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plumber`s story 3 years and waiting

plumber`s story 3 years and waiting

Old Sep 28th 2009, 8:20 am
  #31  
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Default Re: plumber`s story 3 years and waiting

Originally Posted by 007 kelvin
Hi,
Just moved to oz and guess what i'm a plumber/heating engineer lucky
me!!!!!!!!!!! I have read all your posts and i thank you for the info it looks like im in for a long ride. I also live in NSW in a town called Ballina very quite no work around at the mo. Im of to Brisbane on thursday as they are holding a seminar for gas engineers from the uk they say that if i bring all my certs on that day they will apply for the gas licence for me. Just have to wait and see.

I am just in the process of sending off my application for a plumbing licence in brisbane due to your info, but will that mean i will have to work in bris for a year to get the full licence. I suppose if that is the case its better that 2 years in nsw.

Thanks again look forward to hearing from you.

kelvin
Hi Kelvin
Hope you have settled in ok in oz. We have just been issued our visa's at long last and coming over to oz in february. Like you my husband is a gasfitter/plumber with all upto date corgi (or gasafe as it is now) licences. We are coming over to brisbane and will be living in the bayside. This seminar sounds interesting. Would you message us back after thursday if you have any info that may be helpful to us?
Good luck hope things work out for you
Thanks Kate and Phil
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Old Sep 28th 2009, 8:59 am
  #32  
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Default Re: plumber`s story 3 years and waiting

Originally Posted by KateandPhil
Hi Kelvin
Hope you have settled in ok in oz. We have just been issued our visa's at long last and coming over to oz in february. Like you my husband is a gasfitter/plumber with all upto date corgi (or gasafe as it is now) licences. We are coming over to brisbane and will be living in the bayside. This seminar sounds interesting. Would you message us back after thursday if you have any info that may be helpful to us?
Good luck hope things work out for you
Thanks Kate and Phil
Me Too please
thanks
Ronnie
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Old Sep 30th 2009, 11:22 pm
  #33  
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Default Re: plumber`s story 3 years and waiting

Originally Posted by 007 kelvin
Hi,
Just moved to oz and guess what i'm a plumber/heating engineer lucky
me!!!!!!!!!!! I have read all your posts and i thank you for the info it looks like im in for a long ride. I also live in NSW in a town called Ballina very quite no work around at the mo. Im of to Brisbane on thursday as they are holding a seminar for gas engineers from the uk they say that if i bring all my certs on that day they will apply for the gas licence for me. Just have to wait and see.

I am just in the process of sending off my application for a plumbing licence in brisbane due to your info, but will that mean i will have to work in bris for a year to get the full licence. I suppose if that is the case its better that 2 years in nsw.

Thanks again look forward to hearing from you.

kelvin
Ballina, just down the road from me...nice part of the world
should have no problem with getting the qld gas licence..be without lpg if you didnt have that in the uk
the guy who runs it is brit, and should have some contacts for gas work in brissy and the goldcoast, if you dont mind moving
once you get the qld gas licence, take it to the office of fair trade nsw to get recognised, get yourself a nsw gas supervisors cert
may get some work down your way with this or you could go on to get a contractors licence and set up by yourself

i was only looking for work from byron to tweed heads so didnt have much luck...or the money to set up myself as a gas man
lismore, ballina and even grafton might see you getting something...without the move to the hustle n bustle of brissy

the one year plumbing course in qld requires you to work supervised for a year getting work signed off.........like an apprentice, thats what put me off.
is the 2 years nsw just school work?...when i was looking into it lismore tafe wasnt doing the course

2 years night school for the nsw plumbing and work as a fully licenced gas fitter would be the way to go if you want to stop in nsw

keep posting.. like to know how you get on
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Old Jan 26th 2010, 10:52 am
  #34  
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Default Re: plumber`s story 3 years and waiting

Originally Posted by Dan the Plumber
Hi Daz have Pm'd you too - did gas at Fremantle Tafe though I don't recommend it there they didn't seem to know what was going on!
Speak soon
Dan
Hi Dan, i don't know if you remember me i came back from WA in April 08.So your back in Perth,what was the gas course at Freo Tafe like then? just done my gas safe again in the uk.Not much work about here in Shropshire,very little building going on.Have been thinking of moving back out to oz, has the work not picked up out there yet?Cheers Paul:thumbsup
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Old Apr 29th 2010, 9:15 pm
  #35  
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Default Re: plumber`s story 3 years and waiting

Originally Posted by oz miller man
not worked for the last year mate . had the little boy to look after until a day care place comes up and its taken almost that long to get my licences sorted .but because we have been here 2 years we get rent assistance and parenting allowance from center link on top of my partners wage ,enough to get by on so ive been in no rush to take any old job on .
just appreciating the lifestyle and spending time on the beach with my lad was working 60hrs plus a week in the uk just to survive so missed out on a lot.
luckily the mrs enjoys her job and only does 3 days so we now have lots of time off together
also got the surfing bug so trying to master the art of riding waves..

you will find it a lot more laid back out here mate...takes a bit of getting used to at first .
Enjoy reading your 'essay' lol..... i am corgi/gas safe, oftec the lot..... Worked in Geelong as a plumber (so to speak). found the standards and workmanship apalling. The local licensing board ignored what the fed gov and the TRA say. I felt a little hood winked by the aus government in all this. I am back in uk running my own Plumbing & Heating business. However are thinking of returning to Perth ? Is it easyier over there ? I like you work 60+hrs a week here, yes can lift £ 1000 -1500 a week but just knackerd no time for football & fishing etc lol..... Seems youve seen past the insult us British tradies face and got on with enjoy the sun !! well done.
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Old May 22nd 2010, 11:17 pm
  #36  
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Default Re: plumber`s story 3 years and waiting

Originally Posted by oz miller man
just thought id post my experience in the aussie plumbing licence debate.
we first moved to oz in 2003 (sydney) as permanent residents through my partners job.
first thing i did was walk into hayes employment agency (as i had worked through them at various times in the uk) with my uk quals thinking this is going to be easy...
as we all know its not, and my uk city n guilds didnt mean a thing so off they were sent to the tra for assessment, this took 4 months and i was issued a nsw plumbing/draining/gasfiting certificate
in the meantime i had taken a job as a trades assistant working for one man n van subbie who had lost his driving licence drink driving. this gave me a taste of ozzie plumbing...not much to look forward to there im afraid..heaps of digging for drains, chasing pipes in walls, lugging oxy under house`s, red backs staring at you. 2n half hours unpaid travel to jobs and a great wage of $17 an hour im suprised i stuck it out the 3 months i did, but i did get to see how a subbie gets to work and prices to charge(his day rate was $380)
the tra certificate i was issued didt count for much and would only get me a tradesman certificate upon approval from nsw fair trading, and the year at night school tafe wanted was enough to put me off for good..infact it did ,not enough to go back to uk, but enough to do something else.
at the time foxtel digital had just kicked off, so i got into that, spent 5 grand getting van and tools reqd (a lot less than i would have needed to set up as a plumber), a weeks training then i was out on the road , bringing in $40 prh min.
the job was good and even got us out of sydney to the central coast where there was a shortage of installers, for 18 months all was good then the company who i subbed to lost the central coast contract so i was commuting back to sydney.
i then started looking for jobs local on the central coast and got a job changing water meters for gosford council as a subbie, no licences or plumbing quals reqd for this and a wage of $800-$1000 a week, lasted bout 3 months til contract ran out, there was more work coming up fitting water purifiers back in sydney, but we decided after 2 years in oz and having saved up a bit off cash(much easier to save over here) we were going to spend 6 months traveling up the east coast, so everything from the rental went into storage and we set off into the sunset with our 4x4.
after 3 months traveling we were up in byron and find out my partners expecting...well we did have no tv for 3 months.
as it was our first we decided to go back to the uk to the safety net of family. the 2 years we spent back to uk were a hard slog and we couldnt wait to return to oz.
we returned with our one year old son in march 2008 to the north nsw area we fell in love with traveling, the missus got a job straight away and ive been looking after the little one and sorting out my plumbing licences .
i found it a lot easier to do it in queensland and was issued with a pluming/draining provisional. and having kept my corgi uptodate a queensland full gas licence, these i swaped interstate to nsw and was issued a plumbing/draining tradesman certificate and gas supervisors certificate.
i did it this way because a qld gas licence gets you a nsw supervisors cert,
and with that i can get a subbie licence(gas only) or even branch out into other licences like pool building , lpg fitter or builder licence, all seem more apealing than the hoops n loops to go through to do plumbing over here, a job thats not as fun or rewarding as it in uk......i used to hate fitting combi`s everyday but its a lot more fun than digging miles of trenches in the red hot sun with a maddox and long handle shovel thing..
supose what im getting at is dont be put off moving to oz because of the plumbing hassles use your trade to get here then your knowledge as a tradesman to do something else that pays just the same because unless you go down the long expensive road to a full plumber/gasfitter/drainer licence your only going to get $25 prh on books.....$35 subbie.own van/tools/tax, no hols
a security guard gets almost that ??? and only has to turf a few oldies out of the bowling club when they close at 9.30pm.

oh another thing all these licences ive aquired the last year have all been paid for by centerlink.....because after been a resident for 2 years you get heaps of benifits...parenting alowence, rent rebate,free dental
and my surfing has improved heaps
this sure is the lucky country.....even for us whiging plumbers:
Great story..............
I am in Florida and am returning home to the UK back to good ole plumbing,I would love to go to Aus as I have family in Perth but not sure about all those hoops.
Hope everything worked out.
Rick
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Old May 31st 2010, 3:37 am
  #37  
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Default Re: plumber`s story 3 years and waiting

Originally Posted by oz miller man
just thought id post my experience in the aussie plumbing licence debate.
we first moved to oz in 2003 (sydney) as permanent residents through my partners job.
first thing i did was walk into hayes employment agency (as i had worked through them at various times in the uk) with my uk quals thinking this is going to be easy...
as we all know its not, and my uk city n guilds didnt mean a thing so off they were sent to the tra for assessment, this took 4 months and i was issued a nsw plumbing/draining/gasfiting certificate
in the meantime i had taken a job as a trades assistant working for one man n van subbie who had lost his driving licence drink driving. this gave me a taste of ozzie plumbing...not much to look forward to there im afraid..heaps of digging for drains, chasing pipes in walls, lugging oxy under house`s, red backs staring at you. 2n half hours unpaid travel to jobs and a great wage of $17 an hour im suprised i stuck it out the 3 months i did, but i did get to see how a subbie gets to work and prices to charge(his day rate was $380)
the tra certificate i was issued didt count for much and would only get me a tradesman certificate upon approval from nsw fair trading, and the year at night school tafe wanted was enough to put me off for good..infact it did ,not enough to go back to uk, but enough to do something else.
at the time foxtel digital had just kicked off, so i got into that, spent 5 grand getting van and tools reqd (a lot less than i would have needed to set up as a plumber), a weeks training then i was out on the road , bringing in $40 prh min.
the job was good and even got us out of sydney to the central coast where there was a shortage of installers, for 18 months all was good then the company who i subbed to lost the central coast contract so i was commuting back to sydney.
i then started looking for jobs local on the central coast and got a job changing water meters for gosford council as a subbie, no licences or plumbing quals reqd for this and a wage of $800-$1000 a week, lasted bout 3 months til contract ran out, there was more work coming up fitting water purifiers back in sydney, but we decided after 2 years in oz and having saved up a bit off cash(much easier to save over here) we were going to spend 6 months traveling up the east coast, so everything from the rental went into storage and we set off into the sunset with our 4x4.
after 3 months traveling we were up in byron and find out my partners expecting...well we did have no tv for 3 months.
as it was our first we decided to go back to the uk to the safety net of family. the 2 years we spent back to uk were a hard slog and we couldnt wait to return to oz.
we returned with our one year old son in march 2008 to the north nsw area we fell in love with traveling, the missus got a job straight away and ive been looking after the little one and sorting out my plumbing licences .
i found it a lot easier to do it in queensland and was issued with a pluming/draining provisional. and having kept my corgi uptodate a queensland full gas licence, these i swaped interstate to nsw and was issued a plumbing/draining tradesman certificate and gas supervisors certificate.
i did it this way because a qld gas licence gets you a nsw supervisors cert,
and with that i can get a subbie licence(gas only) or even branch out into other licences like pool building , lpg fitter or builder licence, all seem more apealing than the hoops n loops to go through to do plumbing over here, a job thats not as fun or rewarding as it in uk......i used to hate fitting combi`s everyday but its a lot more fun than digging miles of trenches in the red hot sun with a maddox and long handle shovel thing..
supose what im getting at is dont be put off moving to oz because of the plumbing hassles use your trade to get here then your knowledge as a tradesman to do something else that pays just the same because unless you go down the long expensive road to a full plumber/gasfitter/drainer licence your only going to get $25 prh on books.....$35 subbie.own van/tools/tax, no hols
a security guard gets almost that ??? and only has to turf a few oldies out of the bowling club when they close at 9.30pm.

oh another thing all these licences ive aquired the last year have all been paid for by centerlink.....because after been a resident for 2 years you get heaps of benifits...parenting alowence, rent rebate,free dental
and my surfing has improved heaps
this sure is the lucky country.....even for us whiging plumbers:
Hi, i know it's been a long time since you posted this but i just thought i would ask some advice. i have just came over to brisbane and i'm having a hell of a time trying to get my trade recognised i'm also a plumbing and heating engineer with every thing up to date but i cant seem to get anywhere when trying to have my qualifications recognised here in Oz.i feel i cant get a job as much as i'm trying and i'm getting nowhere when calling tafe, tra and every other number i get passed to. do you know of any people i can try to get them recognised or do you know of anyone looking for an engineer with solar experience. i was vailant's engineer before i came out here. thanks john
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