OFT 101

[paddy1]

I am interested in becomming a plumber but can not afford to give up my day job and work as an apprentice.

I had thought about doing the OFT 101 course in order to allow me to start working on my own in this field and slowly increase my skills as i go along. Ideally doing an NVQ part time.

Can anyone give me any advice on this course and advise me on what sort of skills this course would train me in and to what level.

Would i be able to complete this course and go out taking on work servicing oil heating systems or does this course not provide that level of experience.

Many thanks.

 

[Agile]

I hate to think of all your poor customers when you are practicing on their installations.

Most of these skills are learnt from practical experience in the field with an experienced person.

Only dentists and doctors practice at work!

Tony

 

[paddy1]

So far in my life i have been a mechanical design engineer,
A sign manufacturer/installer,
a trained painter & decorator,
A computer programmer

and have managed to be successful at them all. I get very bored very easily and love new things,
I am sure with a bit of hard work and some training courses i will be grand and only start working on things that i know i can manage until i build on my experience.

 

[B.O.B DOLE]

So far in my life i have been a mechanical design engineer,
A sign manufacturer/installer,
a trained painter & decorator,
A computer programmer

and have managed to be successful at them all. I get very bored very easily and love new things,
I am sure with a bit of hard work and some training courses i will be grand and only start working on things that i know i can manage until i build on my experience.

if i where you i would not get into the plumbing and gas game its all corrupt do something else and same your time
i am a fully qualified gas engineer 10 years experience and i have been sat at home for the last 12 months sounds good when they say £25.000
a year but its what you have to do to earn it the only winners are the contractors. KEEP OUT THERE ARE TO MENY SHARKS

 

[oilman]

The OFT 101 (if we are referring to the same thing) is an OFTEC pressure jet burner commissioning/servicing assessment. It's not really a course. As an open book assessment, it's like all the other pseudo qualifications in that if you can read and you are reasonably practical you can pass. It is termed minimum competence, and lots of people have it and carry on bodging. Lot's don't have it and they are very good, then there's a mix of everything in between.

Agile is much more experienced than me, so I still practice on customers systems (and make mistakes, but I sort them out). I also sort out the mistakes made by people who have been doing this stuff a lot longer than I have.

Things to remember are:

Take your time and do it right, don't do it cheap.
Make a neat job.
Clean up afterwards.
Tell people what your doing (if they want to know)
You won't get on with some customers, (that's life).
If something is too big, recommend they get someone else (they may still want you to do it as you've been honest).
If someone wants a cheap job, let someone else do it. It'll only give you grief.

 

[corgiman]

BOB is right

I have never found so hard to earn a living as I have recently

I have been a plumber for nearly twenty years and CORGI'd up for 15 and the amount of competition that has sprung recently is phenomenal..

I just cannot compete with the new underqualified, under experience "plumbers" that have flooded (PUN TOTALLY INTENDED) the market.

I advise with every ounce of my being not to become a plumber unless you are independently wealthy and wish to do it for fun and NOT to make a living!!!!!!!!

If I could I would get the hell out of this business but I don't wish to
to spend grands on getting a waste of time qualification and ruining another mans livelihood.

PS nicely put oilman

 

[Agile]

I have another problem!

Tonight I have almost succeeded in turning down a job worth about £5000-£6000. But he is faxing me the plans regardless as he does not seem to understand what I was intimating.

All of these newly qualified people want to be self employed and dont want to be involved with any other business.

We mainly do boiler repairs, about 40% of our work is for other plumbing and heating firms, who value our technical competence and ability to get there within 24 hours and do the job honestly and at the minimum cost and at a known cost quoted in advance.

All that sounds fine but I cannot do everything myself and I need help!

Tony Glazier

 

[PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN]

Ah Mr Agile, I respect your technical expertise greatly and bow my head at your knowledge, but you dont seem to have grasped the one of the most fundamental advantages of working for yourself, if you dont want a particular job then stick a ridiculously high price with lots of terms in your favour to keep you interested, so that if the job comes back you will be laffin all the way to the bank, I have done this occasionally and the money has come in handy when off sick for example or the van has unexpectantly needed some expense, give em a price for £8500.00 grand with lots of money up front and stage payments.

 

[Softus]

The OFT 101 (if we are referring to the same thing) is an OFTEC pressure jet burner commissioning/servicing assessment. It's not really a course. As an open book assessment, it's like all the other pseudo qualifications in that if you can read and you are reasonably practical you can pass. It is termed minimum competence, and lots of people have it and carry on bodging. Lot's don't have it and they are very good, then there's a mix of everything in between.

Agile is much more experienced than me, so I still practice on customers systems (and make mistakes, but I sort them out). I also sort out the mistakes made by people who have been doing this stuff a lot longer than I have.

Things to remember are:

Take your time and do it right, don't do it cheap.
Make a neat job.
Clean up afterwards.
Tell people what your doing (if they want to know)
You won't get on with some customers, (that's life).
If something is too big, recommend they get someone else (they may still want you to do it as you've been honest).
If someone wants a cheap job, let someone else do it. It'll only give you grief.

This is the one of the wisest things I've ever read on this forum. All due credit to you oilman.

Agile - if you don't have anything positive to say, consider another hobby.

paddy1 - just go for it. There's no corruption in my business whatsoever - I won't have it, and you don't have to either. I have more work than I can possibly do, and I've never even advertised.

 

[PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN]

This business is full of corruption, corgi being one of it.

 

[corgiman]

As I said Oilman is The MAN.

But seriously consider another trade as plumbing has been swamp with retrainers

what about sparkying??

 

[ChrisR]

I don't think it's there, corgiman. Now that you can do a couple of weeks' courses and be fully qualified to do domestic plumbing, they'll be even more over-suscribed than we are.
Yes it looks like 2 weeks. I asked on another forum "where's the catch" but it's like when I started as a corgi, as long as you can read the book you can pass a quiz, you're in.
I'm thinking of doing more testing (gas and elec) to avoid too much humping things about so it might make sense to specialise. I think I'd better go "Ltd" though so I don't lose my home if something blows up!
At the moment many of the new plumbers aren't much good locally so there's a backlash against them, and people want workers who speak English. But they will get better.

Had a small argument with a landlord a few years back. I changed a boiler in a flat which had a lousy heating system (all backwards so 3 port letting by, etc). He said just change the boiler so I did. Now he's had 3 lots of cheapo people in there trying to see what's wrong and I've been getting begging calls from an intermediary. Nice feeling. It seems that when on CH only, water would rather leak through the 3 port to heat the HW than heat the downstairs rads. I suggested the tenants all move upstairs.

 

[corgiman]

Mm I think you are right chris

did anyone see the article in the mail last week, a guy retrained himself as a plumber on one of this rubbish **** courses, got his NVQ2 and now is offering a course in "plumbing competency" for two weeks, at the end of it you get a certificate from him and all for the knock down price of £1995.00 plus VAT a bloody bargain if you ask me!!!


Fair play to him he is hoping to be able to make his training count towards a NVQ what a lad!!!

I give Up i really do