becoming a plumber/gas man

AHarvey

AHarvey

AHarvey

Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2008
Posts
10,084
Location
Stoke area
Hey,

You may have seen my thread about a plumber coming to my house and charging a fortune. Well, I have been wanting to get into a proper trade for years but I have never had the opportunity to do so, plus I can't afford to start off as an apprentice. I have a mortgage, a wedding to save for as well as the normal bills. Basic rate would kill me. I have done 70 hour weeks in front of computers for software companies, sales, customer service etc etc. Currently in a decent job where I know I will be running the UK site in about 2 years. However, it doesn't pay great at the moment and its not really want I want to do.

I am looking at taking a course during my spare time in order to become a qualified plumber/gas man so I can at least start off on a decent rate.

Anyone know of the best way of doing this? anyone done it themselves?

I've seen lots of courses online but tbh you never know if they are legit or the sort to bend you over and bugger you for every penny you own :D
 
Buy a tool belt and an all in one set of overalls, then grow a huge moustache and practise saying "I've come to check your pipes".
 
i use to do a night course in a college, it was 6 hours a week from 6-9 over 2 days. one day theory the other practical. the problem is that in part time courses everything is rushed and the teacher just goes over it quickly.

plus the waiting time for plumbing is crazy u have 2 wait like a year so if u apply now u might get in september 2009
 
And dont forget the important part for any plumber.
A Hmmmmmm is worth £20
A OH NO well thats at least £70
A I have NEVER SEEN THAT is £100
and another one is I will be right back with the right part is £400 :D
 
Hi, I am currently doing this, and I will try to answer your questions.

First off I will state that to the best of my knowledge you cannot become corgi registered without doing an NVQ (to level 3), and to do that you have to be an apprentice, or already work inside the plumbing industry. There is also grandad rights, but i believe you have had to of worked as a plumber (inc gas jobs) for over 20 years.

The college I go to (Canterbury) does offer evening courses, but I do not know what these are like as I am on the NVQ. There is also a part time day course but again that isn't an NVQ.

Both the evening course and the part time course will give you a technical certificate in plumbing, which will enable you to get a job as a plumber (pipe fitting probably). You wont be allowed to work on gas though with that.

I took the NVQ route as its the best option in becoming fully qulified and getting registered to work on everything. The downside to that is I now earn a pittance compared to my old wage, so much so I had to move back home :/
In a couple of years tho I'll be on about £30,000 without even having to try very hard, and its only up from there (I plan to go onto system design/mechanical enginearing)
 
Thanks for all the info, a great help.

Wolfeh, do you mind me asking how much you do earn a year? I just left a job on £21K a year for this one (more prospects etc) but had to drop down to £18K a year. Its just about livable at the moment.

If you dont want to say exactly any chance you can just give a ball park figure?

Only other option would be to take an apprenticeship (at 26 :eek:) and try to get part time work as well.
 
Dont bother, they just annoy people.

They come round every 3 months and ask "Can I look at your meter?" and I say no and then they give me this little card and tell me to do it :/
 
I now earn minimum wage :/ My boss does pay for my college course which is a couple of grand a year, and I do get bonus' from big jobs a couple of times a year (my last one was for 2k).

Was a bit of a shock going from my old wage 21k a year as a deputy manager, as minimum wage works out at about 13k before tax :/ As I said before I had to move back home to be able to do this, there is no way I could have made ends meet in my old flat.

Also dont be afraid of doing an apprenticeship, I'm 25 and im not the oldest bloke in my group, not by a long shot.

edit: if you want add me to msn from the msn address in my trust, and I can try and answer any other questions you might have.
 
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Im a bricky and finished 4 years of college last June, but yeah we had a couple of old guys in our class (age 35+) so you should be fine! Im not gonna lie though! The biggest mistake of my life was learning a trade even though the money is pretty **** hot once you get your CSCS card!
 
I did it as an apprentice in 2006. Started on £13k, went up to £23k in December last year and due to go up to £27k + overtime (at least £35k combined) in the summer.

Good wage, decent hours, company van etc. Can't fault it.

Not sure about how you'd do it on your own though, I know the training course I went on costs thousands and the Corgi tests and registration are just as bad :(
 
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