Plumbing Courses Set for Revamp

People wanting to do plumbing courses in order to become an accredited tradesman are advised not to consider short courses.

This warning comes after the Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (APHC) stopped its endorsement of BPEC certification products after becoming dissatisfied with some of the short courses provided by the organisation.

The APHC sold its 50 per cent stake in BPEC Services because it did not want to be associated with a training provider which allows students to use a certification logo despite not being fully qualified.

President of the APHC Kevin McCallister said that British training providers who consider short courses to be acceptable forms of qualification to be a plumbing and heating engineer have become complacent.

"These providers are not demanding the bedrock skills such as an NVQ 2 as a pre-requisite prior to short course training," he added.

Some of BPEC's training centres offered the short courses without the prerequisite NVQ Level 2, which resulted in the APHC temporarily terminating their partnership.

Mr McCallister also said that trainees with a certification logo tend to confuse consumers because they incorrectly believe that these learners are fully qualified because they have completed crash plumbing courses.

Under-qualified plumbers who have passed short plumbing courses are able to unfairly compete with fully accredited tradesmen because of public ignorance about their skills.

"We are already fighting the battle against rogue trainers so we do not need to also find certification bodies providing courses and certificates to people who are not qualified to be taking them," said Mr McCallister.

Wannabe plumbers need to be aware that there is no easy entry into the industry as a proper sequence of approved and accredited NVQ learning at the required level must be undertaken.

The required foundation course for plumbers is the City & Guilds NVQ 6129 level 2, which will allow trainees to progress onto NVQ level 3.

Mr McCallister advised potential trainees to research training centres by looking at the internet to discover what feedback has been left by previous students.

"Please, when booking a course ask if the provider or certification body you are buying services from allows a candidate to call themselves a plumber after only a few days training and certification," he added.

There are great prospects for people entering the plumbing industry as Sam Bishop has been able to set up his own business in Brighton after completing his apprenticeship at twenty years of age.