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New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Old May 31st 2009, 5:35 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Look at my posts. I think you'll find I know my stuff reasonably well.

The aim is to help would-be migrants to understand what is required of them. This is an information highway after all. I post about more than just plumbing.

As for the NZ plumbing and gasfitting trade? Well, I have my views. I also have views on the trade in the UK also. There again. I like to be as fully informed as poss. After-all, it's been our living for several decades now, so it's been in my best interests to keep up to press.
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Old Jun 5th 2009, 1:28 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Hi living in N Z is great, weekends are great, then the bad news you have to go back to work on monday. Ive been here for two years now and i have to say plumbing in beleive land is poor but they will say they are the best and the best trained plumbers in the world as for the gas dont get me started they dont believe in gas safety and most havent heard of spillage/smoketests when installing gas fires & boilers,boilers are 10 years+ behind the times with condensing boilers just coming in now.
My advice is work hard in the uk then retire here or apply and get residency then go back to the uk to earn money and respect then retire early out here.
But again i must say it is great here out of work time I live in taupo with my family and im considering changing careers. if you want the facts im willing to give them
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Old Jun 7th 2009, 7:28 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

hi jd,what career do you do you suggest with our skills as plum/gas men? i,m sure that a lot of dissatisfied like minded guys would want to do the same, i had suggested some time before to eager to come to nz from uk people that they would be better off to come as a painter as you could earn the same money and not have to be a rocket scientist to be one. nz has always been a place where a qualification on paper is worth more that being able to actually do the work, i`ve worked with a lot of brit plumbers who do not have qualifications, apart from completing an apprenticeship and they were top tradesmen, also worked with a lot of kiwi qualified guys who could not even light a gas torch. you learn to live and let live because you are just classed as a s--t stirer if you complain. i think things are changing as all the nz trained guys are begining to feel the pinch with all the compliances and costs/training that go with it, we are all slowly being squeezed to a standstill under the wieght of b.s.
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Old Jun 8th 2009, 7:37 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Hi jayson
What ever we wanted to do they would tell us we were not qualified, and they were better,anyway i just left my job due to stress and i got a call today that they dont know how to repair the fire and could i tell them how to.typical?
any way im getting a good rep of being a pain to the pdgb Just because the kiwis are scared to complain about this poor system.
my address is [email protected]
I write in plumbers journal jds corner

Again my advice would be dont come to plumb
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Old Jun 11th 2009, 2:29 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Originally Posted by jayson2
, i had suggested some time before to eager to come to nz from uk people that they would be better off to come as a painter
Except that as plumbers they wouldn't be able to gain either a temp work visa or PR as their quals and work exp wouldn't match the trade skill..
Plumbers are on the long term shortage list. Painters are only on the immediate shortage list.
Both are seen as skilled and both trades have to prove training and quals to the NZIS skill level 4, so advising people they can just come as painters is a no-go.

If you doubt this then have a browse of the NZ immigration website.


I`ve worked with a lot of brit plumbers who do not have qualifications, apart from completing an apprenticeship
I'm going to call you on that. No you haven't !

an apprenticeship without a trade cert at the end of it?
Come off it.

A UK plumber can't get NZ PR unless they have both the apprenticeship/training AND the trade qualification to match the standard set by the NZIS.

That means an older C&G certs 1 & 2 with 2 being advanced & in three parts or
and NVQ 3 with matching on the tools experience and training
PLUS
a successful pre-assessment from the PGDB of NZ.

That's the ONLY way a plumber or for that matter a gasfitter would be successful in an NZIS PR application.

The same applies for a temporary work visa.

Please do not mislead people as to what is required to come into NZ as a plumbing or gasfitting tradesman. Your personal experience may not have been good but a quality time served , UK craftsman plumber can do perfectly OK in NZ. What you do have to remember is that NZ is not the UK and you understand that when you come.

Further, you may not be happy with the rules and regs here & we may not be for that matter and that is totallyour perogitive but to suggest to others that they don't come to NZ to work in this trade because you are personally unhappy with it , is absurd.
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Old Jun 11th 2009, 2:40 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Originally Posted by jd24hrs
What ever we wanted to do they would tell us we were not qualified, and they were better
well heck. Yay. That is the Kiwi way aint it?
Kiwis - best readers in the world.
Best sportsmen
Best travelled
I just read in North and South that they are also the best genealogy researchers.

Don't take it to heart and just be secure in the knowledge that you know you are a fully qualified , time served master plumber/gasfitter. (That's if you are of course) That's my husband's approach and has been for the past five years. Not worth thinking about.

anyway i just left my job due to stress and i got a call today that they dont know how to repair the fire and could i tell them how to.typical?
Tell 'em to bog off.
Do the hard yards. Take the time to get your Craftsman and then start up on your own. We know a UK bloke did just that . Then look at what can be done to make changes from the iside out instead of shouting from the outside in.

any way im getting a good rep of being a pain to the pdgb
Yup. I had that rep when we were coming out 5/6 years back. I was that person that went apeshite down the phone and then I got over myself and got on with life.
It won'tt get you anywhere. Beat the system , don't spend your time knocking it.

my advice would be don't come to plumb
.. and as I previously stated that would be such a wrong thing to advise anyone as it is based on your own feelings . Their experience, personality, could well be totally different to yours
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Old Jun 11th 2009, 6:40 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Originally Posted by BEVS
Except that as plumbers they wouldn't be able to gain either a temp work visa or PR as their quals and work exp wouldn't match the trade skill..
Plumbers are on the long term shortage list. Painters are only on the immediate shortage list.
Both are seen as skilled and both trades have to prove training and quals to the NZIS skill level 4, so advising people they can just come as painters is a no-go.

If you doubt this then have a browse of the NZ immigration website.




I'm going to call you on that. No you haven't !

an apprenticeship without a trade cert at the end of it?
Come off it.

A UK plumber can't get NZ PR unless they have both the apprenticeship/training AND the trade qualification to match the standard set by the NZIS.

That means an older C&G certs 1 & 2 with 2 being advanced & in three parts or
and NVQ 3 with matching on the tools experience and training
PLUS
a successful pre-assessment from the PGDB of NZ.

That's the ONLY way a plumber or for that matter a gasfitter would be successful in an NZIS PR application.

The same applies for a temporary work visa.

Please do not mislead people as to what is required to come into NZ as a plumbing or gasfitting tradesman. Your personal experience may not have been good but a quality time served , UK craftsman plumber can do perfectly OK in NZ. What you do have to remember is that NZ is not the UK and you understand that when you come.

Further, you may not be happy with the rules and regs here & we may not be for that matter and that is totallyour perogitive but to suggest to others that they don't come to NZ to work in this trade because you are personally unhappy with it , is absurd.
hi bev, how much do you want to put on it, i`ll name them.
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Old Jun 11th 2009, 11:41 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

If you know non-qualified UK blokes that have lied to get into NZ then I suggest you keep it to yourself.

Fully UK qualified for NZIS purposes = an apprenticeship with a governing body i.e. C&G or NVQ with the trade certs at the end of it. This includes the on the tools training over those years.

Those certs. have to be certified by a notary or solicitor and submitted with the NZIS ITA. Those same trade certs also have to be certified and submitted to the PGDB.

You know dodgy tradesmen , you keep that to yourself. They won't thank you for shaming them by name but I will add this. They do quality, fully qualified, time served overseas craftsman like my husband a huge dis-service and makes it all the harder for men like him to show NZ that they are up to scratch.

good grief..
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Old Jun 11th 2009, 9:15 pm
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

bev, as you say this is an information highway good and not so good. there is nothing dodgy about my post or the people that i talked about,they were here before immigration rules changed,i personally worked with these guys for the first nine years that i arrived without being registered, we worked on various building sites employed under the banner of 'mechanical services' where we were paid engineering union rates,(i think that still happens).the people i refer to did thier training in the u.k. as i did but did not(for some reason)pass c&g exams, however they were still time served plumbers and obviously came to n.z. and were employed with no problems. some of these guys went on to craftsman plum/gas as i did. i could say i`m alright jack, pull up the ladder but my focus is the ever increasing rule changes/fee hikes and the like. I feel for the young guys coming through and wonder how they can cope with these changes as well as being family men/big mortgages/extra time away studying/audit stress/dissaplinary action threats etc. i believe that the pgdb has gone from a passive orgaisation to anaggressive bully, and because of that i would not recommend the trade to anybody.
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Old Jul 3rd 2009, 5:54 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Hi jayson and bevs
AS for the bully boy tactics of the plumbers board in NZ this is down to mr phil routham he doesnt like the english for some reason I think this is due to, he lacks the understanding of plumbing and htg industry.
I have been told that he bullied his way into the position and nobody likes him especiely the nz politicians and the rest of board
I hope you fill in the the plumbers board questionnaire booklet( implementing the plumbers,gasfitters and drainlayers act 2006) ,please tell every plumber to fill in as it is now time to change this poor system.Also please talk to Shane Jones labour mp as he is opposition construction minister now.
Also talk to Tim Donoghue of the dominion post
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Old Jul 3rd 2009, 11:35 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Right then me boyos.

This isn't about the politics and interpretation of the PGD Act of NZ, although I am quite happy for this thread to stay open for it.

This isn't about the election of the PGD board.

I am going to start another thread now for those overseas plumbers and gasfitters wanting to know about coming to live and work in NZ, in this trade. What I will be writing is about what it takes to come here to NZ to live and work. I would ask that you keep that thread clear for the overseas plumbers looking at NZ.

They will not be interested in your politics & power struggles. Nor will they be intersted in what you feel is over regualtion.. They will only be interested in what it takes to be able to move country to NZ. They will be adults and able to make their own minds up and decisions just as we did.

All I can do is ask you to understand and respect that not all feel as you do. In fact, many will have come from far worse than what you feel is over monitored, or may simply want to change their country & the hoops towards working in the trade here will not faze them. More power to their elbow for that.

This is not a political platform . This is an information exchange.

I have already had to explain about CORGI as one of you seemed to not understand how it worked at all. There again one of you is not properly qualified anyway.
jd24hrs

You have sent two PMs with no content. A curtesy of a reply would be loveley. As far as I know there is no current application process in situ for approval ot the PGDB board. I did ask you to let me have any current forms.

jayson2

I will not be responding further. No got the C&G advanced ! / No qualified plumber or gasfitter ! Simple.

All the young men around us are doing just fine. They need to study but there again the NZ apprentice and study system needs improving & properly monit\toring.

We know of one apprentice who was trained by a NON registered plumber , let alone a craftsman bloke yet he was acredited as a top apprentice. or should that be NZ are the greatest and sought over the world over.

What is good from the PGDB is in trying to get some regulation into gas similar to CORGI and ACS! It was ******' disgusting & unbelievably unsafe the way it was before . Mind you, when you think that many so called craftsmen never even sat the registration or craftsmen exams it is all a bit of a laugh isn't it. That is, never mind previous migrants not being craftsman standard anyways. Give me a break.

Thank goodness NZ decided they had to up the standard to somewhere near the original UK standard ( actually I read they didn't really have a choice) because , from what I understand ( ANZRA), Oz simply got fed up with NZ bad practice and NZ , as always, decided to blame it on someone else ---- dodgy overseas (UK) tradesmen rather than looking towards itself . . Nightmare !

I am just so please that for my husband ,he is time served and proven craftsman with 30 years plus behind him.


I'm not sure what is poor about the system.


Is it in having to pay out money?

Is it in having to prove one retains a standard.?

Or is it taking the craftman migrants stance that having had one assessment , it then costs a further $4K to be put backward from craftman to gaina simple registraion status.

I would like to feel you may be only about the migrant but I do feel you are both possibly about knocking a system that requires YOU to pay over $$ and to receive ongoing training. No care for the migrant at all.

What is clear from the standards seen in NZ since we arrived, is that it certainly needs pulling up by it's bootstraps and also bringing into the 21st century.

FYI = Hazel Armstrong appears to now be chairperson. Not Paul Routham. I just googled it .
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Old Jul 4th 2009, 3:57 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Small apology to JD24hrs.
I have found what I think to be a PM reply but it is as per a quote.
You have a detailed PM reply.
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Old Jul 20th 2009, 5:14 am
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Default Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

My name is Tim and I am from the U.S. I have been a Master Plumber in good standing since 1994. My wife and I, along with our six children, would like to immigrate to New Zealand.
We have owned and operated our businesses since 94, with as many as 26 employees at our peak in 2005.
I have read all of your threads that I could find.
I have printed out the PGDB immigration guide just now and will go through it in the coming days.
Do you foresee any problems with my masters certificate and qualifications from the U.S. translating as effectively as they would from the UK. All we have here is journeyman and masters level(not level 2, 3 and such).
If I can get the limited license from the PGDB do I in your opinion have to travel to New Zealand to court employers or do you think it could possibly be done effectively through contact via email, mail, phone, etc...
With six children I may be tough to breakaway.
My wife has an associate degree in elementary education, and is hoping to enter nursing school this winter to become a registered nurse, she is also a doula, and may work towards a licensed nurse midwife certification.
Do you think we sound like a decent candidate for a PR or skilled migrant.
We have just started the process but we a definately moving hot and heavy.
Thank you for your insights,
Tim
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Old Jul 20th 2009, 6:38 am
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Wink Re: New Zealand plumbers wife saying Hi.

Originally Posted by BEVS
Right then me boyos.

This isn't about the politics and interpretation of the PGD Act of NZ, although I am quite happy for this thread to stay open for it.

This isn't about the election of the PGD board.

I am going to start another thread now for those overseas plumbers and gasfitters wanting to know about coming to live and work in NZ, in this trade. What I will be writing is about what it takes to come here to NZ to live and work. I would ask that you keep that thread clear for the overseas plumbers looking at NZ.

They will not be interested in your politics & power struggles. Nor will they be intersted in what you feel is over regualtion.. They will only be interested in what it takes to be able to move country to NZ. They will be adults and able to make their own minds up and decisions just as we did.

All I can do is ask you to understand and respect that not all feel as you do. In fact, many will have come from far worse than what you feel is over monitored, or may simply want to change their country & the hoops towards working in the trade here will not faze them. More power to their elbow for that.

This is not a political platform . This is an information exchange.

I have already had to explain about CORGI as one of you seemed to not understand how it worked at all. There again one of you is not properly qualified anyway.
jd24hrs

You have sent two PMs with no content. A curtesy of a reply would be loveley. As far as I know there is no current application process in situ for approval ot the PGDB board. I did ask you to let me have any current forms.

jayson2

I will not be responding further. No got the C&G advanced ! / No qualified plumber or gasfitter ! Simple.

All the young men around us are doing just fine. They need to study but there again the NZ apprentice and study system needs improving & properly monit\toring.

We know of one apprentice who was trained by a NON registered plumber , let alone a craftsman bloke yet he was acredited as a top apprentice. or should that be NZ are the greatest and sought over the world over.

What is good from the PGDB is in trying to get some regulation into gas similar to CORGI and ACS! It was ******' disgusting & unbelievably unsafe the way it was before . Mind you, when you think that many so called craftsmen never even sat the registration or craftsmen exams it is all a bit of a laugh isn't it. That is, never mind previous migrants not being craftsman standard anyways. Give me a break.

Thank goodness NZ decided they had to up the standard to somewhere near the original UK standard ( actually I read they didn't really have a choice) because , from what I understand ( ANZRA), Oz simply got fed up with NZ bad practice and NZ , as always, decided to blame it on someone else ---- dodgy overseas (UK) tradesmen rather than looking towards itself . . Nightmare !

I am just so please that for my husband ,he is time served and proven craftsman with 30 years plus behind him.


I'm not sure what is poor about the system.


Is it in having to pay out money?

Is it in having to prove one retains a standard.?

Or is it taking the craftman migrants stance that having had one assessment , it then costs a further $4K to be put backward from craftman to gaina simple registraion status.

I would like to feel you may be only about the migrant but I do feel you are both possibly about knocking a system that requires YOU to pay over $$ and to receive ongoing training. No care for the migrant at all.

What is clear from the standards seen in NZ since we arrived, is that it certainly needs pulling up by it's bootstraps and also bringing into the 21st century.

FYI = Hazel Armstrong appears to now be chairperson. Not Paul Routham. I just googled it .
hi bevs
by the way i ran a business in the uk for 18 yrs and apprentice trained passed city&guilds 2/3 ,acops trained also did NVQ level 2/3 also gas training 1 thrugh to 15 also was bosch boiler trained and the list goes on so i am an /plumber/gasengineer who isnt very good on computers .
as for not thinking about migrants do you know how bad it feels to be treated like a dumb plumber by this dumb system run by PHIL ROUTHAM just ask any body who knows thanks john 073774141
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Old Jul 20th 2009, 7:17 am
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Originally Posted by timothyj
My name is Tim and I am from the U.S. I have been a Master Plumber in good standing since 1994. My wife and I, along with our six children, would like to immigrate to New Zealand.
Kia Ora from New Zealand Tim. If you have the time , pop on over to the New Zealand part of the Brit Expat forum & join in. We would love to see you there. All sorts of stuff about NZ life there. I'll drone on about NZ plumbing in the NZ forum just as I will here so perhaps we could have an NZ plumbing thread and bit of chat on there.


Originally Posted by timothyj
We have owned and operated our businesses since 94, with as many as 26 employees at our peak in 2005.
Fair play to you mate. We ran a small plumbing. heating and solar business in the UK prior to coming to NZ.

Originally Posted by timothyj
I have read all of your threads that I could find.
Never mind. I hope you did this sitting comforatably.

Originally Posted by timothyj
I have printed out the PGDB immigration guide just now and will go through it in the coming days.
Good ! I take it you mean the PGDB Immigrant Qualification Assessment System


Originally Posted by timothyj
Do you foresee any problems with my masters certificate and qualifications from the U.S. translating as effectively as they would from the UK. All we have here is journeyman and masters level(not level 2, 3 and such).
The only people that can answer this for certain is the PGDB. At the moment the PGDB don't publish which overseas qualifications they accept and which they don't accept, although I feel this would be a good addition to their website.
In the past the PGDB wouldn't even assess American plumbing quals but this has now changed. I remember one lovely American family going through hoops back in 2007. They are here now , with PR although I have lost touch which is sad.

Just because the PGDB will undertake to assess American plumbing quals and experience does NOT mean that they will accept them as partway towards gaining NZ registration. Please be careful here. I know of an Hungarian family. He did vocational training and apprenticeship for 4 years , yet the PGDB would not accept the quals as it was not from a comparable country

What they , the PGDB, want to see is that the overseas plumbing quals compare to that of the New Zealand National Certificate im Plumbing. You need to be at least one step or more up from their National Certificate as such.

This may give you some insight as to the New Zealand Plumbing National Certificate etc (click the link) Look and compare.

The only way to know for sure is to send in a pre-assessment and this will cost you NZD $400. What the PGDB look for is that your training matches NZ training & apprenticeships. They will not be interested in whether or not you have run a business.

[quote=timothyj]If I can get the limited license from the PGDB do I in your opinion have to travel to New Zealand to court employers or do you think it could possibly be done effectively through contact via email, mail, phone, etc...te]

This is not the way that licensing works here. You only get a license if you are emplyed in the trade. There is no license yet for those overseas plumbing tradesmen coming to NZ.
So for a PGDB limited license you need an NZ job offer.

NZ is in recession. In my opinon, and it is only an opinion and no more, you would be hard pressed to get a job offer via email, mail, phone or otherwise. At the moment you may be hard pressed to get a firm full time, permanent job offer here on the ground in New Zealand . Plumbers are in shortage but job offers are hard come by. Everything is at stand still and wait see mode. Building is stagnat. There is maintenance work but the plumbers that normally do building are now chasing maintenance .

What I will say to this, is that if you get a positive PGDB pre-assessment and apply for PR , it may be possible you come here without the need for a job. Not my promise or anything like that but this is all about points on the Skilled Migrant Category.


Originally Posted by timothyj
With six children I may be tough to breakaway.
I have two cats, two ducks and a husband. How do you sleep.

Originally Posted by timothyj
My wife has an associate degree in elementary education, and is hoping to enter nursing school this winter to become a registered nurse, she is also a doula, and may work towards a licensed nurse midwife certification.
I am going to urge you to ask on the NZ forum of BE, ( click the link)

Plenty of nurses and midwives there to help with this.

Originally Posted by timothyj
Do you think we sound like a decent candidate for a PR or skilled migrant.
We have just started the process but we a definitely moving hot and heavy.
Thank you for your insights,
Tim
Oh ! You don't sound too bad to me. I think you may have the steel spine & backbone needed & you seem to have the skills that NZ wants and needs. Just take a care.

I'm not sure about the 'hot and heavy'. Is that the way you get 6 kids instead of ducks and cats.
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