Lucydeanjacob

Hi all, I've come on here looking for some information on making the move to New Zealand the plan is to save save save. My partner is a qualified gas engineer/plumber with 8 years experience, I work in administration/telecommunications, we have a on year old boy and have dreamt on a new life in nz now for a long time but now really want to get the ball rolling. I dont really know where to start! We have a mortgage here in England and plan to rent our home out to pay the mortgage in England and rent in nz for the first year or so whilst we make sure we know where about in nz we want to settle! Any info Advice would be great thank you

BEVS

Hi there and welcome to BE.

I'm in New Zealand and married to a time served plumber/gasfitter. We've been here 11 years now.

Your first move is to find out if you can gain work. From there you will look at visas. That comes first really before any location.

I'll move this thread into the NZ forum for you. Plenty of folk will be happy to help on all things NZ.

Lucydeanjacob

Hi thanks for the reply Bev. My partner has all his qualifications up to date and alot of experience in his trade so I'm hoping there is a good Company out there that will want him. I understand be will have to resit his qualifications in NZ and learn about NZ regulations etc. Did your partner find work before he went over? How much approx do gas engineers make in NZ his salary is £32 000 per annum here in the UK is it simular sorry questions questions lol

BEVS

Hi again from a warm but cloudy New Zealand.

Yes. MrBEVS had many job offers before we finally arrived however this was eleven years ago when both plumbers and gasfitters were considered to be in huge shortage here. That is no longer the case.

Currently plumbers are in shortage in the Canterbury area. Gasfitters are not in shortage anywhere in NZ so if he is wanting gasfitting , he is better to look for an NZIS accredited employer to take him on. Much depends on what sort of trade work he prefers.

These days my husband works almost exclusively on new build houses. Quite different really from what he did in the UK.

Trade wages depend on where in NZ you are & also individual employers. For an overseas trade plumber/gasfitter with no NZ experience or NZ quals perhaps think between $22 - $28.

Careers NZ Plumber etc

I will say that your husband earns more in the UK than my husband does presently in NZ, per the current rate of exchange which is not a good way to gauge affordability.

He is time served in the UK with 30 years of exp there . He is now an NZ certifying craftsman plumber and gasfitter with eleven years NZ experience.

Have you an area in mind at all? We didn't have at all but many seem to.

Have you been to NZ on holiday?

escapedtonz

Our local UK Homeserve plumber / gas fitter has recently landed in NZ. He was offered a job here from an employer in Pukekohe, Auckland and came over with the family about 8 weeks ago now. They've taken him on as the Senior Gas Fitter and he's getting $25 an hour at the moment until he's trained up which shouldn't take too long. He should then be on up to $35 an hour. Not sure what he's had to do with his qualifications and registration ?

BEVS

$35 is a fantastic hourly rate. $25 sounds about right and the norm. I am very surprised that a trade employer would offer a jump of $10 TBH. Normally it is like pulling teeth at a dollar a time.



This is what an overseas plumbing/gasfitter tradesman needs to do

HERE

1 - IQA assessment to level 4 - Link HERE

2 - Produce proof of qualifications and relevant work experience

3 - Take registration exam to be ordinarily PGDB registered. Note: This is not the same as licensing. That is different.

4 - Take advanced assessment for craftsman standard certifying + certifying exam.

NZ exams are in June and November of each year. Previous exam papers can be found on the PGDB website.

These days it is possible to gain PGDB registration level whilst still in the UK.

See HERE

I know you understand what is needed Lucydeanjacob & that it will take some time and money but as the point was raised I have posted for anyone else also looking in.

Visas:

If your OH gains a job offer you can choose to uplift a temporary work visa to get you here and working.

As your husband has a trade seen as skilled you would apply for NZ residency under the Skilled Migrant category. It is a points system. The more points the better. Anything over 140 means the application will be selected. If the application has a job offer attached then even better.

POINTS INDICATOR

escapedtonz

Yeah it is a high hourly rate for that trade but then again it is Auckland and he'll be the senior gas fitter in the company. Only time will tell if he actually gets that much

He's only been working 4 weeks and already been offered 2 other jobs starting off on the same money that he's earning now just through tradies he's met on site.
One as a health and safety rep for an English Ex. Pat who prefers UK staff as he says Kiwi's don't take a blind bit of notice or care about H&S
The other as a trainee electrician from one of the sparkies on site who states there's just too much work and not enough people in the trade. Says he's really struggling to keep up and so behind on his work and can only see it getting worse which is why he's desperate to employ anyone to help him out

BEVS

Tiz true about the Work Safe thing but ssshhh you didn't read that from me.

Me and him are calling it fluorescent fashion year as all the tradies , including himself, are suddenly kitted out in fluorescent everything. It's everywhere.

Bloke MrBEVS works with thinks they look like a bunch of oversize golf balls.

This lot don't care about the Work Safe thing. Most think it's for pansies that need nannying.

Chap we know was sorting out spouting for the council offices & got dobbed in by the council itself. Now they can't get anyone to do the job. lol

Lucydeanjacob

Morning Bevs and Escapedtons, a nice early wake up call from my little one today. Thank you for taking the time to reply.
I have spent a good few hours reading through this site looking online etc and I am thinking Auckland is the place where we will be happiest. Mainly because it sounds like it can be easier to find work there and although my partner and I love outdoors chilled lifestyle we would still want to be close to a city/town where there is lots going on.
I'm expecting my partner to have to take a payout after we move now and I am also considering taking out a working visa to start and once he has a Job and we have both been Working in NZ for a while apply for a skilled migrant visa.
I am going to contact gas companies in the Auckland area and get my partner set up with the PGBD and sit the June exam. Is this a silly question can you do this in the UK? Do you have to do the 4 days training once over there I take it? Also once you have done this are the qualifications recognised in Australia Aswel?
I can't wait to have my plan into action the site has been an eye opener to how much there actually is to sort out/consider. I thought it would be easy with my partner having a skilled trade :-/
Quick question on finding a home, with renting do need a deposit and first months rent just like in the UK? What kind of price range am I looking in? I havnt got my head around the NZ dollar yet. We currently pay £600 per month now but taking into account my OH may well be on less when we get over and I might not be in work straightaway either we are probably looking at something lower then that £500 maybe. What would that be in NZ dollar do you know? Just so I can look at the kind of homes we will be able to afford when we first come out we could always move when settled and know out income and location we prefer.
Xx

escapedtonz

In reality, the place where you will come to initially will be dictated by where the job offer will be. Just concentrating on Auckland may seriously limit the possibilities of him landing a job. Even if the initial job was in Christchurch or Palmerston North or Nelson or wherever, you could always look to move somewhere else - maybe Auckland at a later stage once you had your foot in the door so to speak and your partner had some NZ experience behind him. Just a consideration.
At the time that I was looking for a job, I would have considered anywhere in the country so long as the salary was at least at my minimum expectation. In the end I landed 2 jobs in Wellington so spent 2.5 years there before moving up to the Bay Of Plenty and Tauranga.
You are right though about Auckland. With the high amount of building work going on in the whole area it may well be the easiest place to find a job ?
It is also a decent place to live in my opinion with everything there that you need - the climate, the lifestyle etc albeit all spread out. The only things I don't like about Auckland are - way too many people, too much traffic, roads are a nightmare and seem to be in a constant state of construction and everything is top dollar especially property prices

Yes more than likely your partner will have to take a paycut. In comparison to the UK there aren't many skills or professions where you will make the same or more money here. It certainly isn't a place where you come to make your fortune. My projected salary for the same job here was maybe 45%. I ended up going for a more national company, more responsibility and in essence promotion above what I was doing in the UK to reduce the margin in the salaries but I still dropped around 35% coming here. I still don't get paid what I earned 4 years ago in the UK, but I'm getting closer......slowly
With your partner securing a temporary work visa based on a job offer then it'll be easy for you to also land a temporary work visa via the family partnership category which will also allow you to work in NZ if you wish. All adds to the pot

PGDB exam cannot be done overseas. Only available in NZ. Have a look through the site for answers to your other questions. Examinations
For Australia you'll have to look for the Plumbing Industry Commission which is the professional body for plumbers/gasfitters etc in Australia and search for their criteria to be registered.

When renting, you'll need to provide an upfront bond which is usually equal to 3 or 4 weeks rent. It is unlawful for a potential tenant to have to pay any more than the equivalent of 4 weeks rent. This bond is held by the agent or landlord and then lodged with the MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) within 3 months so it is held in government trust.
If the property is secured via an agent then there'll be a letting fee to pay which is usually the equivalent of 1 week rent + GST (15%). You will also have to pay at least 1 or 2 weeks rent up front as rent is paid in advance, so as you can see you could be paying up to 7 x weekly rent up front and if you consider the rent as $500 a week, that's $3500......OUCH!!!
Has to be done though!
All rentals are quoted in $'s per week and normally you would pay fortnightly as that is the normal duration that salary is paid in NZ.
For a decent fully furnished short term rental when you first arrive (as you'll probably not have any furniture, beds, appliances etc) you'll be paying $700 a week but you shouldn't have to pay a bond or a letting fee etc - essentially it's like booking a holiday house for a specific number of weeks until all your stuff/container arrives.
When you then look for an unfurnished longer term rental you'll be looking at minimum $400 - $500 a week. The nearer to the city or really good neighborhood areas the higher the $'s. You do have to be careful as some of them are damp, draughty etc. You really need to view before deciding if it's for you. It is also not your decision whether you want the rental or not. That is down to the landlord or agent as more often than not there's be several families all hoping to secure the same rental so it's up to the landlord or agent to pick who they see as the best option.
As an equivalent, the rent you pay now of £600 per calendar month is £138.50 per week which at the moment is the equivalent of $318 at a rate of $2.30 to the pound.......so you are going to be paying more than you are now. If we speculate that you find a property for $500 per week ($26000 per year) this is the equivalent of around £940 per month!!! You'll be very hard pressed to find anything decent for less than that amount.

Bringing pounds to NZ is very good at the moment. Rate hovering around 2.3 dollars to the pound at the moment. We got 1.9 to the pound 4 years ago!!!