Becoming a Plumber

[IrishAido]

Mornin lad's n' lassies

I'm new to this site. Please forgive me if this has been covered countless times. I'm sure posters like me have come and gone and I'm hoping I can be put in the right direction.

To start off, I'm not afraid of a hard long road. I'm not into the quick fix 12 weeks plumbing courses. I just don't buy it. It sounds dodgy and reeks of holes.

I've been in sales since I was 18, and now at the age of 31 I want to become a plumber. I realise it's a little bit later than ideal, but I don't feel I'm too ancient just yet

What certificates do I shoot for ? I'd be keen to go to college for 3 days per week but what course do I start on ? Where do I go from there ? When does work placement come into it ? I do have a friend of mine who runs his own firm, and I reckon if I show a certain level of interest he might take me on in due course. He was very keen on me going to study this and to change my career.

Also......and sorry about all the questions.......but how greatly does plumbing in the Uk differ from the U.S ? The missus is American and I can see us make the move in the next 10 - 15 years. It would be nice to be able to continue over there perhaps in a self employed manner. I don't imagine I would even look at self employment for another 10 years being realistic about what I imagine it entails to be a self employed plumber. Like I say, I don't buy the whole fast track stuff

I really appreciate any advice given.

 

[moony]

hi mate ideally you need your nvqs - you have to be working for someone to gain these or pay thousands to get an assessor out to any jobs your on....

tech certs are ok but again they are not helpful to gain employment as you need nvqs to be realsitically looked at from an employers point of view....

amercia, from what i gather its a lot of warm air heating by ventilation and ductwork - so perhaps you'd be better going for a course in heating and ventialtion 6088... do a search.

good on you for doing it.

ive been in construction for 10 yrs or so, at the age of 28 i decided to go back to apprenticeship wage and go for it. it took me 3 years of 165 quid a week to get where i am now - qualified and starting up my own business.

it can be done.... all this while missis pregnant with 2 kids already in the crew.

struggled but hey its well worth it.


a lot of hard work and a ilttle bit of luck

wish you the best

 

[IrishAido]

hi mate ideally you need your nvqs - you have to be working for someone to gain these or pay thousands to get an assessor out to any jobs your on....

tech certs are ok but again they are not helpful to gain employment as you need nvqs to be realsitically looked at from an employers point of view....

amercia, from what i gather its a lot of warm air heating by ventilation and ductwork - so perhaps you'd be better going for a course in heating and ventialtion 6088... do a search.

good on you for doing it.

ive been in construction for 10 yrs or so, at the age of 28 i decided to go back to apprenticeship wage and go for it. it took me 3 years of 165 quid a week to get where i am now - qualified and starting up my own business.

it can be done.... all this while missis pregnant with 2 kids already in the crew.

struggled but hey its well worth it.


a lot of hard work and a ilttle bit of luck

wish you the best

Thank you for your response q-plumb. That was very helpful. So it seems there is a bit of a catch 22. One can't seek employment without nvqs, but one can't obtain nvqs without employment.....

Did you do your tech certs before getting your NVQs ? Did you manage to get an apprentice at 28 ? Nice going if you did ! Was it on the basis that you came from a construction background and so had a little bit of knowledge ? I'm coming from sales with zero knowledge, just a desire to learn and practise (lol)

Nice advice on the 6088 ! I need to go look at this.

So am I right in summarizing that I should go get my tech certs, then apply for an apprenticeship for 3 years whilst trying to obtain nvqs. If this is the case then I would have absolutely no problem working for £165 a week. I've lived on less, and like you say, it'd be well worth it

Lewisham college are doing courses that last 1 year. The course title is level 1 certificate, and they also do level 2 and 3.
Link

So by right I'm looking at 3 years study in order to get to level 3 certificate level ? Am I right in saying that once I have done 3 years study I join an apprenticeship (if I can get one) and spend another 3 years doing my nvqs ?

Sorry I'm just a bit confused by all of this

 

[moony]

your tech certs arent that dificult a good book to buy is the plumbing level 2 by hienemans (check spelling) i have about 10 books ranging from the level 2 and 3 books (60 for both)- to the central heating fault finding books by john regninald (60 quid for them both) plus a lot fo magazines from plumb centre etc etc. never have too much info - and if you keep on top of it all you'll know a lot more than some of the lads who passed there time years ago and dont bother keeping up to date with everything.

im not sure about how the tech cert works on its own i done it as part of the course, nvq level 2 in heating in vent, included the 6028 level 2 tech cert. so best bet is trying to get with someone, get onto an apprenticsehip course all paid for by funding...

i work 32 hours a week for my boss - im part time on my own the rest of the week. he pays minimum wage - and i am doing a lot for the 5.82 an hour i earn off him -but without him i wouldnt of got this far so i am really grateful. I will be leaving him eventually but even though it is rubbish money - the people you meet, the contacts i have got and the experience i have gained has been invaluable.

I have worked in construction most of my life working in places like heathrow terminal 3 back in 99, vauxhalls and many other places, pipe fitting, welding, planning jobs and its all helped me, but plumbing is really something else and i was probably just as bad as a fresh faced 16 yr old when i started lol...

but i am in my books every night, on the net, always looking for free courses.

i now fit high end bathrooms, worktop butt and scribe joins, plastering, tiling, run cables, boiler instals, landlords central heating underfloor, rainwater harvesting etc etc.

the heating side fault finding is becomming a fave of mine - a lot of local plumbers seem to struggle on boilers and faults in systems... so this is an excellent place to start to gain a good rep- fixing problems others cant so concentrate on that too.

i still get people slagging me off - oh he only started his apprenticeship a few years ago - now he thinks he can go off on his own- people i know and trusted are trying to knock me back - take it all inb your stride mate - people who are important will back you.

good luck any help or advice feel free to ask. great place this. just do things the right way if you can. short quick fix courses are the wrong way to go.

the tech cert is getting fazed out too - soon it will be even more difficult for the quick fix course to try and get people in through the back door with no work experience.

plumbing is a saturated trade now, too many unqualified people trying to get qualified - but if you can get yourself in the right position with a good employer your halfway there.

hopefully your mate could help you out?

 

[mani]

irish aido, Thnaks for a good question, as i'm in the same boat as you.
q-plumb thanks for some excellent advice.

 

[Bernie2]

Hi! Mani,

Never worked in the States, apparently what those who have tell, is that you require like OZ a licence to be a Plumber. Some have said the Plumbers in the US are specialists in branches of Plumbing, such as sanitary fixers, pipe fitters, drain guys I suppose and so on. Whereas in the UK a Plumber does the lot and is expected to be able to do the lot.

A mate of mine said the pipework over there is mostly screwed iron and its terrible stuff. It snaps. Perhaps it was just the area they where in?

Go on a US Plumbing forum they will tell you more.

I would say, in the UK, what employers look for are
1. ACS's,
2. Ability to do the work.

The problem today of course, is that it seems the only way to get either is through some kind of college or training course. In the old days the companies taught you. Funnily enough practical experience seems to be what companies still look for.

I suppose its a question of, who would you hire to fix your Rolls Royce car, a man with an NVQ or a man who had worked for Rolls Royce fixing their cars for years?

Its the same in the Plumbing game I suppose.

But don't get disheartened it can be done.