What Plumbing NVQ ’s Should I Consider
The salaries of Plumbers are often highlighted in the national press. Salaries of 30-70k p.a. are often discussed, along with the lack of plumbers within the UK. So, is this really the position or is this basically untrue? Without a doubt, a fully experienced Plumber can command salaries of such levels. To be fair, the higher earnings of 70-100k p.a. are generally for those working within the self-employed field.
To be fair being with a regular employer often results in working from Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm as standard. Salaries of between 15k – 30k p.a. are easily achievable and will include typical benefits such as holiday pay and sickness allowance – what you’d generally expect from any UK employed status. A self-employed person can earn more money than this traditional approach, but will often need to work outside of the Mon- Fri, 9am to 6pm example. This is more noticeable when the self employed plumber chooses to work in the domestic market, as result often requiring many evening and weekend visits to suit their clients.
Then there is the matter of working for yourself, which agrees with some people more than others. Equally there is a need to manage good ‘business sense’, with items such as advertising & marketing factors as well as correctly assessing your own hourly rate. Likewise self-employed people need to consider the implications of costs relating to materials and transport as well as legal and accountancy fees etc. While these can mount up, (although they should always be a very small proportion of your earnings,) so can the benefits received. And the benefits nearly always far outweigh the downsides!
Initially, by searching for standard work a Student Entrant can get the majority of training especially with working knowledge and experience. On the other hand, the Self Employed Entrant needs to increase their list plumbing credentials as soon as possible. In fairness it is the ‘domestic’ market rather than the commercial sector that attracts the majority of the self-employed workers in the UK. (Not all of them, but the main do!)
Considering the education in Plumbing, each path into the industry needs some match in the certification modules. It is when the issue of NVQ’s (SVQ’s in Scotland) is considered that a considerable discrepancy becomes clear.
From the beginning the Student Entrant instead of the Self Employed Entrant is much more reliant upon the NVQ requirements. Therefore many Self Employed Entrants will meet their clients’ needs through the use of a wider range of certifications. Without a doubt the self employed person needs to quickly gain the core domestic- centred qualifications to satisfy their typical household-based clients. Once they have covered the core parts the Student Entrant will often carry on their study not dissimilar to an apprenticeship in the workplace (where the NVQ element can be appraised.) By using this cheaper form of study the Student Entrant can make sound financial savings from the outset. But the Self Employed Entrant will gain certifications faster (motivated by a more commercial viewpoint) and will therefore be achieving considerable financial reward long before the Student Entrant.
This shows the necessity of a clear careers discussion, covering the overall study and certification requirements alongside the required financial return. It is often the issue of 3 years in low-paid apprenticeship work, alongside going back to college that many adults having to look after their family and with say 20kp.a requirements find difficult. It should also be borne in mind that many young Student Entrants have their studies paid for them as part of their overall apprenticeships, whereas the self-employed student generally funds the course themselves. The level of certification sought by the student drives the course structure and can result in costs of between 3k through to 10k+.
For the most part, Student Entrants will study at recognised further-education colleges, whereas the Self Employed Entrant has the option to consider the wider range of private commercial schools. Plumbing training companies can offer commercial routes in to reputable training paths that cover the necessary qualifications and skill-sets. One of the main advantages of this method is the opportunity for evening, part-time, and self-study classes – allowing Self Employed Entrants to train whilst continuing with their existing job, thus maintaining their financial situation. Using the range of sources, it makes sense to gather as much detail as possible and through this be able to work out the training college that suits you best. We’ve provided links and a book mark to this page (CTRL-D) so you can come back whenever you wish and review the adverts and options available to you.
It is through the use of bonus courses that many plumbing students want to increase their ‘marketability’. It is by training in areas such as Gas, Green Energy and Electrical that Plumbers can gain extra certifications. Gas training has always been a route for Plumbers to consider, as this forms part of the common domestic and commercial heating system.
Without a doubt, NVQ’s that follow on core subjects lead into the careful and precise program that is Gas Training. For those who trained as a plumber these schemes offer many options for further development and can clearly seen to add additional skills to the table. It could be said that the blend of training covering Plumbing/Gas training is better matched to the mature student. Indeed, the path for the Mature Student seems to be to drop the NVQ elements and to focus on the core subjects.
The self-employed professional appears to benefit from this distinct training mixture. The opportunity to learn a wider range of perceived skill-sets (whilst earning money from them) becomes the attraction. Instead of having to rely upon third parties to complete certain skill-sets, this adds to their commercial viability. Whilst sub-contracting can reduce the earning of a particular job perhaps more important is the deterioration of the value in a customer’s eye as they have to wait for jobs to be handled by others before completion of the overall task. To be fair the more talent a Plumber has in their own job then the more they have to offer their client base.
Finally, whilst the Student Entrant breaks into the industry more quickly the Self Employed Entrant has the opportunity for higher potential earnings, but to do so they need to develop a broader range of certifications and a higher level of business skill sets. Note: This information refers to the UK industry requirement and their policies alone.
(C) 2009 – S. Edwards. Visit Click HERE or Plumber Training.