what sort of course should i do to become a plumber??????

[peterg]

i was looking at a 2 month course and they say i can obtain a NVQ level 2 after the 2 months of intense training,is that any good?

Also how safe is plumbing?im nerves putting the gas fire on in the house so how safe is it dealing with boliers and gas all the time


Thanks guys


Peter

 

[Barry98]

welcome to the forum peterg , if you use the search button you will find theres plenty of topics covering this but in a nut shell - theres too many plumbers out there , not enough work and you will not earn 50-60k a year like reported in the media

but good luck

 

[WaterTight]

And to add a further bit of info I don't think any course out there can guarantee you an NVQ in 2 months. It could theoretically be done but would be pretty unlikely. Also quite scary . I spent 3 months longer than that just getting the 6129.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

just to add a bit further still. you won't be working on gas at all after two months so don't worry about that.

 

[Titanium Trades]

In 2 months you wont get NVQ Lv.2 only the C&G 6129 which will go towards an NVQ Level 2. The 2 month course will give you a good insight into plumbing but of course theres lots more to learn! The industry is on a fall at the moment but within 2 years it should 'hopefully' start getting back on track...we all hope!

 

[monkeywrenchps]

Aye. Don't fall for the marketing stich some course providers will give you. You'll get your C&G 6129 in 2 months but the won't qualify for the NVQ until you've had a number of site visits and had your work tested. The 8 week course is a good place to start and will give you basic skills and knowledge to be expanded upon later. Also the gas course is another 4 weeks with a minimum of 3 months of inspections and mentoring before you can become gas safe registered.

 

[Guest123]

Why not do a course in ceramic tiling instead of plumbing? All my tilers make good money and are fully booked for months in advance. Tiling courses are cheaper too and there is more demand for tiling than plumbing at present.

 

[gravytrain]

Why not do a course in ceramic tiling instead of plumbing?

a good idea.

you'll have to do tiling anyway if you want to make money on your bathrooms.

 

[Mike Jackson]

Book yourself on a therapy course if you want to go into plumbing at the moment because you must be deranged. No one in their right mind would enter the profession at the moment. More large firms are shedding people and most of these (including me) are being forced into self employment because no one is recruiting at the moment. Prices are being forced down by the black market mob to the point where you'll lose less money sitting watching Jeremy Kyle than trying to do the job for that price. Only way to make money in plumbing at the moment is to be employed and use the bosses materials doing foreigners at the weekends.

 

[mountainman]

Depressing news but true!

 

[peterg]

wow guys thanks for the info

so,tiling you say,interesting.

But i know that plumbers are charging 50pound an hour in london,is that not true?

Guys i need your help,im broke,30 and need to find something that will make me money and also make my parents proud of me

Thanks Guys

Peter

 

[rodders]

If you only want it for the money, thats a good enough reason not to do it. There's no money in plumbing despite what people say.

There was a post on here a few days ago advertising plumbing jobs from across the UK and the wages was only slightly above national minimum wage. You can earn more and have less stress at a supermarket till.

 

[Guest123]

wow guys thanks for the info

so,tiling you say,interesting.

But i know that plumbers are charging 50pound an hour in london,is that not true?

Guys i need your help,im broke,30 and need to find something that will make me money and also make my parents proud of me

Thanks Guys

Peter

As I said try a tiling course. The work is hard but very rewarding. As you become more experienced in tiling, you can always take a course in bathroom installation which is still plumbing and offer your customers a full tiling and bathroom installation service.

Best of luck to you. Before you can make your parents proud of you, you have to feel proud of yourself first.

 

[tamz]

The industry is on a fall at the moment but within 2 years it should 'hopefully' start getting back on track

Who has been filling your head with fairytales? More like 10 years if we are lucky and it will never go back to how it was. When prices drop it takes a long time for them to rise again. We are below 1990's rates now.

 

[Mike Jackson]

Gas safe registered plumbers may be charging £50 an hour in London but they are not earning £50 an hour. You've got to take off costs of Public liability insurance, vehicle costs, cost of tools, workwear, congestion charge, retraining every 5 years etc. You've also got to look at the non billable hours. Time spent on bookwork, pricing etc.

All is far from rosy in the plumbing world at the moment and it's definitely not a way to make money quickly. To make a reasonable living you'll need to train to level 3 and get gas safe or oftec registered and build up a business. You may be earning a reasonable wage in around ten years.

 

[ecowarm]

So the 2 month course and you can charge £50/hr, just how much info can your brain take in in 2 months?

The problem with the low wages is exactly this! Another one with no knowledge with a van, charging peanuts in a couple of months.

The thing is it may take you 2 weeks to do a job a proper plumber could do in 3 Hrs.

 

[Guest123]

So true Tamz, so true. I know plumbers working the night shift stacking shelves in Asda, just to make ends meet.

 

[Guest123]

......and all those fast track course providers claiming plumbers can make 70k profit a year should be reported to the Advertising Standards Authority and bloody well prosecuted for misleading advertising.

 

[jtsplumbing]

These £50 per hr guys in London proberly been at it for years, doing call out work, Plumbing not a wise move just now their's proberly more plumbers out of work than in at the moment, But some good programs on day time TV, or catch up on your X box games.

 

[rodders]

I heard someone say once "would you trust a doctor that trained in 2 months?" lol

 

[Roger Welton]

They may be charging £50 an hour, but by the time youve taken into account traveling time, quoting (sometimes fruitless), admin, training and so on all of which are not billable the £ per hour averaged out through the day drops very quickly, then take off ACS, gas safe registration, PLI, tools, van purchase and running costs even less.

The headline figure looks very apealing, but you need to sit down and work out the actual £/hr and you find it's not so good!

 

[flat pack]

About 5 years on low pay
4 years on a 4 day a week
Then your somewhere near

 

[tamz]

I heard someone say once "would you trust a doctor that trained in 2 months?" lol

If they allowed fastrack doctors or surgeons i can just imagine him (or her), straight out the geez a job training centre, being at a simple appendix job for a week before giving up and the patient if salvageable, needing a major rebuild when he was finished :lol:

 

[lambchop]

imho please do not go into plumbing and gas if you dont have a really genuine interest in the subject, enjoy working with your hands, dont mind hard graft, even if you love doing it there are days that you can happily throttle custard/site agent/apprentice etc...

Its definately not a 'get rich quick' thing, if you want to make your parents proud, do something that your passionate about, apply yourself and be happy.


Got to go theres some 'trisha' re runs on the box....

 

[jtsplumbing]

Hi lambchop ! what time is Trisha on ? I like Jerry Springer and Judge Judy ! will it clash with any of these ???