Am i qualified enough?

[Avatar]

I am in a simliar boat and have become quite successful, and there are definately trick that can help you out.

The only way of doing this is to go it alone, as NO one will employ you. I have guys like you offer to work for me for free and I am turning them awy due to lack of work . . .

Did I do it - yes!

Do I recommend it - not to sure if I can. You better be really determined and clued up to walk the path yoiu are contemplating!

 

[Bernie2]

Hmm!

Been a Plumber since 15 now retired so 50 years in the game should have picked up a bit about it by now. All this talk of qualification only disguises what qualification really is.

To get qualified all you are doing is copying somebody else's work and retelling a few scientific principles, qualification by itself is nothing much. Albert Einstein was a railway booking clerk at one time. Probably because he could not get qualified.

The problem is qualification can act as a stop on innovation, after all if its new and not recognized you can hardly have qualification in it.

At one time in the 80's nobody was qualified in computers, now there are all kinds of qualifications in it. My point being that no qualifications at all where required to get things started all it really was was an interest.

The same applies to starting in Plumbing to a certain extent, except Plumbing is not a start up industry so it does have certain regulations you have to follow. The regulations by the way, are usually nothing more than a record of things going wrong in the past and how to avoid them. In other words somebody else's experiences.

The likes of the Building Regs don't actually tell you what to do they only tell you what they want.

In other words they want flue gases safely discharged, they don't tell you how unless you get the guide to the Building Regs and then that is only one way of doing things. But you have to remember if you do it a different way you have to prove its safe.

But when you think about it, you can't get qualified in doing things a different way if they have never been done before. So qualification is only really somebody else's experiences. If we make qualification the only way to be a Plumber we are in danger of shutting out innovation.

 

[franky]

Its disgraceful that our industry is like this. Something needs to be done so that school leavers or people coming into the industry have a path that they can follow, without being scammed by dodgy courses, and come out competent enough to work out on there own.
I think some of the senior members here should think of a proposal that would bring training up to scratch, we could always enlist the help of the CIPHE and bring it forward to an m.p?

 

[Fumble]

I have to agree with joe brown on this one. Many people/plumbers tried to make me feel that I was starting up a business that I know nothing about, when in fact I had become more qualified than some of them and they had been doing it for a few years AND they started without much experience. One thing I would stress is that you only take on a job within your ability and one you can afford to replace if all goes wrong. Insurance is vital, also water regulations. When I started my business I wanted to be taken on by a plumber but as most small businesses do not know you from Adam, they are not going to employ you as you could ruin their reputation if you do not have any ability, so in the end I went alone and built up my own reputation and customer base. In doing this I got to hear about how slap dash and unreliable many of the plumbers were that were trying to put me off in the beginning, that was why they were trying another plumber - me!
If you work within your ability you will gain this valuable experience with time. If you can continue to educate yourself with courses, all the better, but don't let people put you off, before long they will call on you hoping you will do them a cheap job because they know you!

 

[benp6]

op what area are you based in ?

manchester

 

[oldplumber]

you have to start somewhere and sometime and as long as you realise it wont be easy and the balls to stick it out, give it a go, find some mates to help you along the way and give it a few years and youll crack it. good luck. I started out in the game at 45 and 6 years on it isnt easy but you learn a few tricks and gain some good customers and thats what you need most of all - repeat business and word of mouth reccommendations.