direct access plumbing/gas courses?

[Russell]

Has anyone heard of those direct access plumbing/gas courses or know anyone that has done one and gone on to fit boilers and do gas work?
To go the apprenticeship route will be difficult here as it will mean commuting on the ferry at a cost of £50 a day and there is no chance of getting anything on the island.
I have plenty of experience in plumbing copper and plastic/soldering/compression/push fit/solvent weld ,waste pipe,fitting bathrooms , a bit of drainage and suchlike.
I have not done any lead burning or sweating lead pipes but i cant see much of a call for that.

 

[Stroppymonkey]

Has anyone heard of those direct access plumbing/gas courses or know anyone that has done one and gone on to fit boilers and do gas work?
To go the apprenticeship route will be difficult here as it will mean commuting on the ferry at a cost of £50 a day and there is no chance of getting anything on the island.
I have plenty of experience in plumbing copper and plastic/soldering/compression/push fit/solvent weld ,waste pipe,fitting bathrooms , a bit of drainage and suchlike.
I have not done any lead burning or sweating lead pipes but i cant see much of a call for that.

Plumbing and Gas are different things
Lead Burning and bashing hasn’t been part of the syllabus for a long time . I did it at college but it was dropped about 2012 I think.
NVQ 2 needs a portfolio of on site work
Our lads are one day at college one day a week for 2 years for this.
NVQ3 another 2 years of the same and is advanced plumbing/heating and usually includes basic gas quals (ACS) which needs portfolio for the NVQ3 plumbing and then another (I think) for the gas part. You need to wait a year after getting your basic ACS quals before you can go and do your appliances/crossover etc.
This makes it about 5 years in total.

Most fast track courses are diplomas and NOT NVQs. I wouldn’t employ anyone with one sadly.
Fast track gas courses exist but I can’t recommend them. Seen a few ex forces guys locally who have been fast tracked upon leaving the service, and without exception they are all bloody dangerous / suffering overconfidence and a liability.

Can you work with someone (even part time) and self fund an NVQ route?

 

[Russell]

That would be ideal but very very unlikley over here especially as i have been self employed for so long. Last chap i spoke to said after doing his level 2 plumbing it took 5 years to find something. I have spoken to his employer and they said they would only consider voluntary work. I spoke to the sse spark who fitted the supply on the new build i worked on (as i have done my c@g level2/3 elec instalations tech cert, no nvq ) and he told me he had to work for a year for free to get experience to then get taken on by sse.

 

[Stroppymonkey]

That would be ideal but very very unlikley over here especially as i have been self employed for so long. Last chap i spoke to said after doing his level 2 plumbing it took 5 years to find something. I have spoken to his employer and they said they would only consider voluntary work. I spoke to the sse spark who fitted the supply on the new build i worked on (as i have done my c@g level2/3 elec instalations tech cert, no nvq ) and he told me he had to work for a year for free to get experience to then get taken on by sse.

It’s a hard industry to get into as an adult. I wouldn’t worry about the level 3, couple of my lads have only got level 2 and it’s not held them back , although both of them don’t do gas, just oil and Renewables.
I’ve had 2 adult apprentices, both self funded themselves through college on day release. I paid them NMW to start with for their time, which increased as they gaineed experience . Both achieved level 3 and have gas, and still work in the industry. One is coming back to work tomorrow after 11 months off for maternity
I’d guess that as you have been self employed for years that will be off putting for some employers as we don’t like to train our own competition

 

[pettsy]

Fast track gas courses exist but I can’t recommend them. Seen a few ex forces guys locally who have been fast tracked upon leaving the service, and without exception they are all bloody dangerous / suffering overconfidence and a liability.

About 10 years ago at one of my ACS reassessment there was a bloke out of the navy there. He out qualified me in every area and had domestic/commercial/lpg and oil. He’d got no real world experience, scary!

I did lead welding back when I was at college, but wouldn’t dream of doing any for customers. I was fortunate to get probably the last of the old school apprenticeships, it’s probably changed a fair bit now. One option would be to see if you can get in with someone like British Gas. Another way would be to become a “meter monkey” and see if you can get some experience with a gas engineer to add the additional elements down the line.