is this possible...

[acecharly]

Seen a job advertised as below:-

Gas Install Engineer TEAMS needed for straight boiler swaps. Is a contract in the Birmingham area, candidates must have the following own tools, own van, ACS qualifications and LOTS of relevant experience. A CSCS card and Asbestos awareness is desired but NOT essential. The work is all domestic work on properties in the Birmingham area please call for location. Please note it is fine if one engineer is qualified and one is a labourer or is also fine if two qualified engineers. The work is long term work and starts ASAP. The work is most likely suited for an experienced installer and a matelabourer, however we are MORE THAN HAPPY to consider teams of fully experienced installers who will do the work at a faster speed. Engineers at the moment are doing 2 swaps per day.


2 a day? are they throwing them at the wall?

 

[Barry98]

i can do a straight swap in a day so 2 should be able to do one each why not

 

[kirkgas]

The prob is they are going to allow one gas and one non gas to do 2 a day cause the gas guy will sign off both, as he will do the gas to both while the other does only the plumbing, but as we know the gas guy must hang the boiler and do the flue plus all gas, testing and commissioning but if he is stupid enough to let his DIY labourer mats do one then the main contractor won't care

 

[Rickster123]

I was doing 2 combis a day a few years back for the council. Ferrolli modena boilers. Not many of them left now!

 

[gassafe]

It aint possible. I would not like to see the quality of an installer expected to install 2 boilers in one day.

 

[TBServices]

It's possible. It's just poor. It's the way warmfront boilers were installed and the reason they're so bad.

 

[Rickster123]

I'd dispute that abit to be honest. The reason warmfront was poor was in the main because the used icos and isar boilers. There was many quality installs done on the warmfront scheme and a lot of very happy customers who were provided free heating that they would otherwise never have been able to afford.

 

[woodsy]

I'd dispute that abit to be honest. The reason warmfront was poor was in the main because the used icos and isar boilers. There was many quality installs done on the warmfront scheme and a lot of very happy customers who were provided free heating that they would otherwise never have been able to afford.

You must be very lucky down by you as the ones round here look like a first year apprentice has done them- as well as crappy isars and icos

 

[barronbathrooms]

I am about to start sub-contracting to a nationwide company doing the same. I'm hoping to take a non gas plumber an do 2 a day. That is the only way to make a decent wage. He is going to do his gas portfolio while we are there

 

[Leo21]

There's no way two can be done well in one day. Draining, unloading and loading van, flushing, benchmark and telling the retard sorry customer how to use it takes two or three hours on its own.

 

[villa_tom]

What happens if you hit a problem? A straight swap could turn into a nightmare and you could easily be starting your second job at bedtime. Plus you have travel time between jobs. I wouldn't do it, you could easily slip up and make a massive mistake. Plus I'm too good looking for jail 🙂

 

[Millsy 82]

Not for me its not. When I did the warm front I had to do 14 hour days to get a combi swap done in a day for heat only it was only 10 hours. Up until 2pm I was power flushing then install the boiler patch up and another flush at the end all takes time. To do 2 a day something has got to be missed.

 

[kirkgas]

I am about to start sub-contracting to a nationwide company doing the same. I'm hoping to take a non gas plumber an do 2 a day. That is the only way to make a decent wage. He is going to do his gas portfolio while we are there

how do you plan to do it with an assistant who needs the job for his portfolio? he will need to be with you to do the gas under his portfolio therefore it becomes a one man job its a lot to get a boiler swapped by lunch then go next door and do the next one

 

[tamz]

its a lot to get a boiler swapped by lunch then go next door and do the next one

Not if you eat your porridge :smile:

 

[mountainman]

Or if you are an experienced haggis stalker.

 

[tamz]

Combi to combi you could literally have it swapped and running in an hour if the pipes are in the same order. Another couple running the condensate and flushing and time to nip to Greggs before the next one.

Cheers MM. You timed that well. She just asked what i fancied for the dinner tomorrow. Haggis and tatties it is if i can catch one :smile:

 

[acecharly]

Im seeing half an half as to if its possible but be honest it shocked me. It said the rate was £300 - £500 a day. What happens if the carcas is 15mm back to the meter? A proper power flush takes hours alone, what if theres no closed drain for condensate and you have to fit a soakaway. If it was just a case of one off one on i guess theres a possibility but seriously how many times is a job straight forward. I know im slow but ive nevr done one in a day its always took a day and couple of hours in the morning. As for two of you fitting if its in a pantry whats your mate doing ...arms around ya waste bonding the pipework? I just think it asks for bad workmanship rushing mistakes and danger only good thing i can see is id have no problems sleeping at night after a day like that.

 

[Barry98]

First job I do is drain the old heating cut the pipes and set the power flush off running whil I'm ripping old boiler out mounting the next etc

 

[acecharly]

how do you run a power flush when youve cut the pipes or am i being dumb here? do you mean at the boiler and loop the F&R?

 

[Barry98]

Yes drain cut the f&e connect pf onto and away we go

 

[Koogatubac]

Fastest combi to combi ive done (when i was a apprentice) was 45mins. Explanation:

Baxi 105 to Baxi Duo Tec (1st Model)

- drain down legs of boiler
- whip old boiler off BUT not jig.
- chisel flue hole because the duo tecs where higher i think
- put new boiler on old jig with new washers.
- fill up, check for leaks and gas rate then leave
Btw NEVER GOT FLUSHED

This was back in 2006 so no flue gas analyser

 

[acecharly]

Thats pretty fast. I havnt looked into the job so it maybe that everything is straightworfard maybe being in council voids or houses next door to each other etc they may even be preflushed or pipework may be made new upto boiler and its just a case of hanging piping and fluing and no commissioning just left for a spark to wire up. Id say maybe im overestimating what needs to done, i may even call to ask.

 

[stevetheplumber]

takes me an hour to fill in the details but then i actually do all the readings not just copy them out of the book

 

[stevetheplumber]

i would bet if you went back and checked the paperwork where 10 identical boilers had gone into a row of houses they would all have exactly the same values in every box

 

[acecharly]

If they had any at all steve.

 

[tamz]

2 Combi to combi swaps are do-able in a day but you won't be home at 5.
They don't need (and there is no requirement) to be powerflushed. Gas upgrades will be an extra on the price and electricians are a pita so they wire it themselves as they hold you back.
It is just a matter of getting into the swing of it and teamwork which means you don't need to talk to each other from the moment you step out the van-.
It is a high stress job and the 3 - 500 a day is split on the team. (3 -500 means they are 1 offs)
Not a job for the faint hearted but good money for the right guys.

 

[tamz]

When i think about it, what any guys thinking of getting into the heating shyt should think of is the sparky side. No stress fitting a spur or beeping a circuit on a daft machine. They get paid just the same amount as the heating guys without the stress.

 

[kirkgas]

When i think about it, what any guys thinking of getting into the heating shyt should think of is the sparky side. No stress fitting a spur or beeping a circuit on a daft machine. They get paid just the same amount as the heating guys without the stress.

aye but the need to be a lot uglier

 

[tamz]

I'm a really ugly (and short tempered) cant these days but my wee darling still loves me xx :smile:

 

[peteheat]

Should be a few Gas Safe Inspectors assigned to monitor every job any company who proposes working like that like that does.

Now two jobs are the same, Gas Safe is exactly what it says on the logo, putting installers under that type of pressure is nothing short of criminal mistakes will be made and when they do the subby will take the hit.

Two boilers a day everyday might be possible in a housing estate where the work is repetition, arriving, preparing your work area, doing the job, cleaning up and driving to the next job to start all over again is madness.

Must be the same company who invented the 9 minute boiler service.

 

[barronbathrooms]

I start on Monday so will let you know how it goes