My nearest plumber is OFTEC registered which of course is a qualification for servicing and installing oil tanks, boilers, and the like. He's a good chap and has done oil-based plumbing for me before.
He doesn't though appear to have any 'water plumbing' qualifications, but by default if he's OFTEC registered does that mean that he's likely to be properly qualified for water pipe plumbing? I ask simply because I may have some water-based plumbing work for him.
Thanks
I may be wrong but I don't think there are any trade association requirements for wet plumbing, like OFTEC for oil or CORGI for gas. Anyone who can weild a blow lamp without burning themselves too badly can become a plumber, in fact these days you don't even need a blow lamp.
No, but I think that there are some who would like there to be....
They don't even know how to use a spell checker.
Corgi is not a trade association it is an approved registration body. The law says that any Gas Fitting has to be carried out by a fitter registered with an approved body.
There is no law at present that says the same for 'wet plumbing' but there are several 'approval schemes' for Plumbers.
One is 'WIAPS' (Water Industry Approved Plumbers Scheme) another is ACP (Approved Contractor Persons). Some Water Companies run their own schemes. There are also Registered Plumbers belonging to the Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineers.
It is true there are many cowboys out there that are not registered with anybody but that is the fault of sucessive Governments who refuse to enshrine registration within a law. The IPHE have been pressing for this for years. (huge shouts from posters claiming vested interests).
If accidents like Ronan Point etc etc had not happened even the Gorgi Scheme would not be in existence.
Thanks for all the replies. :)
Ronan Point was a disaster because of the poor design of the building. It's not possible to totally prevent gas explosions. But it is possible to prevent a building falling down after a relatively minor one.
Actually, poor construction was also a key factor -- lots of the fixing bolts between the structural wall panels were never fitted at Ronan Point, nor in many similar buildings, due to poor construction supervision.
The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:
Not just design - assembly was faulty, too.
Indeed. Wonder what wide ranging steps were taken to stop construction companies cutting corners and enforce quality control?
Easier to bring in laws which have an effect on the DIYer and also bring in money for trade associations...
If he's OFTEC regd he's likely to have done a fair amount of general wet plumbing in the course of his work, so if you're happy with his oil work chances are you'll be happy with his general water-based work. That's if he chooses to do such work: he may prefer to stick with oil work if he has enough of that to keep him busy.
To add to what others have said about registration schemes there are City & Guilds qualifications (NVQs) in plumbing which plumbers who've come into th trade through any sort of formal training are likely to have. NVQ level 2 is general fitting, level 3 is design and fitting.
Probably the same steps that ty years later lead to beams falling on the heads of ministers at the new Scottish Parliament (and perhaps unlike Ronan Point the SP certainly wasn't a budget construction)
Owain
NVQ level 1 is making tea and how to pee in loft tanks?
Owain
The message from Owain contains these words:
And miss the plaster.
mine (Reading RG1) there's just one listed!
FWIW I did try to join the IOP (as it was before changing its name to IPHE). They lost one of my references so I had to get that referee to send them another, and eventually they rejected my application saying I hadn't enough experience. Granted I'd only been working in the field for a year or two (more than the minimum they specified) but they gave no indication whether they meant I hadn't been working for a long enough time of that I hadn't had specific areas of experience in my work; nor did they suggest what I needed to do to rectify this lack of experience if I wanted to reapply. This didn't seem to me to be the way to improve standards in the industry.
I've also come across a report by a consultant who is a Member of the IOP and listed on their website as an Expert, on a plumbing installation I was familiar with. The report was riddled with errors and clearly written by someone with no practical experience of plumbing.
For all the flak directed at CORGI at least they have people on board who have practical experience on the tools.
The message from John Stumbles contains these words:
Same here for TF7.
Thanks very much, most helpful. :)
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