Case Study from: South Metropolitan TAFE
Learn how TAFE reshaped plumbing education by training students on compliant pipe systems for a 7‑level building with h2x.
Name: Alan Hall
Role: Head Of Programs For Plumbing & Gas Fitting
Company: South Metropolitan TAFE
Location: Western Australia
Results at a glance:
Compliant 7-level designs produced faster with real-time calculations
Auto-warnings plus report/materials exports
Better learning outcomes with an intuitive UI and visible compliance
See how this was done:
The Background
Recent changes to Australia's plumbing qualification structure have raised the bar for design assessments, especially for students seeking self-certification. Learners are now required to design a complete building system: circulating heated water, hydrants, hose reels, and non-drinking supplies, across a 7-level scheme.
South Metropolitan TAFE adopted h2x to ensure students can meet these requirements with confidence. The goal was to deliver compliant, real-world designs and turn the classroom into a safe environment for exploring hydraulic behaviour before stepping on site.
The Challenge
Time away from work is costly, and the design workload is substantial. Paper, pen, and spreadsheet workflows slow learning and make iteration hard, particularly when students must balance pressure, velocity and compliance across multiple networks and levels.
The team also needed a way to support mixed digital experience. Some students are "computer-shy", and many lack formal drafting skills. Any platform had to be intuitive, reduce drafting overhead, and make compliance checks transparent.
Interested to learn more about h2x?
The Solution
TAFE made design exercises in h2x software the standard. Real-time calculations let students see cause-and-effect immediately: change a pipe, a branch, or a set-point and the system re-balances on screen. This is ideal for teaching basic hydraulics and for exploring how designs respond to constraints.
The tool's simple interface replaced ink drafting, while exports supported deliverables and assessment. Students could generate materials lists, design reports, and warnings that guide them to compliance, including the challenging Australian Standards requirement limiting pressure variation at mixing-valve/tap inlets. As Alan Hall puts it, students gain experience with a "cutting-edge design method that will surely become the industry norm."
The Results
Teaching moved from static drawings to dynamic, standards-aligned design. Automatic calculations and warnings streamlined assessment, and report exports made marking faster and more objective. The approach also improved student confidence by turning compliance into a visible, repeatable process.
The program now covers the full Australian Standards design requirements while remaining "fit-for-purpose" for clients and employers. In Alan's words: "I am certain that South Metropolitan TAFE is covering all the design requirements... and we could not achieve this if students worked with paper, pen, and spreadsheets." The college can confidently tell prospective students they'll receive the best training available by learning on h2x.
h2x: All-In-One Tool for Calculating, Designing, Estimating, and Paperwork
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