A Plumber needing advice

[evenstar]

Hi there

My partner is a plumber, has his NVQ certificate and i have found on a website that it will be acepted, so no worries there (at he moment at least).

What we are wondering about is the Corgi certificate. My partner is about to do his Corgi but it has been mentioned to us, by some New Zealanders we have met, that my partner may want to hold off doing his gas certificates as he may have to do another one when we get to NZ as the British Corgi may not be acceptable. Make sence?

Now, i havent been able to find any information on this. We havent even started to fill out any of the required forms as yet as we want to clear this matter up first. It also comes down to the fact that to do the Corgi will cost thousands of pounds but if he will have to redo it over in NZ anyway then should he just wait?

I hope that al makes sence and i hope that someone can help us.

Thank you

[Timbo]

I cant help personally, but feel sure that you will get the asnwers from the following link. You may have to e-mail them your query.

http://www.pgdb.co.nz/

[evenstar]

thanx, i had previuosly visited this site but hadnt thought of emailing them.

My partner has now emailed them and were just waiting for the email to go through.

[Mildred]

Hi

If you click on the following link, you should find all you need to know as "Bevesere" is an expert in this field. If you don't find all your answers, she is very helpful and I'm sure won't mind you sending her a pm as I have done on numerous occassions!!!

http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7679

By the way, good luck!

[victoria]

Welcome. Yep, go to the site Frances has put in & also the pgdb. OH is a plumber & to be honest, he didn't pay the Corgi fees. Came over & got a job on his other plumbing skills & it's enough.Lots of work & is still getting offers from other firms. We decided that as he'll have to go through the pgdb exams etc.,he might do the gas or not. Glad we saved the money. So if your hubby's qual. will be recognised by the pgdb fine & dandy, but if not, he'll have to work under a LIMITED CERTIFICATE & the pay will be less. I'd be interested if you would keep us posted on the reply from the pgdb.

[bevsere]

Hi all.
We are just back from four weeks leave in the UK.

Ah ! Plumbing , plumbing and more plumbing.....

OK. Let's get down to business. I'll make several posts. Please come back or PM with any queries.

First, let me explain the way it works for the plumbing and gasfitting trade in New Zealand. Once you know the process to becoming a plumber and/or gasfitter here , you will better understand at what level the PGDB of NZ will see you at being an overseas plumber coming into their NZ trade..

The plumbing trade is regulated by the PGDB - plumbing, gasfitting and drainlayers board. The link for this has already been put up on this thread.

1] Apprenticeship - 3/4 years
2] Attain National Certificate
3] Pass Registration exams
4] Pass Craftsman exams.

Time scale around 6 years.

In New Zealand the training for this trade is still done by time-served apprenticeships. An apprentice will be working in the trade and will study and work towards achieving a NATIONAL CERTIFICATE in plumbing and/or gasfitting and/or drainlaying. The study time is normally 4 years .
Once all the training and study has been completed, there is a three week block course and final exam plus practical assessment. If the apprentice passes this then he will be awarded the National Certificate.

Having been awarded the National Certificate , the next aim of the apprentice is to become fully qualified. Passing the apprenticeship and final exam/assessment is not enough.
In order to become fully qualified as a plumber and/or gasfitter and/or drainlayer, the apprentice must sit and pass the PGDB registration exams. These are three hour closed book exams which are held twice a year. The pass rate is 60%. There is one paper each for plumbing,gasfitting and drainlaying.
Once the registration exams have been achieved, then the apprentice is seen as fully qualified . He can work as an employee at the plumbing and/or gasfitting trade .
If he then wishes to go on to become self-employed he must sit a further two exams . One is a business paper which he can take one year after the registration exam pass and the other is advanced craftsman which can be taken once he has two years under his belt following the registration exam pass.

The PGDB does not fully recognise ANY overseas plumbing drainlaying or gas qualifications. Not any ! However, for those countries listed under the ANZRA agreement [ please see the list on the PGDB website] the PGDB will assess your overseas qualifications to see whether they feel your qualifications are enough to allow you to sit their registration exams .

The best outcome you can have is that they will assess your overseas qualifications enough and that you will just have to sit their registration exams [ one for gas - one for plumbing etc] in order to become fully NZ qualified to Registration standard.

If they do not feel that your overseas qualifications and experience are enough, then they will not allow you to sit the exams but will suggest that you undergo NZ training /apprenticeship here and that you must first achieve the NZ National Certificate before being allowed to sit the PGDB registration exams. This would mean that you would have to sign up with a training provider to study and attend block courses etc. just as NZ apprentices do.

I say that it's better the devil you know when it comes to having the right amount of plumbing/gasfitting qualifications for emigrating to NZ. Not just to make the transition to becoming an Nz plumber/gasfitter as smooth , pain free and cheap as possible but also to satisfy NZIS that you have enough skill to come in under the Skilled Migrant Category.

The PGDB essentially busts any overseas plumber/ gasfitter back to that of a final year apprentice. It doesn't matter what quals you have , how many decades of experience or even if you have run your own plumbing business, you will at best be seen only to final year apprentice standard.

It's best to be prepared for that, in my view. If you know this is the case, then you will be prepared to do what it takes to become NZ recognised.

[victoria]

I knew you'd come to the rescue. Hope you had a great time in the UK

[bevsere]

I knew you'd come to the rescue. Hope you had a great time in the UK

Us plumbers and plumbers wives have simply gotta stick together.

[bevsere]

Hi there Evenstar.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Nz plumbing and gasfitting. I'm not sure if that is a or a or maybe a

NVQ

The aim of your game is to have 'enough' quals and experience to satisfy both NZIS [Nz immigration service] and the PGDB [ plumbing board NZ]

With that in mind I am strongly recommending that your hubby take up the NVQ3. You want your NVQ to come out equivalent to C&G advanced level really.
An NZQ2 would be recognised but not to a good enough degree, if you see what I mean.

The PGDB like to see the overseas plumbers and/or gasfitters are at virtually an NZ craftsman standard. If it's not , then odds are they would suggest to you that you have to do further NZ training for the poxy National Certificate BEFORE you could even consider sitting a PGDB registration exam. Believe me, it's better to finish your UK training first and then simply have to sit the PGDB exam here, rather than get involved with NZ training here.

Further, if you wish to apply to emigrate to NZ under the Skilled Migrant category as a plumber and/or gasfitter , then NZIS [New Zealand Immigration Service] will require you to prove the level of your skill in the trade.
If you have looked at the NZIS website, then you will know that it's all about getting enough points. NZIS Points Indicator

NZIS look to the PGDB when it comes to allowing points for the plumbing trade. If the PGDB assess your trade skill as enough to only undergo the registration exams without the need for the National Certificate etc , then NZIS will accept this and you can count in the points for a trade qualification and bonus points for that trade being on the long-term shortage list.

This is where you want to be !

1] you want to be able to gain points for the trade skill with NZIS
2] you want the PGDB to assess your UK quals to a degree where you only have to sit the registration exams without costly , time-consuming and extra work and training once in NZ.

[bevsere]

To CORGI or not . That is the question.

Now then Evenstar. Does your hubby really deeply truly wish to work on gas once in NZ or would he be happy to plumb for a living.

There is not that much reticulated gas in NZ . That's mains gas to the likes of you and me. Mostly it is bottled LPG. Gasfitting is regulated by the PGDB and there is currently a move towards competence based licensing somewhat along the lines of CORGI. This means that on top of attaining the pgdb gas registration exam, your other half would need to find a job whereby he had access to work on gas as he would need to attain the 'credits' on an annual basis in order to keep his registration license up to date.
That doesn't mean that there is no piped gas. There is. Mostly on the North Island.
Heating in houses in the main is either by an inverted heat pump or with wood burners. The heat pumps are electrical and are like air conditioning units. wood burners are.......burners burning wood.
There are some central heating outfits in Nz and the NZ government is trying to persuade householders to use gas fires. Cooking is normally electric cooker, although you can get gas hobs [ I want one of those ] Again, many of these are run off LPG gas bottles.

There is a HUGE shortage of skilled plumbing tradesmen in NZ. This means that your husbando will not be short of job offers anywhere in New Zealand. That's good news for you when it comes to choosing an area to settle in. It also means that your bloke could choose not to bother with the whole gas thing.

Unless the criteria has changed without my knowing, then I can tell you that the PGDB do require sight of CORGI membership when assessing the UK gas quals . If they don't have this then they would require the study for the NZ National Certificate etc plus a pass in the registration exam before allowing your husband to be seen as a fully qualified NZ gasfitter.

A cautionary tale:-
My husband allowed his CORGI membership to lapse during the 5 years we worked in the solar trade. As you say, it does cost thousands of ££. Anyway, he decided that he wanted to start with a bit of central heating etc again as the solar was becoming a bit repetitive. It paid well but the same thing can be boring day in day out. So, he renewed those ACS/ACOPS modules that had expired via the local tech. college. Some were still in date. He had in excess of 8 in all, including LPG .
Just after that , we decided we would try to emigrate here to NZ , so I asked the PGDB if the ACOPS and ACS renewed gas modules would be enough, alongside his C&G apprenticeship and 30 yrs in the trade. I actually telephoned the PGDB and asked this question direct. We were given the impression that it would be fine, so we decided to save the £400 quid and not apply to re-new the CORGI membership.
We sent all the gas quals and exp into the PGDB , plus the fee and they rejected his gas quals etc on the grounds that he didn't have the CORGI membership. They required him to undergo further training and the NZ National Certificate plus a pass in the registration gas exam before he could be fully Nz gas registered.
That was over 3 years back and we are no further forward with that one.
Phil even sat their wretched PGDB gas registration exam and achieved over 80% without bothering to study but as far as the PGDB goes , he just aint good enough. So - as it stands , he has to do the final year apprenticeship National Certificate before he can touch any gas.

So, Evenstar and Mr Evenstar, I would say that if your husband wished to work on gas, then he must have CORGI in place if he doesn't want to find himself in my husbands position.