Simplifying Plumbing Qualifications – The Best Routes
The figures explaining how much Plumbers can earn is often talked about in the papers. Figures of 30-70k p.a. are touted, alongside much talk of the profound shortage in the number of Plumbers within the UK. So, are we being told a story or is this the genuine picture? For the competent and correctly skilled person, this level of salary is realistic. In fact, earnings in excess of 70 – 100k p.a. are achievable – but that is solely for those who work within the self-employed market-place, rather than those who work within established employment routes.
If you enter the traditional work environment, primarily working for an established employer, then working hours of Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm are standard. Furthermore from a UK employer, the usual perks are holiday pay and sickness allowance, as well as salaries of between 15k and 30k p.a. The self-employed person can generally achieve higher incomes than those available from the traditional approach, but would need to consider working ‘out of hours’ – and probably longer than the typical 9am-6pm Mon-Fri model. This is clear when self employed plumbers have to work evenings and weekends, where their domestic clients are working during the day.
Also there is the factor of self-employment and whether it goes with some people more than others. Finally there is good ‘business sense’, such as getting the hourly rate correct, advertising and marketing budgets spot on which are all important. Equally, most self-employed people will need to pay additional costs to cover their materials and transport, alongside legal and accountancy fees etc. Although it is expected that these can be relatively small in relation to the earnings overall they can mount up, but then so can the benefits. Plus the profits nearly always beat the odds!
Student Entrants are generally looking for regular employment with a particular employer who can cover most of their working needs and teach them from experience. The Self Employed Entrant on the other hand will need to widen their list of plumbing accreditations and certifications as quickly as possible. That said the vast majority of self-employed plumbers appear to favour the ‘domestic’ instead of the commercial market. (Not all, just the majority!)
There does appear to be some union between certification relating to each path of Plumbing education and hence the industry. It is when the issue of NVQ’s (SVQ’s in Scotland) is considered that a considerable discrepancy becomes clear.
From the outset, it is clear that the Self Employed Entrant does not depend as much upon the NVQ’s as the Student Entrant. In order to meet their client’s expectations the Self Employed Entrant will often need to use a greater range of certifications. Certainly, the self-employed person needs to rapidly gain the key domestic-centred qualifications that will satisfy their typical household-based clients. Once they have covered the core parts the Student Entrant will often carry on their study not dissimilar to an apprenticeship in the workplace (where the NVQ element can be appraised.) Considerable savings potential exists to the Student Entrant by taking on this cheaper form of study. Nevertheless by taking a more commercial viewpoint and gaining qualifications faster than the Student Entrant, many Self Employed Entrants gain greater financial rewards and within a shorter space of time.
It is by covering the study needs along with those of a clear careers discussion that meet the financial rewards. For adults with demands of say a 20kp.a and a family to look after, the prospect of going back to college and spending a further 3 years in low-paid apprenticeship work can be very daunting. It should also be remembered that many younger Student Entrants are entering an apprenticeship and thereby have their courses paid for them whereas the mature self-employed students do not. Depending on the level of certification sought and the course itself the costs for people can run into 3k to 10k+.
Student Entrants will in the main study at further-education colleges, the Self Employed student however has the option to consider the increased scope of private commercial colleges. It is the lead into familiar skill-sets and qualifications that commercially fixed plumbing course companies offer as part of their training paths. The situation whereby Self Employed Entrants can continue with their current job and maintain their financial position remains one of the core advantages of training in evening, part-time or self study classes. With the high number of colleges it makes sense to gather as much technical data as you can. We’ve provided links and adverts from several, so why not book-mark this page (CTRL-D) so you can come back later to review your options.
To increase their ‘marketability’ many plumbing students will go on to utilise extra courses. Courses in areas such as Gas, Electrical and Green Energy can provide added certifications. Gas training has always been a route for Plumbers to consider, as this forms part of the common domestic and commercial heating system.
Gas Training is considered a dedicated training program with key subjects followed by important NVQ’s. It also features many options for on-going training, especially for those who trained as a plumber first and are now looking at some extra skills to add to their stable. In review it is often felt that the mature student responds well to the blend of Gas/Plumbing training. For the Mature Student the emphasis appears to be reducing the NVQ elements and focussing on the core subjects.
It is this distinct training hybrid that appears to suit the self-employed professional. The opportunity to earn money whilst at the same time gain a wider range of skills is certainly part of the attraction. This alone can add to their industrial viewpoint, as opposed to relying on sub-contracting core elements to third parties. Whilst sub-contracting can reduce the earning of a particular job perhaps more important is the deterioration of the value in a customer’s eye as they have to wait for jobs to be handled by others before completion of the overall task. In order to offer more value to their relative clients Plumbers need to be more skilled in their job role.
Finally, whilst the Student Entrant breaks into the industry more quickly the Self Employed Entrant has the opportunity for higher potential earnings, but to do so they need to develop a broader range of certifications and a higher level of business skill sets. Note: This relative information is primarily for the UK workplace and policies alone.
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