you've heard it all before!!!! BUT???

[mutley racers]

Hi guys, I have been reading through the posts and know you must be annoyed with all us new guys wanting advice on how to become Gas safe engineers. Am sorry to have to ask you, but i am just after a little advice.

I have just started my NVQ 3. I am working with a Gas engineer and have been for the past 18 months. I know to complete my level 3 i have to do my ACS. The thing is, we only seem to work on boilers. Mainly installations. Not many cookers at all. Not much maintenance either.

Is this going to be acceptable to get on the ACS course?

I do all the installation and my boss just comes and helps commission it when am done.

I look forward to your advice

Thanks

 

[newbie1]

installs are good but you will need a service and repair section as well dont worry about other elements just do core ccn1 and cen1 and add cookers as a cat 1 no need for portfolio

 

[mutley racers]

Hi, thanks newbie. Thats is what i thought. It is a bit of a problem though as my boss does not seem to get any repair jobs. Is there a certain amount i need to get of each?

Cheers

 

[newbie1]

you will need prob minimum 12 jobs mixture of service/repair cp12 as a minimum i would say
its tough but doable stick with it

 

[mutley racers]

thanks newbie. thats a great help. i will tell my boss to start picking up some gas certificates and repairs.

cheers

 

[fuzzy]

ye[, for an nvq3 you only need ccn1 and boilers. thing is for ccn1 you need a range of evidence, if you can just do a little on those types of jobs u should be ok coz u have alot of other experience

 

[Blake]

My college required me to do a set amount of hours on each appliance for my portfolio. You then had to drop it off at the college for them to check it was ok and hours completed before they would let you book the course. Check with the college to see exactly what there requirements are.

 

[mutley racers]

Cheers guys. The info really helps. So many dodgey companies out there. I just want to find a decent college that offers a decent ACS course. The college i am studying my level 3 at are a bit dodgey. Think they will do anything for a bit of money. Any one live around london and know of any decent colleges to do my ACS at?

Thanks guys

 

[CMairiD]

I'm sitting a category three entrant's course at Carshalton College in Surrey (aligned with The Power Training Centre). Course tutor is great, ex BG when BG's RGIs weren't salesmen.

They do ACS the assessments, refreshers, etc ...

Carshalton College - The Power Assessment & Training Centre

 

[Bernie2]

Yes! Seems to be more money in training gas fitters than gas fitting

 

[stevetheplumber]

theres more money in any training compared to working for a living

 

[dontknowitall]

Very true - but not as much as state benefits from what I can make out. I read about someone who takes £70,000 legally from the state each year.

 

[Bernie2]

Yes, dontknowitall, that is perhaps one person but there are nearly 3 million or more on Benefits how do they get on?

That is a bit like saying, because the boss of Pimlico Plumbing is a millionaire all other Plumbers are?

I would be a bit circumspect about anything I read in the press now days or politicos say. They usually have a reason for saying what they do and a press report will say virtually anything to get a story.
Politicos could tell you people on Benefits are lazy and get to much money perhaps, just so they can cut Benefits and want public sympathy for doing so.

But mention how much unpaid tax there is or how much businesses get away with and you get all kinds of excuses about keeping the economy going or they might leave the UK.

The banks may have made a mess of things and joe public is going to pick up the tab. But how much where the banks making in profits for years before the crash?

I suppose the real problem with the UK is that we don't have many or any living wage jobs only part time or low national minimum wage work.

If we did have decent jobs the the people on Benefits problem would probably disappear over night.

At the moment people on Benefit seem like swimmers getting a good hiding, because there is no water for them to swim in.

 

[dontknowitall]

Very true Bernie2 - rather rash of me to say what I did in the light of your post and with hindsight!

 

[Bernie2]

Hi! Steve!

I was once a Plumbing tutor and know theory is cheap to deliver.
Its getting practical experience that counts. The Plumbing companies will not usually look at you without a track record, so people are advised to go self employed.

Which when you think about it, puts a lot of inexperienced people on the market place offering services?

To me its a shame and could be done a better way. I would go back to one of the old ways and subsidise companies to take on apprentices at any age to give them practical experience.

The thing is the world may object because it may be seen as giving our businesses an unfair trading advantage by subsidising their workforces.

In Liverpool we have a newly built cruise line landing stage. But can't use it because Southampton and a few other ports objected saying we had used EU money to part finance it and so had an unfair trading advantage.

So here we are with a lovely new landing stage that may bring in cruise line work and we can't use it in a city with perhaps rampant unemployment.

Its mad.