fully qualified plumber in two weeks.

[unguided1]

Yes

I do think they are damaging to the industry for the wrong people. If your a person who has very little practical experiance in anything, these courses are lethal.

If for example your in the building trade already and you want to add to your repetoir of skills for doing the odd bits and pieces then this can be of help.

I also believe that anyone who decides that they are going to train as an architect should have a couple of years experiance of being a plumber/heating engineer, my reason for saying for this is having spent many years doing installations is architects are great at giving the customer what they want but little practical experiance in how we have to implement the design

 

[fuzzy]

I mainly do bathrooms and wetrooms and rarely do boilers, but I did my acs. Would think twice about doing it again if I had to do it every year.

as i keep saying, if its every year it just ONE DAY NOT not the same as now

 

[fuzzy]

Yes

I do think they are damaging to the industry for the wrong people. If your a person who has very little practical experiance in anything, these courses are lethal.

If for example your in the building trade already and you want to add to your repetoir of skills for doing the odd bits and pieces then this can be of help.

I also believe that anyone who decides that they are going to train as an architect should have a couple of years experiance of being a plumber/heating engineer, my reason for saying for this is having spent many years doing installations is architects are great at giving the customer what they want but little practical experiance in how we have to implement the design

often not there problem though, do thye also need to be structural engineer, steel worker, glazer, brickie etc etc

 

[Dormouse]

do you mean that we are going to have to train for ACS every year now instead of 5 years ?

The government are doing that at the moment with truck drivers, they now have to sit a CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) it's 35 hours of extra training every five years or you can do it at 1 day per year to total 35 hours, sounds like a similar thing with the ACS.

 

[fuzzy]

ACS isnt there to train you as a gas fitter, just a competence safetty check , not for newbies

 

[Guest123]

ACS isnt there to train you as a gas fitter, just a competence safetty check , not for newbies

That's so true, but I suspect that some centres take on newbies at face value of their "experience".

 

[fuzzy]

i agree system 3

 

[JohnDryer]

Yes - that is training providers fault.

 

[fuzzy]

and somebody else posts 3 weeks for gas safe! i rest my case

 

[quality]

times change the apprentice route has almost disappeared but a lot has to be said of the individual some folk will pay 5 - 8 grand and will be useless one will get a job at a young age and be very good, get paid very little, but be very good.
qualification numbers mean nothing if the person is even good.
You do not even need a qualification to fit a bathroom or a kitchen sink or an outside tap
What you do need is customers
Now where is the fast track or apprenticeship in that

 

[GQuigley67]

not in scotland, the apprenticeship is essential as level 3 is the minimum required up here

 

[desrob]

times change the apprentice route has almost disappeared but a lot has to be said of the individual some folk will pay 5 - 8 grand and will be useless one will get a job at a young age and be very good, get paid very little, but be very good.
qualification numbers mean nothing if the person is even good.
You do not even need a qualification to fit a bathroom or a kitchen sink or an outside tap
What you do need is customers
Now where is the fast track or apprenticeship in that

i beg to differ, qualification are needed for the above.....!

 

[fuzzy]

times change the apprentice route has almost disappeared but a lot has to be said of the individual some folk will pay 5 - 8 grand and will be useless one will get a job at a young age and be very good, get paid very little, but be very good.
qualification numbers mean nothing if the person is even good.
You do not even need a qualification to fit a bathroom or a kitchen sink or an outside tap
What you do need is customers
Now where is the fast track or apprenticeship in that

apprenticeship route has definitely not disapeared, its alive, kicking and very healthy, it is here to stay. saying this is misleading

 

[yorkieplumber]

Yes
I started in 1978 a full apprenticeship and got C&G advanced craft in Plumbing.

Working yesterday with my new apprentice, and just before we turned the water back on I said "have you double checked all your fittings are soldered or tightened" ......... Yes he replied, so I got him to turn on the water, we got a leak............... a compression nut I forgot to tighten!

He got the blame though........ I said he should have checked mine too.

Ha Ha like it.

 

[yorkieplumber]

Oh by the way did mine in 1978 full apprenticeship and got C&G advanced, we also did leadwork and glazing was part of the job to, i worked for my firm for 5 years then bit the bullet and went self employed, still learning till this day things have changed in a huge way new products etc.

So my answer is it takes a dam sight longer than 2 weeks or even 2 years to be let loose on peoples houses, i blame the goverment, also standards are low workmanship etc, my theory is simple, when i complete a job i would be happy to show anybody it, and put my name to it, maybe i have been lucky but in 28 years of been self employed i have always got paid, its not just the work you carry out but its also the way you treat customers, like turn up when you say you are, dust sheets, politness to customers and treating there propery with respect, leave job as if you hadnt been there by hoovering up etc, its all common sense really, or am i old fashioned but that how my boss taught me.

 

[GQuigley67]

Oh by the way did mine in 1978 full apprenticeship and got C&G advanced, we also did leadwork and glazing was part of the job to, i worked for my firm for 5 years then bit the bullet and went self employed, still learning till this day things have changed in a huge way new products etc.

So my answer is it takes a dam sight longer than 2 weeks or even 2 years to be let loose on peoples houses, i blame the goverment, also standards are low workmanship etc, my theory is simple, when i complete a job i would be happy to show anybody it, and put my name to it, maybe i have been lucky but in 28 years of been self employed i have always got paid, its not just the work you carry out but its also the way you treat customers, like turn up when you say you are, dust sheets, politness to customers and treating there propery with respect, leave job as if you hadnt been there by hoovering up etc, its all common sense really, or am i old fashioned but that how my boss taught me.

agree completely with you mate, its down to common sense really a persons home is there HOME and you are a stranger, so should treat it with respect and they will respect you. I honestly hate it when I've had work done in my house and come home to find a mess i.e the sky man ! i would never leave a job in a mess

 

[fagsanbooz]

Oh by the way did mine in 1978 full apprenticeship and got C&G advanced, we also did leadwork and glazing was part of the job to, i worked for my firm for 5 years then bit the bullet and went self employed, still learning till this day things have changed in a huge way new products etc.

So my answer is it takes a dam sight longer than 2 weeks or even 2 years to be let loose on peoples houses, i blame the goverment, also standards are low workmanship etc, my theory is simple, when i complete a job i would be happy to show anybody it, and put my name to it, maybe i have been lucky but in 28 years of been self employed i have always got paid, its not just the work you carry out but its also the way you treat customers, like turn up when you say you are, dust sheets, politness to customers and treating there propery with respect, leave job as if you hadnt been there by hoovering up etc, its all common sense really, or am i old fashioned but that how my boss taught me.

bang on the button yorkie, always said to apprentices, imagine you put your car in for a service (young peoples pride and joy + very expensive!) and the mechanic left grease on the upholstery, scratch marks on dash, dirty fingerprints on bonnet, and dirt all over floor but still asked for top dollar and said 'what's the problem mate?' Now magnify that 20/30 times and you get why people are so 'fussy' about their homes!
BTW I've just had a plasterer in and picked him cos i've seen how tidy he is at others houses!!

 

[Guest123]

Yes, tidying up after yourself is common courtesy and not an extra. When working in peoples homes, I always try to leave the house in the same condition as when I came in and do this every day on longer jobs too.
I've even started using a wet vac in loos and cracked open fittings so as not to accidentally spill water when stripping them out, overkill I know but I've not had one single mark on a ceiling since!

 

[dontknowitall]

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

This clean and tidy behaviour and treating the customers as I'd like to be treated is the most important part of my job. Sometimes if I clean up the area I've been working in and it's cleaner than the rest of the floor, I'll tidy up the whole room. If I repair a loo, I usually clean the whole item and chuck some loo cleaner down as well. Dust sheet down over their door mat if it's raining. I find things like this make all the difference.

I let down a customer recently. It was a job that I'd started before Christmas and never went back to finish. I got a phone call about 3 weeks ago and said I'd turn up the following week ... and didn't. Anyway, last week I did turn up with HUGE apologies and told them I was embarrassed by my inaction (which I was). Unfortunately I'd been let down by a supplier and this made things worse.

When I turned up though, I walked in with a small pot plant in each hand. They told me there was no need and I said I knew there was no need but I'd let them down badly.

A couple of hours later I'd finished the job.

They asked me to return this week with another job lasting a day. (They'd asked another plumber and he hadn't returned).

And in the summer there may well be a £3,000 heating upgrade to do.

My diagnosis of problems might not be good (fast tracker) but I don't think I've installed anything incorrectly and I know another (more experienced) plumber who helps out from time to time (he helps me, I help him). Both of us are clean and tidy and have spent the last 3 years picking up all sorts of jobs from the regular plumbers in the area.

 

[fuzzy]

all training funding is going into apprenticeships so why would you say the apprenticeship route is dead unless you are scaremongering or ignorant

 

[GQuigley67]

they'll be banning fast track courses soon, just a matter of time really

 

[Guest123]

Now that we're saving a "whopping" great one pence off the price of fuel, we'll all be able to afford fast track courses. Next week I'm going to be a neuro surgeon, then the week after.....

 

[tamz]

With the new apprenticeship places announced today neuro surgery just might be on the list but MacDonald s and Tesco's might snap them all up quickly!

Filled the van up today and it took £109.20! 137.9 a litre. Actually looked under it to check it wasn't running out.

 

[Guest123]

£137.9 a litre is shocking and the motorway services are even dearer. When you think that we're the biggest oil producing nation in Europe too! Going to try and see if I can get the motor to run on Boss White....

 

[dontknowitall]

£1.379 a litre? You lucky thing! It's £142.9 to £146.9 round here.