oakyyy

hiya all
my name is paul and i am a plumber/heating engineer and i would very much appreciate any information anyone could offer. i am time served but unfortunately didn't finish my last 2 months of college so i didn't get my city and guilds. my grandfather who is currently in perth at the moment went to the trade licensing board and they have told him that i wouldn't stand a chance in hell of getting a license to work in oz. after undergoing a gruelling tra assessment which was passed this has left me dumbfounded and not knowing which way to go, i have emailed my agent to seek advise but they don't seem to know anything. Some have mentioned on this forum that tradesman have to undergo another trade assessment once in oz (i have kept copies of all references, accounts etc). anyone out there had the same or similar experiences that could offer some info.

anything would be very much appreicated.

best regards
paul

sassenach

plumbers and electricians have abloody nighmare here even if they are fully qualified on paper ,so i tend to agree with the licensing board

Karen & Mark

paul possibly in the same boat. dont give up speak direct to lic board @ plumbers licencing board http//www.plumberswa.gov.au keep me posted and likewise.

thfc

hi paul,ive been out here for nearly 2 yrs.got here as a qualified plumber/heating engineer,what they dont tell you is that they dont reconize city and guilds here,so i was told i had to resit 6 exams before i could start work as a plumber,it took 3 months to get to that stage.ive been a plumber for 27 years so theres not much i dont know about plumbing.i now work as a steelfixing foreman,works alot harder,but moneys nearly the same,and im enjoying the change.theres loads of work out here in the building game ,but also alot of red tape as well,unions ,red card etc.but its been the best move ive ever made,australia is the place to be.im live in langwarrin,about 45 mins outside melbourne.

sassenach

Good point ,it would be a shame not to come here if you really want to come if paul can get out here with what he has got the best thing is go and do something else .

CadburysFingers

The entire system is in complete disarray, if our experience is anything to go by. We had a house built, teams of sparkies and plumbers do the work, one in each team has a licence (he does hardly any of the work) the rest of the team are young lads without a licence between them, they do all the work, whilst the licenced person in the team overseas everything. Its complete bullshit. We had to get both the sparkies and plumbers back several times to correct crap workmanship.

Good luck to you, by the way, wish I could be of help, but I think you will struggle on this one, have you searched the site for threads that could help you?

bramptonbrian

Shouldn't worry about the qualifications too much. It may well work in your favour to be "under qualified" as a job seeker. Plenty of licenced plumbers here are struggling to find employment as a plumber and a plumbers mate working under the direction of a licenced plumber will probably do better finding a job. Pick an area where there is a shortage of plumbers (eg. a guy in tassie recently said they were desparate down there for gas fitters). C&G are recognised by the P&DB in QLD but get pay slips from all the plumbing firms you've worked for over the years to verify your work experience and you should at least get a provisional licence. All the states are different but once one has accepted your qualifications it is easily transferred to other states via mutual recognition. Dont move here for carreer advancement!!!
Good luck Brian

Karen & Mark

paul ive had a reply back today from lic board i quote,if you do not hold a formal qualification in plumbing for example city and guilds then you would currently not be eligible to be granted a lic in wa.if you did you would need to undertake a migrant plumbing coarse 50 hours of course work and assessments

sassenach

They have ahabit of pigeon holeing every trade here thats one of the reasons im returning to the uk as i want to be able to use my full knowledge of the building industry not a specific part of it .If paul was a bricklayer it wouldnt be abig deal ,maybe you should come to perth paul a nd do one of those 2 week brickie courses then go out and start building million dollar homes for builders the stupid part about it is you would be able to do that