Gas Safe Training/Assessment

[cr0ft]

Hi all,

Advice appreciated please! I'm looking at trying to become gas safe qualified and I must say the whole process seems kind of impossible if you are a bit older (32) and already running your own business doing plumbing/electrical work. Qualifications wise, I have a City & Guilds 6129 Level 2 plumbing qualification. No NVQs to my name. I have a degree in Engineering which seems to count for nothing as far as getting GS Qualified is concerned.

Am I right in thinking I have to do over 100 days of training with a gas safe engineer (if I can find one, can't imagine why a competitor would want to train me!) and earn nothing for this time? (again, can't imagine why someone would want to pay me to train me!).

This doesn't seem like a system that will encourage good plumbers already running businesses to train as gas fitters imo, if I'm reading the rules correctly. I do totally understand there's a requirement to have enough experience before being let loose on people's boilers etc but from what I see the on the job experience requirements seem a little over the top.

Am I missing something completely here?

 

[Deleted member 32524]

you will probably only require 35 days as a trained plumber. It may be level 3 though for that. If not 70 days are what you would need.

you must have a mate who is GSR? I work with a plumber who I give plumbing jobs to (when I hear of any or am asked) and he passes me gas work he is asked about. You must get asked from time to time as a plumber if you do or know anyone to do gas work?

You could try and encourage someone who is GSR to do work on your customers boilers i.e services and you provide the jobs? You could charge say £65 and give them £50?

 

[PlumbersMate]

If you train with able skills they offer a placement with them to do your portfolio, at a price obviously

 

[tamz]

If you PM Kirkgas he would be able to tell you better but i think you may have to do it as a category 3.

There is a way to do this as a cat 2 but that depends how busy you are and whether you want to be an employer.

 

[kirkgas]

If you PM Kirkgas he would be able to tell you better but i think you may have to do it as a category 3.

There is a way to do this as a cat 2 but that depends how busy you are and whether you want to be an employer.

tam you dont need me to keep you right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the 6129 is classed as a technical cert not a full qualification so if thats all you have you will be a cat 3 which requires 26 weeks full time course (50-50 split between class and portfolio building) as long as the hours are logged technically they dont need to be done full time, but its very hard to get a training provider to do one day a week or evenings (which obviously takes a lot longer anyway)

 

[tamz]

Yer just being modest Kirk :wink:

 

[on31ll]

what if you have the 6189 ? that cat 3 aswell ? is there a certain course that the colleges run for the 26 weeks ? i thought it all had to me with a gas safe engineer etc ? but obviously kirkgas is the man in the know,

 

[cr0ft]

It's just frustrating that a degree and a fair bit of experience now doesn't count for more than the right piece of paper. We all know the NVQ's are just ticks in the boxes where the assessors get paid to pass you anyway!

Not saying gas-safe shouldn't be hard to get but to me the current system makes it prohibitively expensive to get into doing boilers.

Could I try to find a gas fitter who I could pass my jobs on the basis that they let me do them and help with my portfolio under their experience? That way they get some more jobs for their work.

I could see that working if it was allowed. 70 days off the job for me is a no-no, can't afford that being self-employed!

The thing that's weird about it is that dodgy electrics are just as likely to kill people as dodgy gas work and becoming an electrician is a far more simpler (imo 21st century) training route.