Wanted, plumber.

[HD]

I`m looking for professional plumber/bathroom/shower fitter to quote a price to replace existing shower cubicle and toilet with new shower unit or bath. Farnborough, Hants area.

[tim]

yes, so am I

(two years now!)

tim

[StealthUK]

LMAO.........thanks for the laugh. Bloody boiler has gone up the spout, needed something to cheer me up!

[me]

Not quite in your area but he may come out that far

Andy Giddens Office: 01895 851670 Mobile: [phone]

Done a lot of work for me including new boiler and rads, VG.

Andy (not the same Andy)

[Andrew Gabriel]

A friend of mine has had quotes from a couple of builders for a two story extention. The first builder told him the builder would not be able to do any plumbing because he knows he won't be able to get a plumber. The second builder said the same, but also for the electrical work.

Funny thing is, a year ago, he got a couple of quotes and asked about doing things like plumbing and electrical himself to keep cost down, but the builders were unhappy about it. Now they're really keen as that's the only way the job can get done.

[PoP]

I guess I'm still scratching my head wondering why there is this great shortage of plumbers! I suppose part of the reason is that we've tended to push people off to university rather than the skilled trades route. But surely the amount of work out there hasn't substantially increased?

Not that I'm complaining of course, I'm getting a few plumbing jobs coming my way and it is very welcome. New worktops and sink a couple of weeks ago, CH system last week, toilet cistern last week as well. Keep 'em coming I say!

PoP

[Andrew Gabriel]

Retired tradesmen are not being replaced (not sure if that's still true, but it was for some time). The builder blamed it on a number of large projects like Heathrow Terminal 5 grabbing everyone in 100 mile radius.

Ironically, I've read much comment in the trade press that plumbers are increasingly likely to be University graduates now, entering the profession at 35, but also some new graduates too.

[PoP]

That sounds very plausible. Our manufacturing industry has become next to non-existant so the metal bashers and other "physical" ways of earning a living have evolved into sitting at a desk answering telephones. Only those guys and gals are very much under threat today with the call centres moving to India and elsewhere (HSBC moved 4,000 jobs last week).

That suggests to me that the pendulum is on the way back. I looked into joining a plumbing course (why? Don't actually need it...) last year and was told that all the courses anywhere around these parts were booked up a couple of years ahead. So most probably when these plumbers hit the streets prices may tumble.

Or they may not. Speculating is always a dangerous game unless you are doing it with someone else's money.

PoP

[Ed Sirett]

I think it is mostly that there are less people to do slightly more work. The only major increase is Landlords' gas safety records. But there is slightly more work overall in that requirements tends to increase.

[StealthUK]

I have tried to get on myself onto a plumbing course (NVQ) but can't because any open courses are oversubscribed at least 5 times over and the others require you to be employed by a plumbing company. The thing that hacks me off is that many of the people on these courses don't know squat about plumbing (some previously worked in the City pushing paper round a desk and decided to go into plumbing just because they saw better money) and will have to learn from scratch yet I've done most plumbing jobs back from an early age so have far more experience. I want to get Corgi registered eventually as well but it seems they require NVQ type qualifications or x number of years experience.

What's going to happen in 3 to 5 years, will there be a flood of plumbers desperate for work?

[John Stumbles]

Read 'Plumbing' by R. D. Treloar - it's the NVQ textbook. Save you sitting around in classrooms for aeons on end with spotty 'erberts learning stuff you already know. Even if you buy all the kit you'd have access to in the college workshops it'll probably still be less than the course fees. And Do It (TM :-) - even if you only change tap washers and cistern valves there's a living to be made from it.

That used to be the case but as from August this year you can forget it. To get yourself assessed for Gas Safety (the ACS) you'll have to already be doing gas work either as an employee of a CORGI registered employer or under the direct supervision of a fitter employed by a CORGI registered business which would support your application for assessment. Someone say skills shortage?!

Maybe, but probably not gas fitters :-)

-- John Stumbles

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-+ The most dangerous component in a car is the nut that holds the steering wheel

[StealthUK]

Cheers for that, I'm going to get cracking and see what happens. Just out of interest have you guys bought vans or just using a standard hatchback/estate to work out of? I'm thinking of getting a van only because it gives a better impression. There is also the added security (supposedly) for your tools.

[Andy Hall]

You would think so, wouldn't you....

Not the case, however.

I have a friend who is a one person small building/decorating/odd jobs guy. He has a Toyota van which he fitted out very nicely with racks etc. to accomodate materials, fittings, tools etc.

He fell victim to a scam that seems to be quite prevalent at larger trade merchants and certainly the DIY stores. A team sits in a van in the car park awaiting victim in their van. One team member equipped with cell phone follows victim into store and keeps an eye on them.

The rest of the team pulls their van alongside the victim's so as to create a space where they can work unseen to break into the side of it. They can transfer what they want wihout attracting a lot of attention since it would not seem that odd to be transferring items between vans at a trade place anyway. Should the victim show signs of leaving the store, the team member inside uses the cell phone to alert the outside team .

He has since installed various hiding places for the most valuable tools in non-obvious places in the van and generally secured the rest of it.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[John Stumbles]

Van. I did think about hatch/estate but there's no way I could have got a quarter of the stuff I carry in a car-type vehicle. I got an ex-Royal Mail LDV Pilot. It's basically a shed on wheels. And like a shed there's everything you could want in there ... somewhere ... if I can just find it amongst this ... ah! that's where that went ... excuse me, I'll find it in a minute ....

-- John Stumbles

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-+ The most dangerous component in a car is the nut that holds the steering wheel