Laurie Young, who wrote the WRAS Water Regulations Guide alongside Graham Mays, passed away on December 8 last year.
Described as the ‘father’ of the Water Fittings Regulations, Young trained as an engineer and later became head of water supply, sewerage and sewerage treatment at the Government’s Property Services Agency (PSA). In this role he was responsible for the PSA’s public buildings, military installations, housing and hospitals.
Young also served on several BSI committees, including water supply (B504), giving advice on technical and legal topics and representing the public interest.
After retiring from the PSA, Young was engaged as a consultant to the Drinking Water Inspectorate, which provided technical input to the Water Division of the Department of the Environment.
He also undertook the drafting of Government Guidance to the Water Fittings Regulations, founded on the Water Byelaws Guide. Young and Mays later developed ‘recommendations’ for complying with the regulations, and in consultation with UK water suppliers, they wrote the WRAS Water Regulations Guide.