Jon Lewis

Elected 2018

Jon Lewis was President of Master Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers NZ from 2018-2023, and serves on the Board’s Health and Safety, and Disciplinary Committees. 

Jon has over 30 years’ experience of running plumbing companies. 

He and his wife Jan founded The Lewis Plumbing Company (NZ) Ltd in Rotorua and, after many years and ready for a change of pace, sold the business in 2021. Jon and Jan continue to operate Backflow Prevention Ltd, which has also been in operation for the past 20 years.  

Jon is a specialist in cross connection control and backflow prevention and regularly tutors, and consults with councils around New Zealand around water infrastructure. 

As well as being on the Master Plumbers Board, he has a range of roles and responsibilities in governing and influencing the plumbing industry: 

• Standards Australia Working Group for Plumbing and Drainage Standards and Backflow Prevention Standard (2015)
• Standards NZ Working Group (2015)
• Water NZ Backflow Group—Master Plumbers’ representative (2015)
• WSP Opus tutor (2016)
• Committee for Materials in Contact with Drinking Water (2021)
• PDG Technical Reference Group for Waihanga Ara Rau (2022)

A member of Master Plumbers for more than 20 years, Jon is a staunch supporter of the organisation’s industry advocacy role. He believes that by getting involved in committees and boards, tradespeople and practitioners play a critical role in bringing hands-on understanding to governance and decision making.  
 
“You’ve got to think about what our members want, and what industry benefits there are for them. It’s important our industry has a voice and, to do this, you have to be open to discussion, ideas and concepts, and add value by making fully considered decisions. 

“I have the ability to see situations from both sides, and I can change my way of thinking if I see there's a better way of getting the right outcome.”  
 
Training is another passion of Jon’s, and he believes every business owner should be training at least one apprentice. He sees this as a vital way of future-proofing the industry and passing knowledge from one generation to the next. 
 
“I’m passionate about plumbing being a trade that people recognise as highly skilled and professional,” he says.