The Gas fitting industry

[joe-90]

Serious thread.

Where is it going? Is the short course fitter changing the market?

Or the influx of European fitters?

Is it going the way of the burglar alarm industry?

20 years ago the average house alarm cost £450. Then it became a bandwagon industry and the cost of a system halved. Today 20 years on the average price for a home alarm is about £450 again.

Is that where the gas industry is heading?

There are three fitters near me and their vans are outside of their own house more than they are out. They all charge around £35 for a call-out.

There is a thread currently running about someone in the Isle of Wight who has had quotes from £3.3k to £10k - so it looks like the undercutting is starting. Is that true of where you live? Just wondering.

 

[Nige F]

Whatever the market is doing it`s because it`s half regulated - If every "building" trade had to have a cert. backed by proper training - or no work - then the whole industry would pick up and run , encouraging the economy and allaying all householders fears ( of getting ripped off) at a stroke . It`s all so simple and like the car license plate in the USA - But little britain needs it`s pen pushers and it`s bankers so it`ll never happen here

 

[mointainwalker]

encouraging the economy and allaying all householders fears ( of getting ripped off) at a stroke

Nige -Please explain how training and a certificate suddenly guarantee that every plumber/builder is suddenly absolutely honest ?

That apart I cannot see how it affects the economy. One hundred pounds out of my pocket and into yours = same amount in circulation, nothing created so where's the stimulus ?

 

[joe-90]

They have such a system in Australia - costs the householder a flippin fortune. Plumbers can't fit drains - you need a qualified drainer. Householder can't even change a tap washer without getting into bother.

It's mental.

 

[Nige F]

Fair enough - I`ll log that as a c-rap idea both from Joe`s and Mointain`s points

 

[flameport]

Some countries (possibly Australia?) also restrict the sale of things such as gas fittings and electrical parts to registered persons.

This doesn't work either, as it means DIY people and those not registered can't buy the correct parts that they need, so tend to either not fix things at all, or bodge things together with completely inappropriate materials, often making things far worse than before.

 

[DeltaT2]

They have such a system in Australia - costs the householder a flippin fortune. Plumbers can't fit drains - you need a qualified drainer. Householder can't even change a tap washer without getting into bother.

It's mental.

This results in one of the highest quality construction industry in the world Joe mate. Most of the Plumber work I seen there was first class & their apprenticeship schemes are some of the best in the world!! Let any tw.t with a Gas Safe sticker & a van call themselves a RGI, then you let them into your home, you deserve to get shafted - just like you did Joe. Let some course cowboy or career change chancer Plumber into your home, then you deserve to get shafted also. We keep two guys in jobbing work going around the city, fixing homes that these tw.ts wreck............12 months a year.........Kerching, Kerching!!!......££££££££!!!

Your typical home owner in the UK phones some idiot that advertises his mobile number only, he arrives, wrecks their home, they pay him a fortune & they're surprised when he doesn't answer his mobby ever again??!!!..............

 

[mointainwalker]

Dick

Sure you are seen as the forum clown and your last reply truly cements your position.

Current legislation restricts dangerous work i.e. pressurised cylinders/gas work to qualified personnel as is reasonable, however you now seem to suggest that it is reasonable to limit material for pipe and drain repairs to qualified plumbers only ?

Is this so you can buy a second villa in Vals les Bains ?

Dick , you probably aren't a **** so let this one go.

 

[DeltaT2]

Dick

Sure you are seen as the forum clown and your last reply truly cements your position.

Current legislation restricts dangerous work i.e. pressurised cylinders/gas work to qualified personnel as is reasonable, however you now seem to suggest that it is reasonable to limit material for pipe and drain repairs to qualified plumbers only ?

Is this so you can buy a second villa in Vals les Bains ?

Dick , you probably aren't a **** so let this one go.

Not the case at all, if you let every DaftyDIYer, CC & CCC run riot on the British housing stock, of course it's going to be a disaster.....I've seen what a mess the so called 'Property Developers' left before the crash in 08. Some poor people will buy these homes & our kids & grandkids will be left with that legacy!!

The British public use little or no common sense when it comes to selecting someone to work on their biggest asset, their home. As for DaftyDIY'ers, someone in the future has to live with their symbolic attempts at home improvement!!

 

[mointainwalker]

Dick

Stop introducing irrelevancies - property developers have nothing to do with your argument. Crap builders build crap houses - I bought one in '89 after the Lawson boom because I knew nothing and it was ****e because they were presumably chasing completiion bonuses etc.

As for DaftyDIY'ers, someone in the future has to live with their symbolic attempts at home improvement!!

So your next crusade is to legislate against DIY ?

As I said, let it go and enjoy your twilight years as an aimiable duffer down the lodge telling tales about your victories in innumerable tenement kharzies.

 

[joe-90]

What the public want is 'cheap'. They've got little money after the stupid property boom left them paying daft sized mortgages.

Then again when independent RGIs charge silly money not to fix something it's hardly surprising that people are flooding back to BG.

 

[DeltaT2]

The only way to clean up the Plumbing & Gas industry is to license every installer & not permit anyone apart from these installers to work in homes.
At this moment in time in Scotland, you'll find most Plumbing firms working on Public Buildings, LA & HA housing etc etc are licensed. It's only a matter of time before the whole scheme will be adopted for all homes, enforced by the Scottish Government.

 

[mointainwalker]

What everybody wants is "cheap and good" but unfortunately they are not usually in a technical position to recognise "good" and can only judge on the cheap part.

I see no better conclusion than internet forums , not ideal but there you are and even these are being "infiltrated" now

 

[DeltaT2]

What the public want is 'cheap'. They've got little money after the stupid property boom left them paying daft sized mortgages.

Howda square that Joe, we've now got the lowest interest rates in the last 40 years???!!

The British public just want a cheap job, any idiot fitting any sh.te will do!!
And then they moan like f.ck when it goes ti.s up!!...............You couldn't make it up.

 

[mointainwalker]

Dick

As long as you repeat you repeat your mantra , I will repeat mine.

Plumbers need to be be limited to what they currently have. anyone can attempt their own repairs on anything else and they/their insurance can take care of the disasters .

I find it reasonable that local authorities use "registered " or "licensed" companies, but since these will receive their license from the same authorities that say 6 week ccc are ok , how have we moved forward ?