Everything you need to know about plumbers

This article is all about plumbers and anything you might need to know about them.

How do you become a plumber ?

In the UK, you don’t need to have any qualifications or certification to call yourself a plumber as long as you are not touching gas.

If you want to be gas safe registered then you will need to be a fully qualified plumber.

Also, if you want to work on any medium to large construction site you will need to have proof that you are fully qualified by having a CSCS card identifying you as a qualified plumber. You can only get a CSCS card by 1) completing an apprenticeship 2) achieving an NVQ Level 2 in plumbing.

The quickest way to become fully qualified as a plumber is to complete an apprenticeship with an experienced plumber.

If you are already very experienced you can choose to apply for an NVQ Level 2 in plumbing which is essentially a review of your work onsite.

You can also enrol in some courses that cover plumbing that include:

• Plumbing Level 1 diploma
• Plumbing Level 2 diploma

However, its important to note that no matter how many diploma qualifications you complete unless you finish your apprenticeship or get your NVQ Level 2, then you will not be able to get a CSCS card for works on larger sites.

If you are not qualified as a plumber you can still provide plumbing services on most ‘wet-work’ items including installing sinks, baths, showers, taps, radiators, hot and cold water pipes and so forth. It is just that you cannot touch the gas boiler. You need to get a gas registered engineer to carry out that part of the works.

How much are plumbers ?

The best way to get a price for plumbing work is to contact several plumbers in your area.

You can of course produce budget costs for plumbing but they are notoriously tricky to estimate correctly.

Plumbing costs breakdown as follows:

1st fix: – installing the pipes that will be covered up by the following trades such as plasterboard. This is the boring, unsexy works that plumbers do that no one ever sees unless there is a leak.

These works include:

• hot water pipes
• cold water pipes
• waste pipes

2nd fix: –Install fixtures. This is the sexy part of plumbing where you are installing expensive items straight from the box including:

• toilets or water closets (wcs)
• bidets
• Wash hand basins
• Showers
• Shower screens
• Baths
• Bath panels
• Taps
• Wastes
• radiators
• towel radiators
• boilers
• kitchen sinks

You can control the cost of these fixtures and fittings by buying them yourself. The plumber will then come along and install them all.

Plumbers will not create a new connection of services from the road to your property. This will be done by your local utilities (water, gas, electricity) company. You will need to book this connection far in advance.

Testing and commissioning

Once a plumber has installed all of their pipework and all of the fittings they must perform pressurised air tests to ensure that there no leaks in the system.

The plumber must then provide you with a certificate of completion.