how to change from plumber to pipe fitter?

[richysafc]

Hello all, this is my first post on this forum and am here as i would am hopeing for some advice form you all.

Basically i have completed my apprenteship as a plumber and have my nvq3 and am also gas safe registered however i fancy moving on to something different and have always fancied getting on the rigs and am really wanting to get into pipe fitting on the rigs.

Now i know this is a plumbers forum but i thought some of you may have heard of lads that have done the change over and how they went about doing it. I have only got experience in domestic plumbing so nothing like the size of pipes that would be used on the rigs. I have heard that many many pipe fitters started of as plumbers so i am sure that somehow it is possible. I have spoke to one lad who was a plumber and now a pipe fitter on the rigs and his advice for me was to lie on my CV and say i have done pipe fitting then figure it out as i go, is this how everyone else has managed it???

I know about doing my survival, etc for the rigs and am also booking up to go on a swagelok course as i have been recommended this by a few people but was wondering if there are any other courses that people know of that will help me out.

Anyways any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance 🙂

Richy

 

[gaspastemania]

Have worked with a few fitters that have worked on the rigs and to be honest dont think its as easy as lying on your c.v !!

have you never done any fitting??

 

[richysafc]

lol no somehow i didn't think it would be that easy, otherwise everyone would be at it!

No i have never installed pipework bigger than you would find in a domestic property. I am going to try and see if i could work for free for a pipe fitting company locally if possible to gain some experience however i will have to try and sort this out around work :-/

 

[stevetheplumber]

difference tween plumber and pipe strangler frontal lobotomy

 

[tamz]

Buy a pair of 24" stilsons and stick a hank of hemp in your pocket and walk onto any big site stinking of boss white and ask for the mechanical guys and see if you can get a start.

A pipe is a pipe no matter what the size and all jointing methods are similar.
Pipefitting is usually easier than even domestic plumbing as you have someone to tell you run that 3" pipe or whatever to there and you don't need to know why.

No one with any sense pays any heed to what is in CV's anyway unless you name drop and it catches their attention. They are all filled with lies and rubbish no one is interested in or wants to know.

 

[richysafc]

well i have been searching on the net and it seems everyone is saying the same as you tamz, its all the basic same idea just some pipes are bigger than others and i have been told off several people now that if i can be a plumber than i should have no bother been a pipe fitter either.

Booking on a swagelok course at newton aycliffe next week then after that i will start gettin my CV together, cant wait to just get out on the rigs now!

 

[Barry98]

a lot of working on rigs is not just down to pipe size it also comes down to pressures as-well , my brother in law and a good friend both work on rigs up north . north .

 

[clivetheplumber]

difference tween plumber and pipe strangler frontal lobotomy

Its the same as the difference between a plumber & a BG engineer, The BG engineer is a plumbers mate with his brains smashed out!!

 

[Barry98]

Its the same as the difference between a plumber & a BG engineer, The BG engineer is a plumbers mate with his brains smashed out!!

absolutely pmsl

 

[fuzzy]

Buy a pair of 24" stilsons and stick a hank of hemp in your pocket and walk onto any big site stinking of boss white and ask for the mechanical guys and see if you can get a start.

A pipe is a pipe no matter what the size and all jointing methods are similar.
Pipefitting is usually easier than even domestic plumbing as you have someone to tell you run that 3" pipe or whatever to there and you don't need to know why.

No one with any sense pays any heed to what is in CV's anyway unless you name drop and it catches their attention. They are all filled with lies and rubbish no one is interested in or wants to know.

so right tamz, thats why i loved it, hard work, steel can be tricky at times when taking several through a tight ceiling space but your right, dont need to know what it does. you get a drawing, can you read isometric drawings and cut n thread you can earn good money. i suppose its a different skill, many fitters cannot think for themselves or are unwilling too. many plumbers cannot read drawings of the magnitude of a big site, horses for courses.

for me they are related trades not the same. like gas and plumbing. pipe fitting and domestic etc etc i should know ive done em both n qualified in both

 

[Toddyplumb]

I have worked on many size pipes and different materials. Bending will be on hydraulic machines and you will need your bending allowances ! Dont know about the specifics of rigs but you will need to set up flanges for welding , they must obviously align. You may need pipe preping for welding they are different for different sizes , materials etc.
I think going pipefitter to plumber may be easier than plumber to pipefitter, but you have the basics it just needs tuned, thats as long as you can work in copper and steel not hep😉

 

[fagsanbooz]

pipe fitting is relatively ok, but working from drawings, using flanges, grooving and threading machines (with the power arm!!) and certified welding, it's a bit harder than some have made out on here. Trust me i worked with fitter/welders for 20 years and done quite a bit myself and the ones who say it's just 'bigger' are being a bit economical with the whole truth!!

 

[git]

some embarrassing posts on this thread claiming plumbing is easier than pipefitting !

 

[GQuigley67]

I worked on commercial heating and plumbing, I prefered working on the bigger copper/stainless pipes as the small pipe looked like a large snake was in the ceiling, with the bigger pipe its straight and looks the part, usually used crimping guns for the larger fittings and flanges, with flanges its like changing a tyre in the way you tighten them, I liked working with the steel pipe also, after a while you get used to smell of boss white and hemp anyway lol

I didnt do the Arc welding though, or the comercial boiler rooms, but I did see them being done. I started out in commercial and then went onto domestic and found it quite easy to pick up, but one thing I would say is when we had agency guys on site you could tell within a few days if they were domestic plumbers. If you done this kind of work you'd maybe find the rigs a bit easier to understand there is also pipefitters in the shipyards if you have any nearby

 

[richysafc]

thanks for all the replys gents, had some good info from you lot. Dont worry i am under no illusion that this will be an easy switch in trades and its going to involve a steep learning curve and ALOT of hard work but i am determined to do it. I know abit about engineering due to some time spent working on lynx helicopters in the royal navy which was pretty damn complicated to pick up and also been a time served plumber i have an understanding of pipe bending, etc. One of the lads at work used to be a pipe fitter in the shipyards at sunderland years ago and has gave me abit of an insite into pipefitting and some of the process's involved (although i am well aware times will have changed since he did pipe fitting)

I have been spending most nights trying to learn what i can from the internet about pipe fitting (i know sometimes not the best source but its all i have got at the moment) I know i will have to take a trade test at some point before i go on the rigs so i am basically trying to give myself as much of a chance as i can of passing it. Been looking at pipe drawings so much recently that my eyes hurt lol however no pain no gain!

 

[Toddyplumb]

Stick at it Richy you are obviously putting effort in !

 

[fuzzy]

what pipe fitting quals do you have?

 

[richysafc]

thanks toddy mate am not gonna give up.

I have only got quals in domestic plumbin mate, NVQ lvl 3 and gas safe but none specifically related to pipe fitting. If i am been honest with ya i done even know what qual you can get in pipe fitting?

 

[DMPPlumbingN/E]

Hello there I know this is an old post but it is exactly what I'm thinking of trying to do, as it's 2 years later just wondering if your any further forward? Haha and how did you go about it in the end? Cheers, Dan

 

[Destroyer2813]

You maybe waiting a while for a response hasent posted since 15/01/12

 

[Kev the gas]

hopefully he is away working on a rig as we speak :smartass2:

 

[lame plumber]

more likely got put on the first helo home once they realised he had told porkies on his cv and seen his first efforts.

 

[DMPPlumbingN/E]

Not necessarily, a lad I went to college with went offshore with zero experience and said you can show me what to do or put me back on the helicopter and he's now been there 5 year! Top blagger

 

[DMPPlumbingN/E]

I'd just like to know how to do it legitimately cos knowing my luck I'd be sent straight back haha

 

[hammers4spanner]

woods group are taking on mechy fitters and they will re train you

 

[DMPPlumbingN/E]

That's great thanks do you know any details by any chance? Number to ring etc? Cheers

 

[Avatar]

How does a plumber become a pipefitter?

By becoming short and ugly - and covering yourself from ars to elbow with tattoos from my experience!

Its the huge pieces of pipe they carry see - it compresses the spine over the years and you just get shorter and shorter . . .

After a while you will end up looking like a grumpty, tatt covered hobbit!!!!