gotta talk the Mrs round

Hi all,

just after a little advice my partner and I are in the very early stages of hopefully deciding to move to the beautiful country of new zealand ( obviously a lot depends on whether they want us).
I currently work in the gas industry as a gas service layer my job involves re-newing people's gas services into the property as well as helping as part of a team to re-new the gas mains.

I was hoping to carry on this work in new Zealand but I can't find much in formation on the net as to whether this kind of occupation is required. If this was an occupation i could continue all of my qualifications are from the uk and wondered if they were transferable ?i was hoping if there was any ex pats that may have moved over with a familiar background work wise and if they could share any information with me,

I'm sorry if this question has been asked loads in the past but would really appreciate any help. I look forward to reading any reply and would like to say thank you to anyone taking there time to read this.

Woodlea

Hello and welcome to the forum,
I see these guys on the new subdivisions that have reticulated gas.
equipment servicing
There is not a lot of reticulated gas in NZ but some of the new subdivisions have installed it.
This
http://resources.ccc.govt.nz/files/c...ionnetwork.pdf
shows the reticulation of gas in Christchurch, I would guess that very few of this network is for domestic customers.
Good luck

MrsFychan

looking on the immigration site they have a gas fitter, gas main and line fitter, listed as a skilled occupation which means you would need to have a job offer from an accredited company to uplift a visa and your qualifications would have to be recognised in NZ or have 5 years relevant work experience.

I have picked up on is your username - so she is not convinced? Why do you want to move to NZ?

BEVS

Hi there and welcome to BE.

My husband is a UK time served plumber/gasfitter & is now a Craftsman Certifying plumber and registered gasfitter here in NZ. We are not in an area where there is mains gas so his work is entirely different to yours.

There is reticulated gas in New Zealand in some areas.

You will need to have your UK qualifications assessed. NZQA do this .
After that you would need to be NZ licensed and then NZ registered.
Please contact the PGDB for more information. .

Gasfitters themsleves are not in shortage in New Zealand , however that is not to say that New Zealand couldn't do with someone familiar with working on mains. There is some piped natural gas and also piped lpg gas. Make sure you are familiar with LPG before you come.

Gasfitting etc is seen as a skilled occupation so it is perfectly possible for you to come live and work here . A job offer will be the golden key.

Please have a browse of

Gas Association of NZ
& perhaps ask them for current information on gas vacancies.

escapedtonz

Piped natural gas isn't that widely available in New Zealand. The majority of it is for industry and especially thermal generation plant.
There is only one major high pressure pipeline (Maui Pipeline) that runs from the Taranaki Region up the West Coast towards Otahuhu (South Auckland) passing the major generation hub at Huntly. The reason the pipeline was built was to serve the Huntly rankine dual fuel thermal generation units and the gas turbines at Otahuhu, Southdown and then later on at Stratford in the Taranaki region.
There is a lower pressure network that serves other parts of the North Island and links with the Maui Pipeline network which is mainly used for industry but as a by product the residential customer base has been slowly increasing. The only natural gas wells for NZ are situated off the West Coast of the Taranaki region so for logistical reasons there is no piped natural gas on the South Island.
There is piped gas in the city council zones for the larger cities on the North Island - for example Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga etc. and new developments in these areas seem to be building houses with a gas connection whereas in the past the majority of homes would have been run on electricity only or have LPG just for the cooking with a bottle outside.
The whole gas network is owned and operated by Vector nowadays after Vector recently agreed to buy the Maui Pipeline Network.
Have a look on their website at https://vector.co.nz/gas

Since piped natural gas for residential purposes is kind of in the early stages there is no requirement at the moment for renewing gas services, however I'm sure the major city developments would need staff for new connections ?
I'd say get in touch with Vector and see if they have any vacancies or if they can put you in touch or give details of the gas contractors they use on their network ?
You would most certainly need your gas qualifications assessing here to ensure they meet the equivalent level and you would need to be professionally registered which will involve having all qualifications and experience assessed, you'll probably have to undertake exams, most likely IELTS english language course regardless of background and a first aid course

BEVS

NZQA assess the overseas trade quals in the first instance.
The PGDB will accept the overseas quals via the above NZQA assessment. It needs to come in at level 4.
There is no IELTS or first aid.
Once assessed as of the standard the person will be able to uplift a licenses. This will be a limited license until such time as the person passes PGDB registration and/or certifying .
For an overseas person this will be an exam and a practical assessment, however it is best to ask the PGDB direct about this as they do alter this from time to time.

Please have a read of this helpful link