self employed and progression

[sandy]

if you have 6129 from OLCI or other training centre and go self employed before completing the NVQ side.. can you complete the NVQ asessments as self employed or do you have to be working for an experienced plumber?

 

[oldplumber]

I did nvq 2 and 3 through working for myself providing evidence on work undertaken and by working alongside/with a qualified rgi for the boilers and other gas related work, not easy but possible.

 

[sandy]

Thanks oldplumber... That's exactly what I wanted to hear.. I just need to find out what will happen when the new quals come out

if you don't mind oldplumber, how long did it take you to get fully qualified? I take it you started out as a wet only and worked up?

 

[philtheflush]

ello sandy i qualify in june my 6129 ive put a few biz cards out no jobs yet but thats the route i want to go how are u doing are u self employed

 

[oldplumber]

I spent 20 years doing up houses and moving up the ladder, my cousin was a time served heating engineer and showed us the basics to install ch systems, and he commisioned my first boiler (before corgi apppeared). I moved to devon 8 years back and ran a bb, prior to gutting it and turning it into flats and a house for the wife and kids. During the refurb which took 18 months for 3 flats I started a 6129 level 2. Then i took a year off to finish my place and a final flat (did most of the work myself hence the long timescale, but only had the bank to keep happy and no real pressure). Then went back to college to do a level 3 6129 and quickly knocked out nvq 2 and 3 using my flats and outside work I was doing at this time, for on site evidence. During the final year at college I used the rgi I had commisssion and installed my flat boilers for works experience required for acs quals. Did the acs exams in my final year at college, signed up with gas safe and tiddly ho off we went. The best bit being a lot of the customers who i had worked for doing small plumbing jobs had all been awaiting my gas quals and I have been installing a steady number of boilers for them since then. Be assured being nice to your customers whilst you are training pays dividends when you have all your tickets. Be assured that no matter how much experience you get during training, it never seems enough and you will always be learning, cultivate any contacts you get with other rgis as they are your best source of help when stuck wondering why the boiler in front of you still wont work when you have tested every last bit of it.

See guys I can be a positive little plumber (can I get sarcastic now? its more fun!!!)

 

[sandy]

Phil - I'm still deciding which route to go down.. Probably do a course at olci or similar and follow the oldplumber template.. Cheers for that oldplumber, was good that you had plenty work to give you the on site stuff.. My parents are planning a refurb of their house, kitchen and bathroom.. Would make a cushy start to my portfolioof on site stuff..

Cheers again guys

 

[tony.bac]

Sandy – you definitely can do this, as oldplumbers story shows, but it helps to have a project to work on – the parents house sounds ideal. As he says though, you need to build your gas portfolio of evidence with a gas safe register engineer so you won’t be able to do that bit on your own if you take it that far. I’ve only done the NVQ2 so far but trying to squeeze in my L3 when I get a spare minute! Did all the basic through olci in Livingston, they sort out all the assessor visits for your nvq for you which was easy enough. Did the 8 week course before that which was good fun and taught me everything I needed before getting out there - practice makes perfect though, as they say.

 

[sandy]

Thanks for that tony.. If I go ahead with this, which is looking likely, I would be doing the training at olci Livingston aswell.. I live 20 minutes away from their centre.

Did you go it alone after completing the 6129? Are you going to do level 3 at olci aswell?

 

[charliejamesuk]

Hi All,

I'm due to start my 6129 at The Training Academy in Edenbridge, Kent next month. Looking forward to it!
Cheers
CJ

 

[kirkgas]

Thanks for that tony.. If I go ahead with this, which is looking likely, I would be doing the training at olci Livingston aswell.. I live 20 minutes away from their centre.

Did you go it alone after completing the 6129? Are you going to do level 3 at olci aswell?

i work at South Lanarkshire College in East Kilbride, we are running NVQ2 courses which lead to full ACS, 26 wks full time (invluding 10 wk placement), you should go online and get some info on it

 

[sandy]

kirkgas - thanks.. been on the web site, i could only see the level 3 svq and you need to be an apprentice for that..

you wouldnt mind posting a link would you?

cheers again,