Want to be a plumber?

[fuzzy]

good post, i dont think there will be wholesale redundnacies but there are alot of newly qualified cannot get work unless for their selves. look at other posts, people working for free bathrooms fitted and supplied for less than £300. thats the current situation for alot of plumbers. not much work and the work thats there is at a cut price and posters having to work for nothing just to get experience!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[newbie1]

i wish people would wake up are they all zombies or what
no body does a search and then post
i want to be a plumber/i want to be a gas engineer how long after my 12 weeks training will i be on 30000 a year
whats the quickest way to get my acs with minimal amount of hands on experience i need to earn 30000 quickly to pay my mortgage
THEN
i cant get a job with any companies and cant afford to be self employed
i have paid thousands and now ime broke
i thought i would be minted by now
why didnt anyone sit me down and explain i thought i only needed to do a 12 week course and i would be snowed under with work

 

[julesverne]

great post squirrel i thought i would add my experience.

i became a plumber because i like the hands on side and also it is very technical. firstly i think if you go into a career hearing there's loads of money to be earned isn't it a case if it sounds to good to be true it generally is. that said it is possible to earn £40,000 a year but you can't do it from day one, also you will never earn this changing taps and the odd leaking washer etc(only from my experience).
To earn good money these days it is simply not enough to be a good plumber you have to be a good business man and be very good in the art of customer service. you won't won't earn a lot when you first start because no one knows you exist, you have to advertise i would say a good colour add in the yellow pages is a must and start from there( i incidentally spend over £7,000 a year advertising)even though i do get a lot repeat custom. there are loads of other things you can do which don't cost the earth. learn other skills too i can tile and plaster to an excellent standard and because of that i get loads of bathroom jobs because customers don't have to get multiple tradesmen in. yes it does get lonely my answer buy a DAB radio/ cd player. tune into something like radio 5 and give your opinion to the numpties who phone in and radio 1/2 for a good sing song , it works for me. after 3 1/2 years i have finally got gas safe registered and life as a plumber is good i have plenty of work even in these hard times but it's not because i've been lucky it's because like any other business you have to work at it all the time.

hope this helps

 

[fuzzy]

earning potential can be 100k a year if you work the hours. what is the profit though?? people dont realise there can be quite a difference

 

[Grovesy1000]

Evening all,

Some terrific advice and comments here which I'm soaking up, being currently a 46 year old civil servant staring redundancy in the face next month. I've done a few small bits and piece around my own home and haven't flooded it out so far! Keen on getting into the renewable side of things and am looking to start training in November, doing the necessary C&G and then the NVQ. Is it realistic does anyone think for a bloke my age to effectively be start again? I'm not naive enough to think this time next year I'll be raking in £50K+ but I'd like to think I could make a go of plumbing
Grateful for any more advice anyone may be able to send my way.
Many thanks.


Ian

 

[dontknowitall]

Trouble with renewables for the self employed is the MSC creditation scheme or whatever it is. It's a fairly major obstacle. There's another post on this floating about somewhere round here.

 

[REDSAW]

Evening all,

Some terrific advice and comments here which I'm soaking up, being currently a 46 year old civil servant staring redundancy in the face next month. I've done a few small bits and piece around my own home and haven't flooded it out so far! Keen on getting into the renewable side of things and am looking to start training in November, doing the necessary C&G and then the NVQ. Is it realistic does anyone think for a bloke my age to effectively be start again? I'm not naive enough to think this time next year I'll be raking in £50K+ but I'd like to think I could make a go of plumbing
Grateful for any more advice anyone may be able to send my way.
Many thanks.


Ian

doubt you will be able to achieve the nvq without employment as it is due to be phased out. check forums.

 

[fuzzy]

not possible to get an nvq or new version without employment

 

[bateman1]

hello,
i have a few question.

did you go working on your own straight after completing the fast track course?
how long was the fast track course?
did you get much work after completing it?
would you advice doing the fasttrack course?

thanks alot ryan

 

[fuzzy]

i didnt do a fastrack mate, maybe somebody can help you here, plenty of posts on the same thing

 

[Grovesy1000]

I've not completed the training yet - first bit is due to take 2 months but that won't be the end of it. Not sure of the rules, if any, on working on your own with just the C&G and no NVQ.
I don't know if setting up on your own and doing pieces of work can count towards evidence of competency or if you have to actually be employed by a firm. I'm guessing, and it is only a guess, you can provide any evidence of competency in order to gain the NVQ regardless of who you've done it for or who commissioned it.
More experienced guys on here will hopefully be albe to comfirm one way or the other.

 

[Jamie Banks]

What about additional costs such as insurance, cscs card, petrol etc at first think the negatives out weigh the positives but that is the learning curve.

 

[fuzzy]

i can confirm that the work and evidence proivded for nvq or new qual has to be signed by a qualified and/or experienced plumber who has witnessed you do the work and to verify its to a standard accepted (different to being assessed)

 

[DJNelsonHeating]

It's always going to be slow initially, and work doesn't fall in your lap.

I have found avertising is key - you have the training, the qualifications, the registration with Gas Safe, the insurance... and no-one knows you are there! That, and treating customers as you would expect to be treated - fair prices for good quality work by a polite, personable professional.

Also, income and profit are not the same - perhaps many of those stating 50k a year may mean income - then take out your overheads - registration, insurance, van, clothing, tools, diesel, expendables such as mapp gas, leak detection fluid, ptfe tape - it all adds up. And anyone stating 50k a year has built it up over maaaaanny years, so not even comparable to a new startup. Crawl, walk, then run.

 

[Dave (chris)]

Excellent advice and reality checks in this thread for those of us starting out. I'm in a very similar position to Grovesy1000, and the reality is that you can make a go of it but it's hard.

But I've gone via a Further Education College as it's cheaper and I don't trust the "Fast-track" people.

By the way - send me £5000 and I'll tell you how to be a millionaire :joker:

 

[leelister6]

"By the way - send me £5000 and I'll tell you how to be a millionaire :joker:"

Send me your bank details and I'll send you the money!!:santa3:

 

[Deleted member 25704]

not possible to get an nvq or new version without employment

Fuzzy, are you sure about this situation about work experience being needed for an NVQ. The new QCF is designed for existing workers and for entry to 'licence to practice' for those entrants coming into the industry. Assessment methodologies have been changed to cater for this situation, which allow simulated assessment in purpose built assessment building (not connected to training) to allow assessment of 'occupational competence'.

Its my understanding that employers or employment, will not stand in the way of the green deal - anyone pitching up for courses will get the NVQ. The Leitch review targets also rely on this, because current employers cannot train the numbers required to meet Leitch targets for intermediate qualifications by 2020.

Although I don't agree with this situation, I can't see training centres going bust, because customers can't find work placements - capitalism doesn't work like this, because customers get what they want to pay for - and there is a huge demand!

 

[jase158]

2 points I want to add,

1. always take a deposit for larger jobs, no way I am owing the merchant money for someone else, if they haven't got money for materials, chances are they don't have money for labour.
2. It is even lonelier when the customer turns around and says, well it was working before you came, so you explain the exact problem and they simply say, well it was working before you came and I am not paying until you fix it,
well obviously it wasn't working other wise you wouldn't of rung me.

 

[karenmorgan]

lol I have the basic tools I need and no van at all. What little jobs I do take on, my husband drives me there. That will have to do for now. The plumber I work with provides me with copper etc if I'm going to a job without him ( I know I have landed on my feet with him!) I only have cheap tools but they do the job. I have 2 drills which my plumber gave me (again, I am lucky) and they do the job fine. To be honest, I like turning up with older looking tools as it isn't so obvious that you're just starting out lol. As far as the confidence goes, I just hope that grows with time. I havn't even done my level 2 NVQ yet but I'm willing to have a go at anything. I'm fixing guttering for my neighbour next. I know how to do the guttering but I've never done it 2 storys high before lol. Still, only way to learn is to get up there and do it!

 

[jase158]

lol I have the basic tools I need and no van at all. What little jobs I do take on, my husband drives me there. That will have to do for now. The plumber I work with provides me with copper etc if I'm going to a job without him ( I know I have landed on my feet with him!) I only have cheap tools but they do the job. I have 2 drills which my plumber gave me (again, I am lucky) and they do the job fine. To be honest, I like turning up with older looking tools as it isn't so obvious that you're just starting out lol. As far as the confidence goes, I just hope that grows with time. I havn't even done my level 2 NVQ yet but I'm willing to have a go at anything. I'm fixing guttering for my neighbour next. I know how to do the guttering but I've never done it 2 storys high before lol. Still, only way to learn is to get up there and do it!

Love it, as you finnish give customer my number so I can fix your mistakes.

 

[karenmorgan]

FUNNY!!!! You should read my other posts before you jump to conclusions!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[karenmorgan]

Love it, as you finnish give customer my number so I can fix your mistakes.

This is what I love about sites like this! Jump straight in feet first. Think it's a male thing! I never profess to be a plumber and I never have and people know that. They also are fully aware I am still training. May surprise you to know that there are actually some jobs I am capable of doing and people are willing to let me do them free of charge as it's all experience for me. Everything I do is checked by the plumber I work with. There's nothing quite like comments like that to make people feel less confident than they already do!!!!

 

[karenmorgan]

If everyone thinks it's so lonely, then why aren't more plumbers more open to taking on apprentices? As a newbie, I can't understand why everyone has such a hard job finding a plumber to take them out FOR FREE!!!! I understand the insurance side and all that but if they're supervised what's the issue?

 

[dontknowitall]

... May surprise you to know that there are actually some jobs I am capable of doing ...

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making tea and coffee

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I jest - total chauvanistic comment but I just couldn't resist!!!!

When I started I went to a particular merchant most days and there was a female plumber there ordering goodness knows how much stuff - daily. Obviously a much faster worker than I was back then.

Also one or two females on the courses at the training centre I attended.



Absolutely nothing wrong with female plumbers.

Honest!!!!

(And, if truth be told, the fairer brethren do tend to make better drinks - hehe!!)

 

[DJNelsonHeating]

Good on you, Karen.

Good luck with it.