B
BackToPlumb
Hey Folks,
I'm returning to my first love of Plumbing and Heating after switching career a while back. I started Plumbing when I left school and completed an apprenticeship ultimately finishing with 7 years in the trade before switching to a completely different industry.
Why ?!?! ... because of other Plumbers I'm afraid to say. At the age of 21 I was already running large jobs and having to tell experienced Plumbers they were doing things wrong wasn't the most pleasurable of experiences, indeed in those days (early to late 90's) it wasn't uncommon for things to escalate into threats of violence and sometimes worse. It was the death threat by an incompetent 40+ year old plumber that eventually forced me out the trade.
Anyway I've always said to myself that I'd come back to Plumbing because it's still the most satisfying and enjoyable trade I have worked in and having been made redundant recently now is the time.
I'm actually already back in the swing of things having formed a company, built a website, finished a few jobs, joined a business network group etc etc whilst on gardening leave but now that is coming to and end I'm looking to accelerating things further as the Plumbing becomes my main source of income i.e getting proper sign-written transport, branded clothing, public liability etc etc all of which should be complete in the next couple of weeks.
The point of my post is that much has changed since I first took it up with regard to qualifications and regulations and I need to catch up on these. I'm not so much as looking for a fast track way of doing things more a case of not having to sit through hours of things I'm already more than competent at even though I have no formal qualifications to prove it apart from a previous 7 years in the industry.
My first priority is of course to get Gas Safe registered. It's been many years since I was CORGI registered so I'm unable to take that route so my question here is whether I can work alongside a currently Gas Safe registered engineer who can then commission my installs in order to work towards getting the necessary portfolio to be able to sit the exam and get registered?
I'm also keen to get the Un-vented Hot Water G3 qualification but most centers seem to want to see those pre-entry qualifications as a pre-requisite. Can anybody advise on this?
I'm already getting many inquiries and quotes sent out for work that requires these and at present I'm having to price in for somebody with the certificates to do the work for me (actually my mentor from my apprenticeship so I'm happy to give him the work) but obviously I don't want to have to rely on that for too long.
What are the "must haves" these days and what are the "not worth the hassles"? I'm getting advice from all over but thought I might as well ask here as well and get involved with the forum.
I'm returning to my first love of Plumbing and Heating after switching career a while back. I started Plumbing when I left school and completed an apprenticeship ultimately finishing with 7 years in the trade before switching to a completely different industry.
Why ?!?! ... because of other Plumbers I'm afraid to say. At the age of 21 I was already running large jobs and having to tell experienced Plumbers they were doing things wrong wasn't the most pleasurable of experiences, indeed in those days (early to late 90's) it wasn't uncommon for things to escalate into threats of violence and sometimes worse. It was the death threat by an incompetent 40+ year old plumber that eventually forced me out the trade.
Anyway I've always said to myself that I'd come back to Plumbing because it's still the most satisfying and enjoyable trade I have worked in and having been made redundant recently now is the time.
I'm actually already back in the swing of things having formed a company, built a website, finished a few jobs, joined a business network group etc etc whilst on gardening leave but now that is coming to and end I'm looking to accelerating things further as the Plumbing becomes my main source of income i.e getting proper sign-written transport, branded clothing, public liability etc etc all of which should be complete in the next couple of weeks.
The point of my post is that much has changed since I first took it up with regard to qualifications and regulations and I need to catch up on these. I'm not so much as looking for a fast track way of doing things more a case of not having to sit through hours of things I'm already more than competent at even though I have no formal qualifications to prove it apart from a previous 7 years in the industry.
My first priority is of course to get Gas Safe registered. It's been many years since I was CORGI registered so I'm unable to take that route so my question here is whether I can work alongside a currently Gas Safe registered engineer who can then commission my installs in order to work towards getting the necessary portfolio to be able to sit the exam and get registered?
I'm also keen to get the Un-vented Hot Water G3 qualification but most centers seem to want to see those pre-entry qualifications as a pre-requisite. Can anybody advise on this?
I'm already getting many inquiries and quotes sent out for work that requires these and at present I'm having to price in for somebody with the certificates to do the work for me (actually my mentor from my apprenticeship so I'm happy to give him the work) but obviously I don't want to have to rely on that for too long.
What are the "must haves" these days and what are the "not worth the hassles"? I'm getting advice from all over but thought I might as well ask here as well and get involved with the forum.
