In the public mind in my opinion, there is no distinction between a licenced plumber and a certifying plumber , the board asked for feedback before they changed to the the titles we currently have, so the public could distinguish who is fully qualified and who isnt, In my opinion it is less clear than the situation before .

Lets be honest here licenced is still a journeyman plumber and should be described as such ,   

In Europe its its a big deal to have completed your apprenticeship and be qualified in your trade. They call it a "certificate of trade" showing that you know exactly what you are doing in your trade. Then there is the certifying level, Knowledge wise in the trade there is no difference. The difference is that one has a business. In Germany for example you require $25000 Euro's to do your "meisterbrief > certifying level" this allows you to run your own business and employ licensed plumbers. Additionally anyone intending on operating a business "gmbh" or in other words "ltd" needs to have $50000 Euro in cash securities locked in a bank account regardless if your German or not.

I'm not suggesting this is how it should be in NZ but this immediately eliminates many issues we face. Why are licensed plumbers not respected as they should be for becoming qualified in a world this is becoming more a rarity? and why is the gap from licensed to certifying so small? Why can anyone with $150 NZD register a business and immediately have limited liability when all goes wrong and register a new business under a different name 6 weeks later? Is that why many people have lost faith in businesses here in NZ?

I dont have the answers to all these questions but I know that we still have a long way to go.

In Europe its its a big deal to have completed your apprenticeship and be qualified in your trade. They call it a "certificate of trade" showing that you know exactly what you are doing in your trade. Then there is the certifying level, Knowledge wise in the trade there is no difference. The difference is that one has a business. In Germany for example you require $25000 Euro's to do your "meisterbrief > certifying level" this allows you to run your own business and employ licensed plumbers. Additionally anyone intending on operating a business "gmbh" or in other words "ltd" needs to have $50000 Euro in cash securities locked in a bank account regardless if your German or not.

I'm not suggesting this is how it should be in NZ but this immediately eliminates many issues we face. Why are licensed plumbers not respected as they should be for becoming qualified in a world this is becoming more a rarity? and why is the gap from licensed to certifying so small? Why can anyone with $150 NZD register a business and immediately have limited liability when all goes wrong and register a new business under a different name 6 weeks later? Is that why many people have lost faith in businesses here in NZ?

I dont have the answers to all these questions but I know that we still have a long way to go.

^^^this is exactly how it should be^^^

hi guys/ts, totally agree,cheers