Are you busy !?

[dontknowitall]

I've got one of those but only used it once or twice and have now forgotten how it works!

 

[PlumbBobBob]

and of course they need calibrating every year at x£££s just like gas analysers

 

[moony]

Do you need a portfolio of evidence or any sort of experience to do the part p?

 

[SimonG]

Do you need a portfolio of evidence or any sort of experience to do the part p?

Frizzy hair

 

[Noxer]

My left hand is busy yeah... seeing more action than my right hand holding my pliers. :willy_nilly:

 

[marinegmillie]

i totally agree this forum should be for plumbers only, NOT for home owners to get good advise and then do it them shelfs, while the people on here sit at home makeing nothing, think alot of people take advantage of this site.

 

[Guest123]

i totally agree this forum should be for plumbers only, NOT for home owners to get good advise and then do it them shelfs, while the people on here sit at home makeing nothing, think alot of people take advantage of this site.

Yep.
Certainly give advise about shelfs but changing a plumbing fixture.......

 

[Leo21]

To be honest since gaining my "plumbers arms member" status I don't bother posting advice unless I think it's another tradesman. You don't want to be giving hard earnt info to the public. And iff your in the trade you can't know everything, unless your Monica is mountain man. Who must have a brain the size of a beech ball.

 

[Bobleponge]

Once I arrive at such exalted status I shall be very similar Leo, i've spent a long time learning what I know now, and to give it away for free when I'm struggling for work doesnt seem to make economical sense to me. In the mean time though, when I'm stuck, I shall have to rely on the benevolence of those who are less miserable than I will be.

 

[Triassic]

A mate of mine works for a contractor doing housing association bathroom refits, he's just been told that his day rate's being cut from £110 to £70 and when he challenged the boss was told where the door was and to close it after him if he did'nt accept the cut.

So what do you do? He's taken the cut and now does weekend work to make ends meet. His boss has even fitted a tracker to the vans to stop the lads using them out of hours and he no longer pays travelling time (some of the work is over 2 hours from home - so thats a days work - plus 4 hours a day travelling - for £70 day!!). The only overtime he's had since Christmas was a job for a HA director!

 

[jtsplumbing]

Wounder if his boss has had is rates cut by HA, can see a big fall off in quality of work, with more call backs, same thing went on in Plymouth and job fell so far behind, think they lost contract

 

[Leo21]

I e been quite lucky, my dad was a self employed plumber. When I went self employed I deliberately cultivated private work only. Advertising locally and building a customer base. It's paid of but I'm not always busy. Holiday times are dead. Keep your powder dry and don't drop your prices to much. It's a shame we can't all get together and thrash out a minimum day rate. Or price fixing if you like. Wich ever you prefer.

 

[missille]

24 yrs in the trade,decided last week to jack it all in,weathered the recession quite well since it started,but had very few enquiries since april,had offers of subby work,agencies,contracting,but hassle of getting paid,travel,and the type of work has put me off.
At 39 with no pension and the prospect of this downturn lasting quite a while,its time to do something else and think of my future,signed up to uni to do a health care access course with a view to working in the nhs in some capacity when i'm done..At least i'll be paid every month,lieu time,holidays,pension,sick pay,nice warm working conditions,staff room,overtime where you get paid,no macho bosses,work mates,free training,sounds like another planet compared to what i've put up with in the building trade...

Earn't some good money plumbing in my time,but once the van goes on wednesday thats me done..Thank goodness.

 

[jtsplumbing]

What start a Cartel ! whatever next, If you dont join -- :behead:

 

[jtsplumbing]

Sorry to here that missille, :bigcry: but you know what's best, If i was younger would do same but only got 2 years to go. :wheelchair:

Good luck in your new job.

 

[Leo21]

24 yrs in the trade,decided last week to jack it all in,weathered the recession quite well since it started,but had very few enquiries since april,had offers of subby work,agencies,contracting,but hassle of getting paid,travel,and the type of work has put me off.
At 39 with no pension and the prospect of this downturn lasting quite a while,its time to do something else and think of my future,signed up to uni to do a health care access course with a view to working in the nhs in some capacity when i'm done..At least i'll be paid every month,lieu time,holidays,pension,sick pay,nice warm working conditions,staff room,overtime where you get paid,no macho bosses,work mates,free training,sounds like another planet compared to what i've put up with in the building trade...

Earn't some good money plumbing in my time,but once the van goes on wednesday thats me done..Thank goodness.

All the best with your new career, your a braver man than I. That takes some real courage. Ps is the van going cheap?

 

[petfenn]

Looks like all the work is in the north , does that mean southern plumbers all moving north ? hope so might i might get the work here then, it is slow,i know a lot like me just ticking over. i wonder if Gas Safe will lower thier fees till work picks up mmmm doubt it.just have to carry on until it picks up

 

[hammers4spanner]

Must admit i'm the same as missille starting to think of jacking this in after 22 years , to many idiots in this job now ,low rates and has become a rat race for work.Hardly done anything this month probably £400 worth of work thus far which is pathetic for a trade .
Funny as last year had someone wanting to possibly retrain as a plumber so worked with me for three months . After three months he decideed that plumbing was the worst job he ever tried and acxtually said was a mugs game .
Laughed at the time but now think he's right lol

 

[hammers4spanner]

Looks like all the work is in the north , does that mean southern plumbers all moving north ? hope so might i might get the work here then, it is slow,i know a lot like me just ticking over. i wonder if Gas Safe will lower thier fees till work picks up mmmm doubt it.just have to carry on until it picks up

Gas safe lower prices ,,,, as if !!!
I heard with the phasing out of gas they are going the other way forcing more safety courses in other words money making !!

 

[petfenn]

renewed my Gas Safe reg today,not happy about it,had to do CPA course earlier in year because Gas Safe require it now,what's next ?? i wonder how can they squeeze more money from us. next big thing i'm due to do is CCN1 ect another costly outlay,is it worth staying in the trade

 

[missille]

I have a few mates who retrained as plumbers,every single one of them now hates it and have all left.
The problem with the trade is gas safe,jib,all the training centres,cscs,the new leglislation are all after your cash,every year there are new unhelpful edicts from those who are supposed to be helping the industry,but there not,all they are doing is milking the lads on the tools...Its like the agencies,advertising jobs for ridiculous rates,bosses chopping prices to below union agreed rates,late payers,etc,etc,....
I've no doubt it will pick up,but i just dont have the drive or enthusiasm to start grafting again either now or in 4-5 yrs...

My partner works in the nhs and suggested it,and she's been very supportive,loves her job,so it seems like a sensible choice,plus i'll get to go to uni and ogle all the young women...

 

[Leo21]

Personally I hate all the courses as well. But don't think that's the problem. There's just to many idiots at it that think the busier they are the better. Not realising that they started out to make a decent living not chuckle at people they've managed to under cut. It's not big and it's definitely not clever.

 

[RichardLopez]

Hey work depends on your clients and willingnes to get people booked up in advance, just part of the business skillsset needed for a good plumber

 

[Leo21]

People will only wait if you've been highly recommended or are seriously cheap.

 

[LegionellaSlave]

Alright lads. I havn't logged on for a while.
Sad to see things are grim out there in plumber land :sad:

I've just skimmed through this thread and one thing that pops
up a few times is the free advice we give, therefore possibly
taking a job off one of our own fellow tradesmen.

Now I dont think this website is responsible for our lack of earnings
but I do think steps should be taken so that ......er......
Blah blah blah..... you get my drift!
:behead:

 

[Dannypipe]

Blah blah blah....yeah I do. Less advice to joe public!! LOL.

I think this thread has become the most depressing one in a long time. I'm changing my name to Suicidal Sid. (From The Viz).

 

[Leo21]

What do you expect from an are you busy thread in a double dip recession? Not sure what double dip means though.

 

[Dannypipe]

I think it's something to do with humous or salsa. Not sure.

 

[LegionellaSlave]

What do you expect from an are you busy thread in a double dip recession? Not sure what double dip means though.

It's how strong your trips are :dizzy2:

 

[Dannypipe]

Ah!! That's why none of us have any work!!

 

[Guest123]

Summit like a sherbert dip?

 

[LegionellaSlave]

Sherbert dip......trip? :jester:

 

[tizintit]

most of the trades round here i speak to are slow
if your busy the phone always rings with leaks or breakdowns that need doing yesterday
if you are slow the phone just does not ring

 

[Guest123]

My biggest expense these days is not the cost of plumbing materials but the price of diesel and only so much of that can you add on to the price.

 

[aqueco]

Had a couple of months of doing nothing except doing prices and scratching around taking silly little jobs for something to do. Seemed that I wasn't getting any of the jobs I was pricing for. I was getting ready to move into the box still in my garage from the last boiler I fitted but then, suddenly, I got 3 big jobs and a couple of little ones all come in at once. Seems I'll be ok 'til September. Reckon that story probably familiar to most of you (maybe not right now, but at some point).

I reckon it's worth sticking it out. Things are bad for almost everyone right now and there are some good things about being a plumber. I sometimes feel really good about jobs I've done. I'm my own boss. I don't have to go to the same soul destroying office every day. I'm not a sparkie.

There was a guy earlier in this thread talking about training to work in the NHS. My other half is a midwife and it seems to me that working for the NHS is at least as stressful as plumbing without any of the advantages.

Guess it's good if a load of people leave the trade mind - leaves more work for the rest of us!