27 Jan 12 A Guide to becoming a plumber
The first step in becoming a plumber is deciding whether a plumbing career is right for you. Plumbers are in demand with more home being built and previous plumbing materials used in commercial buildings and property needing replacing. There is always a shortage of plumbers and space in the market for those looking to enter into the trade.
There are two main ways to becoming a fully qualified plumber. If you are between the ages of 17 and 19 years you may want to begin by enrolling on an apprenticeship course through your local college or educational institution.
Apprenticeships generally consist of three to four years of on the job training as well of a select amount of time spent in the class room. Apprenticeships allow candidates to learn the basic skills needed for a career in the industry, such as identifying different grades of pipe and the best practice for using industry regulated tools.
An alternative to the apprenticeship scheme and favouring mature students is the PPC4 Plumbing Courses qualification. The first stage of the scheme will enable you to begin working as a professional plumber as soon as you feel confident enough to do so. The scheme also includes qualifications such as the water supply regulations and domestic installer certificates which are important to have if you wish to go into homes to carry out work.
Become fully qualified with plumbing courses
According to the plumbing authorities (BLS), job opportunities for plumbers will be good in the future especially for those with experience, so it is suggested that starting at a young age as an apprentice would be an ideal way to get into the trade. The plumbing qualifications do not restrict candidates to regular household tasks but also provide a basis for other occupations such as construction work, oil and gas safety as well as working on large commercial projects. In fact the professions of pipe layers, pipe fitters, plumbers and steamfitters combined are one of the largest and highest paid trade occupations in the UK with no shortage of work.
Overall, being a plumber can be a very rewarding career prospect and if you like the idea of being out of the office in a hands on job role, being your own boss or working for a construction company then plumbing sounds like something you should consider. Plumbing courses have little if any entry requirements and your eagerness to learn new skills within the industry is what will decide whether you will make it as a successful plumber.
For more information on the City Guilds 2391 plumbing courses for professionals certification or if you want to help improve your trade skills knowledge and expertise contact Trade Qualified UK at http://www.tradequalified.co.uk/.
12 Apr 11 New Plumbing Courses – City and Guilds 6189 Level 2 Diploma
City and Guilds Professional Plumbing Courses
Under direction from the government, the City and Guilds has introduced an additional format for qualifications known as the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).
Within this framework the City and Guilds has introduced two new plumbing courses as follows:
- C&G 6189 Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing and Heating
- C&G and Guilds 6189 Level 2 Diploma in installing and Maintaining Domestic Heating Systems
The new City and Guilds 6189 Professional Plumbing Diploma qualifications will not affect any existing City and Guilds Plumbing qualifications that you may already hold or are working towards.
The City and Guilds 6189 NVQ Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing and Heating is a composite of the underpinning knowledge and practical training which is certificated by the C&G 6129-02 Technical Certificate and the measurement of on-site competence certificated by the C&G 6089-02 NVQ Level 2.
In order to ensure transition to the new City and Guilds 6189 Professional Plumbing Diploma, the City and Guilds has announced a cut-off date of March 31st 2011 for registrations onto the existing C&G 6089-02 NVQ Level 2 and the C&G 6089-03 NVQ Level 3. The C&G 6129 Technical Certificate is unaffected.
The C&G 6189 Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing and Heating is intended for those people wishing to become plumbers and heating engineers.
The C&G 6189 Level 2 Diploma in installing and Maintaining Domestic Heating Systems is intended for people who want to just become heating engineers.
Plumbing Courses from Trade Qualified
For plumbers who complete their City and Guilds 6129 Technical Certificate on either of our PPC2 or PPC3 plumbing courses, Trade Qualified offers the option to undertake on-site assessments enabling them to complete the City and Guilds 6189 Level 2 Diploma in Plumbing and Heating.
If you are currently a holder of or you are working towards the C&G 6129-02 Technical Certificate and you think that at some future time you may want to complete your NVQ plumbing courses (note that you will need to be actually working as a plumber either employed or self employed), there is no urgency because the City and Guilds 6189 Diploma will be the City and Guilds NVQ plumbing qualification for the foreseeable future.
You should be aware that whereas we encourage every tradesman to gain all the qualifications they can, there continues to be no legal requirement that anyone wishing to work as either an employed or self-employed plumber must undertake the necessary plumbing courses to hold an NVQ plumbing qualification.
About Trade Qualified
Trade Qualified offer plumbing training and plumbing courses for those who want to re-train for a new career. Trade Qualified also offers the option to further your industry credentials and pursue Gas Safe training at a fraction of the market price.
22 Sep 10 How Much Can Plumbers Earn
Many factors need to be considered when assessing the potential earnings of a plumber. Like any other job, plumbers will need to have the right qualifications; to be legally qualified, there are several must have qualifications if they are to be legally qualified to undertake the wide variety of jobs they will encounter in their day to day roles.
As a minimum, plumbers should hold the C&G 6129 as well as their Water Supply Regulations, Unvented Hot Water Storage Systems, and a Part P electrician’s qualification. In an ideal world they will also be Gas Safe Registered to enable them to be self sufficient and able to take advantage of further income opportunities.
Assuming they have all of these qualifications, they then need to consider if they want to be employed or self-employed. There are advantages to both but let’s first consider the employed plumber option.
Salaries can vary enormously depending upon where in the UK your plumbing job may be based. Unsurprisingly, the south east of England offers the largest income opportunity, however this can be easily offset by the higher cost of living in this region particularly with respect to housing.
If you intend to work and live inside the M25 or in central London, you can obviously expect to earn more than a plumber working in Cumbria or Truro. The national statistical average for employed plumbers is circa £28,000 per annum however in central London this will not go far!
If you are a newly qualified plumber, your employer may want to put you on a probationary wage until he is satisfied with your performance and it’s not unusual in these circumstances to initially expect a salary around £21k. After that, it’s just between you and your employer!
Can I earn more in self-employment?
Well that depends. You can definitely earn more as a self-employed plumber than your employed counterpart. You could reasonably expect in excess of £40,000 however, being self-employed has some good things and bad things you should consider before deciding on your employment route.
Being in paid employment has some benefits in terms of responsibility. You can usually go home each day and just forget all about work until the next time you have to go. Any on the job problems of e.g. timescale and budget etc are mostly someone else’s problem!
It’s debatable whether being employed would offer any additional job security because these days very few jobs are truly secure.
On the other hand to be successfully self-employed, you will need to be a particular type of person. You will need to be self-motivated and possess the drive to build your business. Nobody will be telling you what to do and therefore you will also need to have the strength of character to get up and get to work everyday. Finally, you will need to take a much closer look at how you look and behave and at the quality of the work you do. All of these will affect your success.
Few things are more rewarding than running your own business; being your own boss is just one of them. The prospect of building a business can be exciting and taking on your first employee more exciting still. The first one is the hardest but after that it becomes easier!
Every plumbing business was started by somebody and no matter how big or well known it is, there was a time when they never existed.
If you decide to become self-employed the worst thing that can happen is that you end up working for someone else. However, just consider the huge benefits of making a success of it; the sky is the limit. There are degrees of success but simply being your own boss just has to be worth a shot.
If you plan to give it a try, it may well turn out to be one of the most important decisions of your life so make sure you get the right advice and qualifications by going to a reputable training company with an established track record of success.
Steer clear of the companies who use the ‘double glazing style – I must come and visit you’, sales approach, their objectives will probably be different to yours!
About Trade Qualified:
Trade Qualified deliver a range of City and Guilds approved electrician training and plumbing courses including the C&G 6129, Water Supply Regulations, Unvented Hot Water Storage Systems, as well as the Part P electrician’s qualification. If you are interested in Electrician training, or Plumber and Gas Safe courses visit www.tradequalified.co.uk for more information.
Tags: Electrician courses, Electrician training, Plumbing Courses, Plumbing Training
03 Sep 10 What is a Solar Energy Powered Domestic Hot Water System
Quite simply, it is a system that complements an existing hot water system. Realistically it, will not replace a normal boiler or immersion heating system because in the UK at least, the hot water provided by solar energy alone may not always be hot enough or available in sufficient quantity for everyday needs, particularly so during the winter months..
In a normal installation, the hot water from a solar hot water system is fed into an existing conventional boiler or immersion system where it is then made hotter. The fact that the water has already been heated means that the immersion or boiler system does not have to work so hard to heat the ‘solar hot water’ to the required temperature and this can save a great deal of energy. During the summer months it may not be necessary for the hot water provided by the Solar system to be heated further; depending on personal preferences, it may already be quite hot enough.
Is a Solar Hot Water installation cost effective? As a new installation on an existing dwelling, it’s fair to say that based on the energy savings, you will not be booking your holiday to Barbados anytime soon! However, given that Solar Energy is free and that ongoing maintenance costs are very low, it is a certainty that that you will immediately cut your heating bills.
For some people, there is much more to it than simply saving money; installing a Solar system will definitely reduce your carbon footprint and therefore make an ecological contribution to planet Earth. We should all be grateful to these people because they drive environmental change and without change we would all be clutching facemasks over our mouths as we walked the streets of our major cities.
How much of an issue is global warming? Even sceptics cannot ignore the fact that scientists have been analysing temperature records taken from the air and oceans over the last 150 years. The data they have gathered clearly indicates that despite random year on year temperature variations, each decade has been warmer than the last since the 1980’s.
Much of the warming has been attributed to man made activities leading to notable increases in greenhouse gas emissions since the start of the industrial revolution. The effects of global warming are most evident when considering the rate at which glaciers are retreating in the Arctic, Antarctic and Greenland which is 90% covered by a blanket of ice; Greenland has seen dramatic increases in summer melt waters during the past decade.
The consequences of global surface temperature increases are increasing carbon dioxide levels and rises in sea levels, with Greenland’s melting ice contributing 0.5mm to an overall 3.26mm per year of sea level rise. These measurable increases have led many to believe they will contribute to changes in weather patterns, the expansion of subtropical deserts, possible extinction of vulnerable species and changes to agricultural yields; playing our part in reducing our carbon footprint can help reduce these effects.
What is the future for Solar Energy? For all of the above reasons, the need for it will most certainly become increasingly more urgent and important. New home builders will soon have a legal obligation to incorporate renewable energy sources into their plans and the UK government has already obligated us to meeting eye watering renewable energy targets set by the EU. The latter will surely require subsidies for solar installations on existing dwellings if the targets are to be met.
There is a whole new market out there waiting to be tapped and anyone with even a hint of entrepreneurial flair will undoubtedly be rubbing their hands with glee. Retailing, installing and servicing renewable energy installations is potentially going to as big as mobile phones and fibre-optic broadband! It has government support and falls into the rapidly emerging and powerful ecology sector.
In a market that is still virtually brand new, there is a huge opportunity to quickly become established as the local expert.
About Trade Qualified:
Trade Qualified provide City and Guilds approved Electrician courses and Plumbing training including Bpec and LOGIC qualification in Solar Energy Powered Domestic Hot Water Systems. All courses are run in purpose designed centres located in the north, the midlands and the south of England. If you are interested in Electrician training, or our Plumber and Gas Safe courses visit www.tradequalified.co.uk for more information.
Tags: Electrician courses, Electrician training, Plumbing Courses, Plumbing Training, solar heating installation
09 Jul 10 Plumbing – Things Ain’t What They Used To Be!
Once upon a time anyone could get a book from the library and with a little bedtime reading could quickly get enough knowledge to have the confidence to install their own central heating system.
It was easy; a boiler, an indirect cylinder with an immersion heater, an expansion tank in the loft, a few radiators and some copper pipe and electric cable followed by a quick call to your best mate for some assistance – sorted!
Boy, have times changed, just go down to B&Q or Wickes and you’ll see a mind boggling array of copper pipes, plastic pipes, flexible pipes, Yorkshire fittings, plastic fittings, welded fittings, push fittings etc. If that were not enough you’ve got to get to grips with Combi systems, Vented and Unvented systems and when you’ve understood the difference and why you should have one or the other you need to size tanks, understand the zoned heating controls and let’s not forget the regulations; phew!
If you’re going to do this for a living rather than simply to save money on your own system you need to be able to quote and to be competitive. To do this successfully, you will need to understand all of the above. Why use an expensive piece of copper tube with a Yorkshire compression fitting when you can use a plastic pipe with a push fit; not just much quicker but much cheaper! If you don’t understand the options for different systems and equipment, you’ll have a very brief and somewhat wet career indeed.
Fortunately, there is help available for people who want to change their careers and become a professional plumber; a job that is consistently ranked in the top 3 for satisfaction and earnings when surveys are undertaken from time to time.
There are many courses to choose from that will help you to realise your ambitions. Just be sure to choose one that gives you flexibility, value for money and above all the industry recognised qualifications you will need to follow your trade. For example, every credible plumber should be properly qualified and be able to legally install a power or electric shower or modify a ring main and install spotlights for a kitchen renovation etc. They should also be qualified to work on Unvented systems and ideally be Gas Safe registered so they can offer a complete service. Choose carefully and choose wisely, your career depends on it.
About Trade Qualified:
Trade Qualified deliver a range of City & Guilds Plumbing courses and Electrician training as well as Gas Safe training courses for new entrants and engineers and fitters who want to re-register following an expired CORGI or Gas Safe registration. All courses are run in purpose designed centres located in the north, the midlands and the south of England.
If you are interested in becoming an electrician, plumber or Gas Safe Registered fitter or engineer, visit www.tradequalified.co.uk for more information.
Tags: Electrician courses, Electrician training, Gas Safe training courses, Plumbing Courses, Plumbing Training
06 Jul 10 Trade Qualified updates website to include a new range of Gas Safe training courses
Trade Qualified Ltd, one of the UK’s most respected providers of Plumbing, Gas and Electrician training courses has recently updated its website to include their new range of Gas Safe Courses.
The new courses are aimed at anyone who wants to become registered as a Gas Safe Engineer in the Domestic Gas sector. Options are available for new entrants either with or without a Part P electrician’s registration as well as for engineers who simply wish to renew a previous CORGI or Gas Safe Registration.
Their website provides prospective students with detailed information about the structure of the courses, the outcome qualifications and an insight into the various opportunities for work.
The courses are designed to enable graduating gas engineers and gas fitters to follow lucrative and enjoyable careers in the Domestic Gas Sector.
All of the new gas courses include an option to add Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) accreditations, which provides engineers with the opportunity to take advantage of LPG work in permanent dwellings, static and touring caravans and mobile homes and therefore add to their earning potential.
The Gas Safe training courses are already proving to be very successful, as they complement Trade Qualified’s existing ‘Plumbing for Professionals’ and ‘Electrical Installation Engineer’ courses which have been the core of their training for trade professionals business for many years.
Delegates have been able to enrol on any of the new Gas Safe training courses since May 1st 2010.
About Trade Qualified:
Trade Qualified offer a range of Gas training courses as well as City and Guilds approved Electrician courses and Plumbing training. All courses are run in purpose designed centres located in the north, the midlands and the south of England. If you are interested in becoming an electrician, plumber or Gas Safe Registered fitter or engineer, visit www.tradequalified.co.uk for more information.
Tags: Electrician courses, Electrician training, Gas Safe training courses, Plumbing Courses, Plumbing Training
22 Apr 10 Trade Qualified offer new range of Gas Safe training courses
Trade Qualified Ltd, one of the UK’s most respected providers of Plumbing, Gas and Electrician training courses is delighted to announce the addition of a new range of Gas Safe Courses to enable graduating gas engineers and gas fitters to follow lucrative and enjoyable careers in the Domestic Gas Sector.
A spokesman for the company said:
“We have been providing gas training courses for many years but only as an option for plumbers who have completed one of our ‘Plumbing for Professionals’ courses.
More and more people now want to work in the gas sector, and to address this growing demand, we have developed a range of gas courses to satisfy the needs of every candidate from those who have never done any plumbing, electrical or gas work in their entire lives to the gas engineer who simply wants to renew his lapsed CORGI or Gas Safe registration.”
All of the new gas courses include an option to add Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) accreditations, enabling engineers to take advantage of LPG work in permanent dwellings, static and touring caravans and mobile homes and therefore add to their earning potential.
These new Gas Safe training courses are expected to be very successful, as they complement Trade Qualified’s existing ‘Plumbing for Professionals’ and ‘Electrical Installation Engineer’ courses which have been the core of the business for many years.
Delegates will be able to enrol on any of the new Gas Safe training courses from May 1st 2010.
About Trade Qualified Ltd:
Trade Qualified deliver a range of Gas training courses as well as City and Guilds approved Electrician training and Plumbing courses. All courses are run in purpose designed centres located in both the north and south of England. If you are interested in becoming an electrician, plumber or Gas Safe Registered fitter or engineer visit www.tradequalified.co.uk for more information.
Tags: Electrician courses, Electrician training, Gas Safe training courses, Plumbing Courses, Plumbing Training, Trade Qualified
12 Oct 09 Plumbing Training – Why it is vital to get qualifications
Plumbing can be a fulfilling job that is often taken on by people looking to be self employed or with ambitions to run their own business.
Most people who have a practical aptitude can be successful enough to make a very good living in the industry; for those who have a bit more entrepreneurial flair, there is always the opportunity to build their own empire. It’s just a matter of where you set your sights.
Only a few years ago the principal route into the industry was as an apprentice but nowadays it is far more common to enter as a ‘mature career changer’ or in other words as someone who is beyond apprenticeship age. Even if you are into your sixties there is nothing to stop you if you have the drive and enthusiasm to give it a go.
Over recent years plumbing installations have become far more sophisticated than ever before, particularly as manufacturers strive endlessly to produce ever more energy efficient equipment to deliver hot water on demand and maximise the efficiency of boilers, radiators and all of the other items that are an integral part of modern systems.
Do not kid yourself that you are a good plumber just because you installed your mate’s bathroom – unless you have been properly trained in modern methods and systems you will almost certainly have cost him money and will continue to do so for the entire life of his installation!
The traditional system of boiler, radiators, indirect cylinder with immersion and an expansion tank in the loft is as old hat as VHS tapes or the Sony Walkman!
What qualifications do I need?
Everything you can get! The better qualified you are the more work opportunities you will have whether you are employed or self-employed.
You absolutely need the City & Guilds 6129 Technical Certificate because it is the basis of modern plumbing and is the same qualification that plumbing apprentices graduate with after their 4 year apprenticeship.
Ideally you will also need the Unvented Hot Water Storage Systems qualification because almost every new home or apartment that has been built over the last 10 years will have an Unvented system. You have got to know what you are doing to work on these systems because they are both sealed and pressurised. Someone working on them without the knowledge that comes with being qualified can easily do themselves or someone else serious harm.
You also should have the Water Supply Regulations qualification simply because it is a legal requirement if you are going to work on the water supply.
No plumber worth his salt would be unable to legally install an Electric Shower or a host of other equipment that a plumber routinely encounters in his day to day job. So you need to get your electrician’s Domestic Installer Certificate. This will enable you to be Part P Certified to carry out and certify this work without calling in another tradesman; to have to do so would be embarrassing and expensive!
There are other qualifications that would be nice to have such as Gas Safe Registration (what was CORGI for many years) or Solar Hot Water qualification although if you don’t have either it will not stop you from getting out into the market and making a good living.
How do I get into the Trade?
Easy, just find a well established and accredited training provider who is able to offer all the qualifications you need including Gas Safe Registration.
Try to choose a training provider that is open about what they provide. Many training providers will not tell you anything about what they offer unless you agree to one of their representatives visiting your home i.e. the ‘Double Glazing’ sales approach.
Finally, do some research on the internet in Plumbing training forums. Realistically, there will always be some negative feedback about individual providers but you will soon see if there is the kind of overwhelming negativity which signals that you should avoid them!
If you follow these few simple guidelines you will certainly avoid many of the usual pitfalls.
