gas course acs

[Paul Barker]

Calculating and planning for new heating systems and inspecting them after they had been installed, to make sure they were to specification and standards.

Well I certainly wouldn't work for that organisation as an installer. I would want the system to be designed by someone with a lifetime of experience instaling. And I wouldn't want you inspecting my work either.

Anyway as a sercice engineer I get plenty of opportunity to see installers work. The best work is done by independents who plan design and install their own work. The worst is by companies like you are talking about, they put in such diabolical faults like not providing a pump overrun not gas pipe sizing correctly not range rating the boiler (not always necessary but it's madness to leave a 28kw system boiler at 28kw in a two up two down or a mobile home, and I have seen it twice now. I mean it's the wrong boiler as it is but not to adjust it is total ineptitude.

There are so many factors and pitfalls you can't possibly design systems without plenty of tools experience.

 

[Paul Barker]

As for the OP, you've got to start somewhere or think of a different career. My advice is the latter, but if you must carry on, if it's a route in go for it.

 

[Paul Barker]

I just can't believe the lunacy of seting a newly trained person to design systems and inspect them.

My old job nursing had bad management but at least they had once been nurses. If they took them straight from uinversity and put them over us I wouldn have left within weeks. Ho your company keeps good quality time served fitters I have no idea. (answer being they probably don't)

 

[namsag]

There are some people who can take things in and understand and are naturals at taking things apart and back together and then there are others who even after 3 years are completly useless and don`t even know the basics, so it is not straight forward .

The hardest thing of this job is recognising dangerous situations that others have created and hidden and if you are not carefull you can end up with the manslaughter charge

 

[bengriffiths]

hi,where is the gas course held if you dont mind me asking?
im in durham,and im looking for a gas course at the moment
ben

 

[bengasman]

Personally, I would always go for private organisations rather than a college who do their own thing.
I sometimes team up with two bathroom plumbers who both have started a college training for gas and they have learned more and understand better from working with me than a whole year in college.
Quality of the course is much more important than the duration. Same for work experience. I have come across people who have been in the trade for over a decade and still don’t understand some essentially basic stuff. Also seen a guy who really can not have been far over 20, if that and he managed a decent bit of work.
Initial training quality is important, but not as important as having a feel for the job.

There is a simple method to find out if you are a natural or that it will be a long hard road. Buy the orange CORGI book, called essential gas safety domestic, or the blue viper book; domestic natural gas handbook, or better, get both.
There are also distance learning question books on the market. Read through the books bit by bit and see how far you get with the distance learning pack. If you find it easy and wonder what all the shouting is about, sign up for a real training program. If it all sounds like Chinese, consider a different career in stead of wasting a couple of thousand quid.

 

[Agile]

One of my trainees saw 11 LSCs and never was even a tightness test done! All they did was fill in the forms! Thats why he left and came to me!

If you are a graduate or someone with scientific "A" levels then you can learn a lot in six months because you are skilled at learning.

I first became registered when it was voluntary. Then took a refresher course and annoyed the assessor because I seemed to know too much! When I got the highest score in the assessment he had to think again!

I had an engineering background so that meant that it was little different from anything I had encountered before and with the average skills level in the industry its not difficult to do better!

However with only working as a building labourer thats a totally different matter and I think that you will struggle!

Tony

 

[Trundles Tricks]

This subject is a particular hobby horse of mine and one I feel which constitutes a national scandal.



Firstly I think that it's worth pointing out that you never stop learning/re-learning in this job (Gas industry) however much experience that an engineer has. Anyone who is not prepared to seek advice from others however long that they have been in the job has no place in the industry in my view.


Secondly, I spend virtually my entire working days turning off/ condemning appliances installed by idiots who either had no idea of what they were doing or didn't care what the implications of their actions were.


As well as being CORGI registered in my own right I also work supervising and QCing for a medium to largish company (75 engineers) carrying out private and local authority maintenance and installation contracts and to be quite frank the only new engineers coming on to the Labour market are those who have done 3 to 4 week course at the jokes that are the country's training colleges.



These guys do not know one end of a U guage to another, have never even seen a BBU which apparently are not even included on these courses and although are all CORGI carded up to the hilt are a danger to themselves and the customer.





I repeat that THIS IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE and that Government and Industry heads should roll immediatelty and a proper training structure reinstated.



Many of us will remember the days some years ago when every major city had a 'Skill Centre' where people went on 6 week courses and emerged claiming to be qualified Brickies, Chippies, Sparkies etc and these people were laughed at by real tradesmen.



Well years later in the gas industry we appear to have got those joke courses of yesteryear down to 3 and 4 week courses with the blessing of the government and CORGI.




WHAT A JOKE!!!!!