BEVS

That is a very misleading post. I know you feel you have issues with the PGDB but could you please not give misleading information of this nature.

BEVS

The PGDB limited license is not dependant on your overseas qualifications.

It is the license you apply for which allows you to work in the trade as an un-registered gasfitter.

Once you have a job offer here in NZ ( Assuming you have PR or a work permit which allows you to do this ) both you and the employer will apply to the PGDB for the limited license.
This allows you to work under the direct supervision of an NZ registered gasfitter.

This is a completely separate thing to having your overseas qualifications assessed by the PGDB which you hope will eventually lead you to becoming NZ registered as a NZ gasfitter.

My husband renewed his LPG household, boats , caravans etc as well as his other ACS mods before he came out.
I'm not sure if it is worth it or not to be honest. It's good in the sense that it shows you have attained a lot of ACS modules for your CORGI registration but when it comes to the PGDB pre-assessment , they still ask for what on the tools experience you've had over the previous 5 years.

Please read the PGDB assessment guide and browse the form. ( click link)

You will be able to become an NZ registered gasfitter and work on gas - provided your overseas qualifications are the standard that the PGDB require and you pass their 4 days of exams and assessments.

You cannot become NZ registered for plumbing. You could touch some basic plumbing works under a plumbing limited license if your NZ employer requires that you do that. All your plumbing work would be signed off by a registered plumber.

Competance based licensing for gasfitters has been introduced here. It is a points system so you would upskill each year. If you are not au fait with gas bottles , lpg etc , then for yourself it might be worth doing your lgp acs core skill and a few modules. Thing is, from what I remember don't you have to show that you are working with lpg to do the ACS core skill assessments and test. You'd need to check that out with your local UK tech.

jd24hrs

i should think you will have no problem getting a job as some of the plumbing companys in taupo employ machine setters or any body, and charge them out as plumbers because a craftsman can sign off the work done by a person and in most cases will never check the work.
try to get a job with a gas fitting company but be aware they dont believe in gas safty just fit it and dont test it in most cases ,ie i went to a gas fire that was staining the wall and after checking found it was left with a gas leak and also was never smoke or spillage tested, after talking to the manufacterers agent he pointed out that they find that most installations are dangerous or would be by UK standards. where are you planning to settle

BEVS

John.
Please tell me that you are no longer in the trade & haven't been for years now. You have no current PGDB licenses.

If you know companies or tradesmen that are breaking the law, then you should report them so they can be dealt with. There is a complaint and disciplinary process in place for this. Use it . This is not the place .

Again. I am sorry that your personal experience was not good.

plumbernick

I thought I would revisit this post to tell about my experiences. I posted here last year.

I came to New Zealand about a year ago on a working holiday with a view to getting residency here. I could not get a job offer before I got here as all employers said "get over here then give me a call" so I came on a working holiday just so I could work whilst here.

It's a recession too so jobs not that easy to come by.

Anyway....

I am a UK qualified plumber with qualifications in gas, plumbing and a full apprenticeship in plumbing. I also have 7 years experience and ran my own company in the UK. Basically fully qualified, experienced and extremely competent.

Yet, I am in New Zealand unable to get a plumbing job. I have tried for a whole year now and am giving up. Thanks to the PGDG I am unable to find a plumbing job. NZ say they want skills but then when you get here it's made so so difficult.

Nobody will give me a job without being a NZ registered plumber, they are simply not interested without it. They don't even call back.
But to gain NZ registration and not being able to get a plumbing job I would have to take the exams without any experience in NZ and according to the guys I have worked with on site who are plumbers, even they struggle to pass it and these guys have been doing it for 20+ years in NZ. Plus it would cost me over $4000 to get registered with no guarantee of a job at the end of it.

I am now working as a tiler and thankfully this does not require registration. I work full time for a guy on a contract basis. However now I have applied for residency I am told I cannot claim my employment points because I am not directly employed...... I am a sub contractor. I have thankfully persuaded my boss to give me permenant employment to satisfy immigration, but find this ridiculas as I work full time for one guy, have done for 10 months and this is how most trades are employed here.....on sub contract!
There is no provison at immigration for tradespeople or workers working on a contracting basis even though the majority of the industry is employed in this way. Not much chance for a tradesman to get a permenant, directly employed job.

So to sum up I am just having a moan about it, this country is wonderful but there is so much wrong aswell. There is so many registrational requirements that you are very limited in what you can do. I cannot for the life of me find a plumbing job and yet I walk down the street and see gas lines up to houses waving around in the wind and have worked on boilers 10x more modern and complicated than the old heaps of junk they install here yet I am deemed not qualified enough.

We are also trying to convert a house soon but costs are escalating because even though I know how to do all the work competently I will need to have people sign off stuff from different trades to get the correct paperwork. I'm so sick of not being able to do this and that because of some special department telling you that you need to have A,B + C at a cost of A,B and C. It's all to make money.

Bevs has done a great job with this forum topic and I applaud her for her input but I think in reality the situation is more apparent. Maybe you could get a job a couple of years ago but now I will stick to tiling and hope my residency comes through. Then I will hopefully be free to do whatever I want and not what some gorvernment department tells me I can.

jd24hrs

hi plumbernick
sorry to here about all your problems i agree with you this country is great. but when craftsman plumbers who cant plumb and are just as dumb as the plumbers board here see us, better experienced and qualified plumbers and gas engineers they are scared because they know that if we are allowed to start our own businesses again they would find that we would not employ most of them because they are to old (dinosaurs) and to lazy to work for a living,and most of all the people of nz would rather have us because although we would be a little more expensive they would at leist be getting a job done right first time in most cases.
they need to tell us the truth they dont want us because they are scared of change

good luck and tell your friends in the uk

plumbernick

Yeah I think there is some truth in that. I would have thought that they would want people with skills but there is so much red tape in the way it makes it almost impossible to achieve, for example:

To come to New Zealand and start up as a plumbing company in your own business.

I mean, it is possible, but it would take you 2 years to achieve as you would have to be supervised for 2 years to get registration, have full residency as you cannot setup your own company without being a resident, go into the process of getting assesed and take the exams at a cost of over $4000 for the whole process. It's not worth it yet I would describe myself as an extremely competent tradesman.

I can't really comment on any other reasons they would not want UK trades to work here but I do agree I certainly work a lot harder than the guys I see on sites whilst I am tiling, site work is very relaxed and slow from what I am used to and I have very very rarely met a plumber under the age of around 40. I am not going to say UK trades are in any way "better" than any NZ trades but there does seem to be a mismatch of requirements as from what I can see they are at least 10 years behind in legislation, technology, building materials and work ethic.

For now I will continue tiling and hopefully get to remain here permenantly because it is a wonderful country to live in but I will be starting a business in property development or similar as I have fully given up on the idea that I can ever achieve to be a plumber here ...... I don't want to do it that badly to warrant the hassle!

I will keep up with this forum though incase anything changes

It would be nice to hear of someone that has actually achieved it within the last 2 years.

BEVS

Need to That is not true . If you have the dosh & a proven track record of running a company overseas then you can certainly set up a business here. The long term business visa and investment visas provide for this. Note, that this means a company where you would employ at least two NZ citizens or residents . It doesn't mean being a self-employed bod. As long as you employed a craftsman , then you can certainly set up and run a business.

Plumbernick.

You came into New Zealand on a working holiday visa. This is a visa meant for young people who want to travel around New Zealand but work periodically to fund their travels. It isn't meant for someone who wants to emigrate here permanently. The usual work taken up under this policy is fruit picking etc.

Not a bad idea to use the working holiday visa i to get your feet on NZ ground to test out the job market but you did know that this is recession & that jobs were thin on the ground. It is logical that NZ employers would have the pick of the plumbing and gasfitting bunch when it came to vacancies. More tradesmen chasing less jobs.
An NZ employer would have no need of looking to an overseas tradesman when there were enough home-grown to go round.

Yes. It was different a few years back when there was something of a boom going on. My husband, for instance, was offered a job everywhere he went and I mean everywhere. He narrowed it down to 7 job offers and then went for the place he felt would offer us the best lifestyle opportunity. He was 45 and unregistered in NZ. He only had the pre-assessment from the PGDB which was needed for NZIS . He had to educate the NZ employers that it was a job offer first and then a visa and not the other way around. He had to show them how it would work for the overseas qualified plumber when it came to registration. He brandished his PGDB pre-assessment letter to show he was of a standard they could understand.

My point here is that it is the timing that was to pot & against you . Recession versus boom. It was not the PGDB which stopped you getting that job offer.

As you may be aware NZIS removed plumbing from the shortage skilled list. It isn't in demand. Any NZ employer wanting to ffer a plumber a job would have to now prove that there is no NZ citizen or resident that could do that work or be trained for that work.

Now then. This tiling job and the main reason for me to post here even though this thread is dedicated to another topic.

ANZSCO 333411-Flooring and Wall tiler.

This trade is not on the shortages lists. It is not in demand so your employer will have to prove to NZIS that there is no NZ resident or citizen that could do that job or could be trained for that job. They do that via showing training course, adverts etc.
The Dept of Labour will also apply a labour means test. This means that NZIS will look at who and how many people are looking for a trade job in that skill & area. They do that via work and income etc.
It is to ensure that jobs are genuinely filled and not tailored to fit a would-be migrants needs.

I take it you have the trade qualifications to match the trade skill.

No , you cannot claim points if you are on a sub-contract basis. It needs to be a full time permanent job of around 40 hours. This is the same for most all occupations. It is about the ability to settle and enough regular income to provide .
It isn't true that most tradesmen work on a sub-contract basis. Maybe it is true of the ones you know around you and where you work but there is a huge amount of trade companies throughout New Zealand employing tradesmen.

Anyway. Good luck with the PR application.

It's tough times indeedy for any would-be migrant that needs a job offer for the points to apply for NZ PR.
Even for those that have the points to apply without a job offer, it can be very trying as NZIS can choose to hand out Work to Residence visas instead of Permanent Residency. For those people the clock starts ticking on the job offer front

jd24hrs

hi bevs
i will tell you that i wouldnt waste any of my hard earned cash on that crappy plumbers board as they dont respect the plumbing trade and will never understand gas safety as they are run by accountants and solicitors who should be running there own incompetant businesses and let us run plumbing and gas properly,have you ever had a solicitor you trusted so why would we trust the board
and just because this is the system here, it does not mean it is right so we should stop feeding these idiots and old boys club and tell the decent plumbers of the world not to waste there time in NZ AS THEY DONT WANT PLUMBERS unless they can get something for nothing

BEVS

Oh for heavens sake. Get over it man.

Who are you to tell hopeful migrants to NZ that they are not wanted here in NZ. It's selfish, inconsiderate and insulting to a would-be migrants intelligence. If they want to emigrate to New Zealand , then good on them.

Many more plumbers and gasfitters .than just your good self . have arrived here and made a pretty good life for themselves and still work within their trade.

Whether you like it or not NZ legislation is in place & has been for a very long while. It isn't going anywhere soon . That is what the hopeful migrant has to work with if they want to gain PR and live here in NZ.
Same for the UK and most everywhere else in the world..

Who is "us" exactly ? You don't want non-tradesmen. You don't want actual NZ registered /craftsman tradesmen . You don't want 'an old boys' network . You don't want those that already run plumbing and gasfitting businesses.
So what do you want? A new boys network ? Made up of who exactly? Let me guess. You ! A person that wants to teach NZ about UK gas safety but won't do the NZ registration course.. Not exactly a way to go is it in another country.

Can you imagine an immigrant from somewhere other than the UK coming out with what you've said, back at you in the UK. Rubbishing CORGI that was. Or C&G . Or H&S practices. Or standards. You'd lynch the bloke for being an arrogrant pr@t.

Word to the wise. Stop telling New Zealand that it's trade standards are rubbish & behind the times. This is New Zealand . Not the UK or anywhere else. They are free to run the trade New Zealand style.

I've told you before but I'll tell you again. The way to effect change, if you feel that strongly, is from the inside out. Not by bleating on about being hard done by.
Show the NZ trade your worth , skill, merit and then go from there.

[QUOTEjd24hrs]....so we should stop feeding these idiots and old boys club[/QUOTE]

Give me strength. Someone , give me strength. You chose to come to New Zealand. It is clear and was clear what would be required of you as a gasfitting tradesman once you were here. It was up to you. Your responsibility. You don't want to do the registration ? That's fine. That is your free choice and totally up to you but don't make out that other overseas plumbers and gasfitters are not welcome because that is just plain wrong & untruthful.

So what are you saying now. That my husband isn't a decent plumber and gasfitter ?
That the other overseas plumbers that he meets and works with are all stupid and ripped off ?
That all NZ trade employers are on the make?

The PGDB has come a very long way since it first crossed my path back in 2002. It was in a state of disarray and dis-ingaged from the ITOs. It is a whole other ball game now & it is improving. That's what we want isn't it . An improvement ?

I'm not a particular fan of the PGDB nor of some of the attitudes to UK tradesmen from the NZ plumbing trade , but having said that YOU and your superior "I know better" attitude are the very type that make it all the harder for UK tradesmen to be accepted here. YOU are the one that make the PGDB members and some of the NZ plumbing contingency feel as they do. YOU ! What a huge dis-service you do to quality tradesmen like my husband.

Get this --- we are not interested in your UK practices. They belong in the UK. This is New Zealand.


It is very rare that I run out of patience but I have with your posts. Get a grip . You are stuck in some sort of warp & can't now see past your own nose .

plumbernick

Yes I know this but have you tried to get a job before you landed in New Zealand in the last year? Its almost impossible. Yes it's recession time but what else do you suggest?

I am within my rights to blame the PGDB because if it wasn't for the ridiculas 2 year supervision and setup to become registered I think I'd of picked up a job pretty easily, there's always plumbing jobs advertised just nobody wants to know you if you havent got the registration.

I think this is wrong. Almost everyone on my site is a subbie ..........Maybe it was a few years ago?
Just like it was the case your husband got loads of job offers......a few years ago.

Times have changed and you always state the correct facts but I always read them and think, well, in reality it doesn't work like that.

Although a bit harsh I agree with jd on some points. There is too much backroom boards here telling you what you can and can't do and you have to pay the expensive fees to get the piece of paper to allow you to trade. It's all great that they regulate trades to get some quality to the industry but there are some people absolutely raking in the cash somewhere.

As for me my advice for anyone thinking of coming to plumb over here, beware, your in for a hard battle!

The way I did it was to come over on a working holiday, ring up every place in the phone book, I got 200 no's before 1 yes. Get working soon as possible. Find a job in a skilled occupation, preferably one you have provable experience in (you'll need this if you apply for residency). I worked sub contract as a tiler and this allowed me to build up a relationship with my boss and colleagues. This allowed me to secure a permenant job with my boss and for him to go the extra mile for me when I needed it for my residency application. I have just received a notice of my residency approval. The whole process has taken 1 year. A hell of a lot of stress and time but I have hopefully made it and my girlfriend who I met over here is also happy I can stick around too. Screw the plumbing, the fees, the registration and the supervison, I don't want to do it that badly!

sariesmith

Hi New Zealand plumber wife.

My husband passes away 9 months ago, we ran a very successful plumbing business in South Africa for 34 years. I am continuing with the business, but am thinking of immigrating after visiting my brother in Auckland. I have a business management diploma as well as 34 years of experience in the plumbing field.

I have very detailed knowledge regarding technical work, organisational skills, staff control, marketing and am totally computer literate.

Do you think there may be opportunities for me in New Zealand ? I was thinking small plumbing concerns looking for admin/call centre or whatever

I would appreciate your input as another plumber's wife

ALincoln

Hi Bev,
The information i have read on this forum from yourself is great and has obviously helped alot of people.
I was hoping you may be able to help me out. I am here on a working holiday visa for 23 months and i will be looking for work very soon.
I am in the Gas trade and have 8 years experience with British Gas and so have my nvq 3 quals and from what i have read that 'BG' is a recognised body and quals would be assessed but would obviously still need to sit more exams with 'PGDB'.
I have somebody willing to offer me work this winter under a 'Limited Licence' as a service Technician and would be under there supervision and Licence of them being the certified craftsman.
I cannot find any information with PGDB on how i go about obtaining a limited Licence and i've been told that it has to specificly be 'Service Technician' as this is the only work i would be doing and not installation!
If anybody has the time help give me any info reguarding Limited LIcence or Service Technician it would be appreciated.Thanks
Keep up the good work Bev!

Adam

plumbernick

Have you tried this page?

http://www.pgdb.co.nz/Trade/Gasfitti...istration.html