hi, i'm a plumber who came to the central coast a few months ago with my wife, child, dog and all belongings. i've found work quickly but not as a plumber, got all english city and guilds but still have to go back to college, plus there doesn't seem to be any work here, its all in sydney.
love to live nearer sydney but havn't won the lottery.

any one else in the central coast? any one managed to get a plumbers licence in new south wales????

thanks

Our friends are plumbers on the Gold Coast and they seem to be busy all the time. I believe that you have to retrain to get your licence and this can take a bit of time.

Dont go home something will turn up.

Sorry mate you have no chioce.......wether your in nsw or qld your need to retrain...


all the best plumb...

ps been there done that and got the t shirt...:curse:

I'm a teacher and I'm having to re-register with the Teaching Council over here. It takes up to 3 months (and $200) even though it's all very similar to the Skills Assessments we had to do to get here in the first place So I think it happens with most professions.

This has been discussed on other threads so you're not alone. If you can do the course then do it. It'll look good on your resume to show you've done some current aussie study. You say you've got a job (but not as a plumber) then be proud that you've managed to get that! And I say NO it's not time to go home then. If you can survive ok on your income now then sit it out and jump through the hoops you need to in order to register/become a plumber over here.

And on the Gold Coast .... well I can't say I know that plumbers are in demand BUT ... have you seen the amount of hotels/apartments being built around here?

Good luck!

I spoke to the Plumbers and Drainers board in Qld the other day for advice for a friend. They said if you have things like the City and Guilds or NVQ in plumbing from the UK then you will get a provisional licence. This means you can work for another company but not for yourself. You can then do the course called Plumbing Licence at TAFE which can be done by correspondence. So another words when someone gets here they can apply for their provisional licence then do this one at home to get their full licence. This course is to get you up to speed on Aussie standards apparently. Here's the course link

http://www.skillstech.tafe.qld.gov.a...&ins_spec=true

I would have thought it would be a similar thing for NSW surely????

Don't go home though come up the Far North first

NSW licencing forms and fees: http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/bu...msandfees.html

These will give an idea of what is needed to work as a plumber in NSW

I know of an English Plumber (has city and guilds) in QLD (Bayside) who was able to transfer to his provisional liscence straight away. Has to do an online course to get full liscence. PM me if you want more details.

Cheers

Ginny

Come to the Southern Highlands - we're desperate for decent plumbers here!

Aye, and they get to charge about four times what they should

Plumb,

How long did it take you to get your license and what did you do in the meantime?

Cheers,

Simon

Hya, we arrived here in Brisbane QLD on 6th June, OH is a plumber...walked straight into office in Brisbane (no appoitment) and got his provisional licence in about 10 minutes, all he did was to show his City & Guilds Certs and fill in soem forms with a photo and all completed, this allows him to work for a company which he is and on very good wages. he has just completed his correspondance course from TAFE and is sending that off this week and then they will assess him and call him in to do a 2 hour exam...simple. Cost about $152 in all. Hope that helps a little.

Dare I suggest that the Central Coast is not exactly known for its massive building boom and skills shortages. Seems to be heaps of work closer to Brisbane for all trades. You dont need to switch state, maybe reconsider the area and its realistic chances for employment.

But yes, the whole licencing thing is a pain and dealt with to death on here in the past.

Good to hear a positive story!
Gets a bit stressful hearing more often than not that plumbers are getting a hard time of it. My OH applied for his QLD provisional plumbers licence last month and it only took about 2 weeks to arrive, we are still in Scotland by the way- not sure many people realise you can apply for your provisional before you go out. Were coming out in 6 weeks so fingers crossed we have a positive story to share yet too!

Yep, us tradies have to go through the same rigmarole.

Good luck.

Other half is plumber and got Provisional licence and is working, something will turn up, keep at it
you will have to re-train cos the water goes down the plughole the wrong way here!