hey richard, nice posts man.

I know how u feel,thats alot of risky driving in your own time for such a small gain.does your employer pay for the cbl courses you've had to drive to???Mine doesn't

I hate to say it but with the board at the helm things are going to worsen for us for quite some time untill there whole regime eventually comes under media scrutiny again so might as well get use to it and all that. License costs will probably increase another two times in the next five years and if the current fee review goes ahead with this $1500 first time rego BS it will choke the system of new blood coming through with their extreme price hikes driving young people away to other trades. The "board can consult all they like but untill they have lived it they will never understand.It angers me being powerless while they rape our industry again and again while we stand by idle watching.......

hi guys
i would just say that just because you are a craftsman /or certifying thingybob it doesn't mean you are any good, some of the best plumbers are the ones who been doing it for years and weren't just given a ticket to make money by some incompetent pgdb run by a legal bod who couldn't fix a tap even if she tried, and by the way she and people like her are the ones who to undermine plumbers and there skills and that is why we are poorly paid in NZ compared with every other country in the world  WE LET OURSELVES DOWN BY ACCEPTING THIS CRAP AND ALLOWING OURSELVES TO BE UNDERVALUED  stand up for yourselves plumbers

Yup make your self herd...i have already e-mailed john key and the PGDB about my displeasure and now i know where to send it i will write to this minister of building and housing...in this country things ONLY get done after enough noise has been made.

I think the 4 year apprentiship should involve more intensive block course training and industry approved across the bord training material!...after starting mine at wintech at hamiliton then moving it up to unitech at auckland...i thought even though the wintec material was very simple in form it was easy to understand and assimilate the important info presented in there booklets and i completed ALL of the booklets given to me...after moving to auckland unitech...and being forced into there STUPID online learning modules i completed NONE of my modules...ALL of the other apprentises complained about this style of learning...if you have a book with you it is so quick and easy to flick through the pages and refernce material...with online you had to page up/ page down/open new windows/close windows..re log in cos it took you 5:01min to read that page etc etc WHAT A COMPLETE F***UP!!!...I fought long and hard with them to see common scense and even offered to pay for the bloody books myself...finally in my last year we are offered the books at $80 but at a disadvantage...only black and white print(with pictuer capions desinged for coloured print),Eg you will see the buff yellow gas pipe and the forest green water pipe..lol.gotta shake my head in dismay!...they are offering insuperrior study material if one dosnt have a computer(im a simple $13ph traniee not a friken money pot guys!)...if i had to do it again i would stick with wintech as i got a much more simple learning of the practise and rules...at unitech they over complicate things! on my  last block course the black iron threading machine was broken and all we got as an excuse was the other block course students broke it...we all said well it wasnt me and ive paid my course fees so where the hell is the repair man to fix the machine as we only have a limited time to complete all tasks...machine is still not fixed...apalling,And they seem to once every year book in our course so it falls on a public holiday but they always schedule classes for the bloody public holiday meaning in 4 years i will miss ONE WEEK of essential block course learning! lack of material even basic things like crox nuts..88 elbows...AND they expect us to do fine craftsman work when we dont even have top notch equipment and full workshops to do top workmanship UNREALISTIC...When i go to tech i want to be taught from the book not have one tutor say do it like this then next peroid another say no hes wrong do it like this...WTF they are masters at how to confuse people!...when we were doing roof flashings i got so sick of it i asked our tutor if there was a govt book on flashings he said yes ..i said then why the heck dont you do conformty teaching and teach us from the govt accepted method!!! cus i already have a boss directing me HOW TO DO IT! if i ever have an apprentiship it he will go to the wintech!.

i think it should be a 4 year intensive night school/block course and at the end walk out FULLY qualified...Im 36 so of course 4yrs+2 following years is too long for me to reach full qual...jd is correct the piece of paper means squat...the measure of  good trades person is his/her ability to problem solve and the quality of his/her workmanship.

Yes there are alot of issues out there in the whole trade but we just have to keep on keeping on, and keep pushing for change for the future of our industry...

Hi JD - what are they actually doing in Taupo?  Asking to see practising licences?

Hi everyone

Is anyone alive out there?  I've been watching the forum and its gone a bit quiet. Remember you can put good things in here as well as bad.

The Boards has gone quiet as well.  I think everyones in a holding pattern waiting for things to happen.  I'm waiting on complaints to be addressed by the Regulation Review Committee and other government departments. Others are waiting for their complaints to be addressed as well. We are in the process of forming a society to help us now and in the future.  I think most of the Board are waiting for the 10th and 18th September when their contracts end and no doubt the Minister is waiting for the end of the month when he announces his new Board.

He will be having a big party because as we all know every time we get a new Board everthing is alright and the industry is on the right track.  The tradespeople will be submissive and will do exactly what they are told and will pay more of their money to the Boards accumulated fund.

Just a bit of sarcasm to get you guys going again.

Wal


 

The exam should be set by the PGDB now the past answers have been released it can't be that hard to pass, past questions amount to about 25% and another 25% reworded.
If the polytecs were running the testing everyone would pass as they were responsible for training them.

CPD points should only be required every two years to keep costs down and three licences should cost the same as two.
 
The PGDB should not take non registered people to court this should be done by the police thus saving us in disciplinary fees.

There is a number of people out there who are exempt workers ie have no formal qualifications running their own businesses , some obviously are able to get exemption licenses,  because someone has agreed to supervise them , I dont know what the boards view is on this but would surprised if they are happy about it , I wonder what the insurance arrangments are  , I would suggest if an insurance company is aware that an exempt person is running a plumbing / drainlaying or gasfitting business they would run a mile if there is a claim , the responsibility then would come back to the supervisor , they most probably also will not be covered unless they have advised the company of the arrangment and payed a premium accordingly .

what do other practitioners think of the above scenario ? also what are your views on certifiers agreeing to supervise licenced people running their own businesses , I believe it is becoming quite common in my area , if you have worked hard to get your full license is it right that these people are able to operate their own business on someone elses hardwork and sacrifice ? or am I being a bit pedantic , I know I wont agree to supervise anyone unless they are in my direct employ , with the old permit system you were able to  have control of a job you agreed to some one carrying out under your license , but with this supervision system you have no control as to what is being done yet you are fully responsible .Lets hear some views