subject: How You Can Become A Plumber [print this page] How You Can Become A Plumber How You Can Become A Plumber
To be a plumber may seem easy to many people. All they need to do is unblock pipes and connect sinks and toilets right? Wrong! Learning to be a plumber is much more technical than that and requires years of training. Most people will only use licensed plumbers in any case.
The primary requirements to becoming a plumber is a matric or matric equivalence. This means that you have the required mathematical knowledge since mathematics has become compulsory for a matric certificate. There are numerous colleges and technical trade schools that may give you a bit of a head start. These would offer programs like technical drawing that really help you to understand blueprints. Having a matric also means that you will be able to read and understand documents like contracts at an acceptable level.
The next thing is to get accepted as an official apprentice to an already licensed plumber. Your apprenticeship must last at least three years. As well as this apprenticeship, you need to do approximately three hundred hours of theory work in order to know and understand the work that you will probably be tested on once you take the licensing exam.
You also have to be no less than eighteen years old for you to sit the exam. The exam takes place over two days. Over the course of these two days you will be examined on five different elements of expertise. You have to pass all of them to get your license.
The two main options for obtaining your plumbers license. The one is through Construction Education Training Authority (CETA) another is through passing a Department of Labour trade test for plumbing. Both of these are very pricey, particularly if you are not earning a salary. Some companies that accept apprentices will pay for the apprenticeship courses and license exam, then claim it back from taxes as skills training. This is usually your best option for getting your license, however , not everyone can get this kind of good break.
Other stuff to consider include your potential for doing mechanical work. If you do not enjoy working with your hands, then learning to be a plumber isn't for you. You also need ot know enough math and planning skills in order to estimate and quote on jobs. If you underestimate, you will end up out of pocket, should you overestimate, the client could very well go elsewhere for their plumbing requirements. It's also advisable to be relatively strong as some plumbing supplies are fairly heavy, you don't need to be a body builder in order to manage, but your average computer nerd is not going to be able to lift and carry the parts you will need.
Becoming a plumber is just as convoluted as the pipes they work with, so consider your career path carefully before starting any qualification. If there are more aspects that you will not be able to handle than aspects you'll manage, then you should truly reconsider. Not everyone can become a plumber and you've got to be really good to receive an income in this very competitive market.
