MrRivaz

Im heading to brisbane with my girlfriend, i am a plumber and was wondering about further education there.

I want to train to be a commercial installer, i have my domestic gas and plumbing here (nvq 2 and acs) what are the rules about further higher quals training?

And plumbers on this forum, if u have made the move, did u take your tools, or ebay them, all my tools are dewalt and obviously quite heavy.

egghead4

hiyah

where in wales are you? we are in the glorious newport
the OH is also a plumber and heating engineer, he has been doing all the research into his tools and what not, but you could post on the proffession forum, I guess you would get a good response there and gain some useful information about plumbing in oz

MrRivaz

im in swansea.... i did a 12 month backpacking stint in oz, loved it

when u thinking of going

egghead4

we have to validate the visas before 20.6.08, so flight are booked for 3.6.08, but we cant go until the house is sold:curse::curse:
we just cant wait to go, where are you thinking of heading?
bec

betsyboob

We have done lots of research on plumbing in Oz, heading for queens in a couple of months. Seems that the pipes are all a different size so pipe benders etc are no good x

turkey12903

on arrival, go to gas & mining board, convert Corgi license to Qld gas license, with this license you can do Domestic & commercial work, however, not Industrial, unless you are working alongside an Industrial License holder.

To get your Plumbing License, apply to the Plumbing and Drainage Board on arrival and as long as you meet there requirements, in 'timeserved' you will receive a Provisional License, which allows you to work for a fully licensed plumber. you can do a course to obtain your full license. Skills tech Australia, but this is were the fun beginners , are just getting in touch with the right guy's and getting the right info is next to impossible.

Bring all your tools, but leave your pipe benders, as pipe sizes are different, and silver solder, no compression fittings on gas, flared joints.,

hope this helps

egghead4

hi

thanks for the tips. we are heading to the sunshine coast in june and the OH will then be looking for work as a plumber gas fitter. we've been looking at all different types of jobs he could do, but can you tell me if there is a demand for plumbers on the SC, or do people have to travel further afield.
cheers
bec

turkey12903

there is alot of small one man band plumbers on the SC, but brisbane has alot more job offers, check out seek.com.au

MrRivaz

um. wel having spent alot of time in brisbane, when i backpacked on, we thought its the nicest place to be... we loved the gold coast, brisbane, surfers, cairns etc... just wish we extended to a 2 year visa, but i didnt want to pick fruit lol

I loved darwin, but couldnt live there unless the package for a job was silly money.

MrRivaz

is that just for brisbane, i wrked around oz gas fitting, and they have pipe benders the same as ours, maybe a different size, but they have all the tools for it.

allthough they use silver braizing rods, instead of solder, the heat expands the joints, so much that solder wudnt keep a tight seal....

i used oxy acetelene, on pipes over 32mm inch and a quarter, i found it hard and burnt straight thru many times, easy in the end.

Melbourne i was on £28 an hour, Darwin £30 an hour, Perth £25 an hour, all this was without a license, as i wasnt allowed to take an eqiuvelency test, so the loop hole i had was i was taken on as a trades assistant.

pajones

I don't think that you would have been on £25 an hour in Perth, more like $25.

MrRivaz

yea $ is what i meant

pajones

Hello MrRivaz, your tools will be fine, except pipe slice 15m and 22m and your benders, all pipes here are a different size.If you ship them as opposed to Air Mail, it will cost you a lot less as they calculate 'size' not weight. Hows sunny Swansea, have been there a few times.Oxwich bay, Caswel bay, and the Mumbles.

MrRivaz

well m8, sunny it isnt.... we have had torrential rain. I was walking home from the oub last night and my god, it was hammering down... weve also caught the dreggs of gales.. and yesterday at around 4pm, a mist decended on swansea making drivin horrible. other than that m8 lol its allright, i work around the mumbles quite a bit nice place when the weathers good.

r u in oz now?

pajones

Yeah I'm still In oz Perth, but going home, back to Shropshire in April.Hope It all works out fine for you. Cheers Paul