I hope his problems aren't as bad as the ones he inflicted on me and my family...I wouldn't wish that on anyone....

Good bye to bad rubbish....see ya, ya muppet.

I will say this, and I hope someone can pass it on to him....I am going to try my upmost to get the kangaroo court he witnessed and participated in looked into, thoroughly...then I am going to pass on any findings from this inquest, on to his numerous little clubs he is in.

Hi guys,
Mr. Alan Bickers, the Chairman of the Plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board has announced his retirement from the Board effective January 2014.
This is my final column. I will be retiring from the Board in January 2014, due to personal reasons. When I accepted the role of Chair, I set out to restore the reputation of the Board as a fair and responsible regulator in the public interest”.
…
I don`t think that anyone in our trades will miss him. He may have set out to restore the reputation of the Board as a fair and responsible regulator in the `public interest ‘what the public did not realize was that he was only making tradesmens charge rates higher that the `Public` had to pay and also making a nice earner for himself at the same time.
He took exception to the board being called a `Bunch of Clowns` in Napier,
I think a `professional mourners` group should be set up that monitors these people so when they die it can turn up at the funeral and let everyone know what they did and did not do in the `Public` interest, cheers       

I'm no fan of the PGDB and I didn't much like Mr Bickers style of Chairmanship, however I also don't agree to personalising this.  Remember he only had one vote and one casting vote on this Board.  The man was put in this position by Minister Williamson.  I don't think he achieved what he stated he set out to do, but nor did the other members of his Board.  Sure as the Chair he has to cop the flack, but don't forget there are a number of "trades" people on this board too - what happened to their voice. 

In my opinion the guy had a belligerent way about him which did not assist in trying to work in harmony with the trades, but again he was only one voice amongst 10 - don't think that with him retiring things will change - the other 9 are still there.  This Board has proved to be one of the most toxic Boards we have had to work under - they have caused a divide as big as the Grant Canyon - and worse still there isn't any end in site.

While you guys are wishing him the best  just remember that sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.  Who will take his place??  And what havoc will they cause.

I believe the root of all these problems lies with the Minister of Construction - he alone has the power to stop all this nonsense, he had the opportunity to direct this Board to make a token payment to tradespeople for the over charging and he could also have had a word in their "ear" and tell them to work more constructively with industry.  He has continued to take a Pontius Pilate attitude on one hand, while supporting the thievery and bad blood on the other.  Mind you I have never heard a  Minister who looks down on regulated trades as much as this one, evidenced by his constant harping on the joke that to be a tradesman in NZ all you need is a ute, a cellphone and a dog.  He obviously thinks its funny, you must have to wear a suit to get the joke.  Of course when his dunny is overflowing, and his house is flooding I bet he is a bit more circumspect to the plumber who turns up at his house.  Now there's a thought - I wonder if he can even get a plumber to turn up at his house....

Hi Everyone

I think they all should hang their heads in shame and resign but the government don't want that as it would make them look bad in the eyes of the public so what does it do - it reappoints two people who are aiding in the failure of the Board and will claim it is for consistency which it is as they are consistently failing.

It's not about the performance of the industry any more as they know they can shit on the industry any time they like by changing the law or imposing more regulation on the industry like the current consultation - its simply about Williamsons saving face and trying to keep a lid on it. What the Government has at the moment is a Board that also don't give a shit so its a perfect storm. A government that doesn't care, a Board that doesn't care, an industry organisation that supports the Boards as it members are on most Boards in the industry, an ITO that is battling and an industry that is complacent. Well I think the lid is going to blow and very soon.

All responsibility is being put on Certifiers who don't get any support and an industry can't survive without governance.

The only thing the industry has going for it at the moment is the Federation as they don't care about position or reputation of people all they want is people to do their jobs. I can see a huge blow up on the horizon of the industry and it won't be pretty. People who get on these Boards and play with our lives and get it wrong deserve any criticism they get after all if they got it right they would get the praise. 

I believe the comments flying round about the Board being a circus full of clowns is deserved and Mr Willimason should relinquish any title of being Honorable.  My money is on the Federation.

Hi guys, (the devil you know is better than the devil you don't) well if they replace him with someone worst then it really will be a low blow. All that will happen is that there will be a lot more costs and a lot less plumbers, I believe that the credibility of our trades in the public eye has been driven to an all time low because of the `Boards` continued statement of protecting the public of N.Z. from us tradesmen in the name of health and safety, cheers   

Hi guys, yeah if we are really unlucky we may get another failed businessman/councilor or politician,we seem to have a few to pick from, perhaps from Auckland or Christchurch. There may be a gay rainbow over Pakaranga but there is also a big black cloud over the p.g.d.board in Wellington, cheers 

Hi guys, (Williamson will appoint a practitioner to Chair) nah can`t see that happening appoint someone below his own status, no way. Whoever gets the job needs to get rid of those lawyers that will save them/us a bunch. Guaranteed it will be another M.plumbers exec member or one of the board’s/ministers mates, whoever it is needs to know that they will be under fire as soon as they get the job, cheers