, then please let us know.
Promotion
The 2026 competition will officially launch on 1st April through the Plumbing World nationwide branch network, across our dedicated social channels and in the April/May edition of NZ Plumber Magazine. 3 further appearances in NZ Plumber (June/July, Oct/Nov and Dec/Jan) will industry.
This website will also allow comeptitors to join Young Plumbers, enter the competition and view content, event photos and links to our social/sponsor pages.
Social Media
Our dedicated YPC Facebook and Instagram channels will continue to play a pivotal role in promoting the competition. We also encourage you to utilise your social channels and tag and use our approved hashtags to help build the competitions profile.
Tag: @youngplumbersclubnz
Hashtag: #YPOTY #YPOTY2026 #YPC #youngplumbers
Animated GIFs are also available to use in Instagram Stories by searching ‘YPOTY’.
IMPORTANT – PLEASE USE YOUR DISCRETION WITH WHAT IS SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA DURING THE COMPETITION.
We welcome your support throughout the competition however please ensure branch and regional skills tests are not profiled in any way during the branch and regional stages of the competition.
Collectively we need to ensure we maintain a high level of integrity when it comes to this competition for our competitors. We need to be able to ensure all competitors are on an equal footing.
Please adhere to this request.
Collateral
This will be sent to you to utilise through your own databases and networks and includes Posters, Registration Cards and social media assets.
We will be in contact with additional updates and information as the competition progresses.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any further questions.