Gas safe

[compheat]

Self employed trades people charge what ever they can to make a living,
as a fully trained plumber/heating installer and commercial gas engineer I now work for a company because I couldn't afford all the different bits of paper I needed to be safe and legal.
On the other hand I could have just put tiles on a wall or plaster and made just the same amount of money with out having to pay large amounts of money every 5 years to work legally. When the s#it hits the fan they just hang you out to dry anyway.
People who repair boilers are a relatively new trade made possible by all the cr#p boiler manufactures out there and a public who wants cheap products.

 

[joe-90]

There are already too many boiler fitters and soon it will reach saturation point. Every squaddie that retrains after the army trains as a gas fitter, same with all the unemployed, all the prisoners and a hoard of gas fitters from Eastern Europe all wanting to earn£84 an hour. That's why even in mid winter I see the local gas bods vans parked up at home. Gas Safe can't regulate the numbers that get into the industry.

 

[captaincaveman1]

So what specific kit do you need to be a gasman? As in additional to being a plumber (one of the skilled ones who can use copper that is).

Manometer ?
Sommat to sniff the stuff that comes out of the flue? (useful if you have the real flu )
Leak detection spray?

Anything else?

yes knowledge and exspertise

Dont even have to be able to spell.

I'd love to see some of the 'certs' they fill in.

you won't your not quailified in the slightest mill worker

 

[Gasman28]

I cannot see the problem meself.

It's got to be a good thing for gasmen to be aware of the risks of working with gas, the standards required of them, and the practical skills to get the job done. Surely that means a body that examines and certifies them.

The law also allows you to 'DIY' your own gas if you are 'competent'. Now I cannot be a***d to buy the test kit and read the books to do it properly, easier for me to pay a man £200 a day to do the job properly and then no need to worry about it.

But a lot of DIYers are more than capable to read the books and get the kit and do a very good job indeed. Some DIYers are complete bodgers, as are some gassafe tradesmen. But some DIYers take more time to get it right because it's their house and they look at a 20 year horizon rather than the tradesman who wants to move onto the next job.

A handy DIYer is more than competent to do his own gas but he really needs the test kit too. The idea that you need to be a member of gassafe to be competent is a false one, though one often peddled. Competence is measured in many ways....

The hard part of all this is finding a gasman who is busy enough to charge you a fair daily rate. The ones who aren't busy because they cannot get the work are prone to rip you off as they only do one day work a week and they want you to pay for the other four. Or the ones who are quite happy to only work one day a week and take four days off, so they just have to find a mug a week who will pay for that lifestyle.

And that's nothing to do with the way they are regulated and certified.

I'd like to call you a pr*ck, but you haven't reached that intelligence level yet. So what do you do for a living?

 

[joe-90]

He's a consultant medical doctor.

 

[noseall]

I think the gas lads do an important job.

Just like Mechanics.

Roofers.

Plumbers.

The difference is, for some reason the gas bods think that their trade is so elusive, highly skilled and because they have to have some training, that it some how means that mortals could not possibly do what they are doing without the god sent skills.

When actually all they are is plumbers with their brains blown out.

 

[chapeau]

I cannot see the problem meself.
...
...
...

I'd like to call you a pr*ck, but you haven't reached that intelligence level yet.

Nah, go on, take a deep breath, well up those feelings of hatred = and SAY IT !!!

 

[mcmoby69]

 

[Nige F]

When actually all they are is plumbers with their brains blown out.

that used to be true , indeed when I was offered an apprenticeship in 1970 I had a choice of Plumbing or Gasfitting . I was dead interested in building work generally but the thought of screwing together some black iron pipe and fixing greasy cookers and poxy gas fires seemed lesser than the joys of plumbing . If I`d had the crystal ball switched on and seen the sell off in the 80`s ( that would`ve netted me a few£ ) plus the rise of Corgi and the complexity of modern gas boilers - I would certainly have taken that job with SEGAS

 

[gas112]

A plumber is a gasman with a lobotomy

 

[peterperfection]

I think the gas lads do an important job.

Just like Mechanics.

Roofers.

Plumbers.

The difference is, for some reason the gas bods think that their trade is so elusive, highly skilled and because they have to have some training, that it some how means that mortals could not possibly do what they are doing without the god sent skills.

When actually all they are is plumbers with their brains blown out.

You are too kind to them noseall.

 

[compheat]

A plumber is a gasman with a lobotomy

Lets not get personnel with each other,
Has a plumber who as been around the block a few times I would say that both trades can be technical or basic, but a good plumber can do a lot more than a gas fitter. The problem is there hard to find

 

[gaswizzard]

When actually all they are is plumbers with their brains blown out.

Another keyboard soaked.

 

[gas112]

Compheat your right a plumber can do more .
I must say i wish i could work in amongst other peoples sh#te ,pish and whatever else goes down toilets. I feel i am missing out

 

[Nige F]

A gas fitter ( of my age) could have picked up plumbing skills - there was ongoing training provided by the gas boards so the fitters kept up . There was no ongoing training in plumbing so with hindsight I made the wrong choice ( based on lack of information ) back in the day . The best bit would`ve been that I could be a retired gasman / plumber drainage and lead worker ( I would have funded myself for those parts) but now I could kick Joe`s arse