I want to become a sparky

[MPwannadecentincome]

Because they are fully qualified, time-served plumbers who have served an apprenticeship and now run there own businesses.
Or they are taking the p1ss

The common thing of people moaning that people charge eg £50 per hour so therefore they earn that times 40 hours a week * 48 weeks a year is nonsense.
You have a lot more downtime as a self employed tradesman, although you can still earn damn good money...

as above not with the plumbers around here, ok maybe they won't work an 8 hour day and will knock off after 6 or 7....

[Jefferson]

How come plumbers down south charge £50 per hour then?

Because they are fully qualified, time-served plumbers who have served an apprenticeship and now run there own businesses.
Or they are taking the p1ss

The common thing of people moaning that people charge eg £50 per hour so therefore they earn that times 40 hours a week * 48 weeks a year is nonsense.
You have a lot more downtime as a self employed tradesman, although you can still earn damn good money...

[MPwannadecentincome]

Because they run their own business doing "emergency" work.

If you want regular income you need to do renovation/building work and that is hard to get without experience.

My 'emergency' plumber never had 'non emergency' work in fact he was so busy I had to rotate between using about 4 plumbers who were all busy and charged pretty much the same rate whether it was an emergency or re-novation, hence two week's worth of tiling and bathroom fitting was quoted at £4000 plus.

[Moscow Mule]

How come plumbers down south charge £50 per hour then?

Because they run their own business doing "emergency" work.

If you want regular income you need to do renovation/building work and that is hard to get without experience.

[MPwannadecentincome]

labouring & plumbing work for £80 a day

How come plumbers down south charge £50 per hour then?

[Jefferson]

The best cure for 'I want to become an electrician/plumber' is to actually do a bit of rewiring or plumbing and you'll see the 'light' pretty quickly. A spell crawling around in fibreglass in a loft, or crawling around in dirt under a suspended floor should do the trick. Not a job for the over 40s !

I personally didn't mind that at all and would rather do that then sit in an office all day but each to their own.
it was the sh1te money and no prospect of earning any better for a good while that did it in the end.
There are also thousands of other people who have decided that they would rather do a trade than work in an office and unfortunately I think most end up going back to what they did previously (Although not all)
It has, however, made me appreciate what money I do earn a lot more which is a good thing.

[rootsnall]

The best cure for 'I want to become an electrician/plumber' is to actually do a bit of rewiring or plumbing and you'll see the 'light' pretty quickly. A spell crawling around in fibreglass in a loft, or crawling around in dirt under a suspended floor should do the trick. Not a job for the over 40s !

[Jefferson]

Unfortunately not easy to do unless you are lucky & also willing to work for very little for a fair while.
You can either do an expensive "fast track course" which will leave you with a qualification and no experience or do a traditional college course over a number of years whilst working for very little.
The problem will be finding someone willing to give you a go so you can gain experience - Most would rather employ an 18 yr old for next to nothing who they can train up the way they want to.

2 years ago I paid a substantial amount of money for a 6 months plumbing course which gave me a city & guilds certificate with no experience.
i worked on a house renovation afterwards for 8 months doing labouring & plumbing work for £80 a day and then went back to IT as was nigh on impossible to get employed by anyone & I was skint.
Don't regret it & have used some of the skills since but I am not going to make my living out of plumbing.
Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[MPwannadecentincome]

its not the 'leccy bits that are difficult, its all the continually changing Regulations you have to keep upto date and certified on.

Age should not matter, in fact I trust an older sparky than a younger one.

Good Luck.

[thunderlizard]

sparky, n.

Obs.—1

[f. spark n.2 + -y.]
A spark or gallant.
1756 M. Calderwood in Coltness Collect. (Maitland Club) 196 Miss Collier the cousine is a well-looked little lassie, and severall little sparkies were in love with her.



Doesn't look that hard.

[Moscow Mule]

It's not rocket science. Quite a few courses before you get qualified to wire a house on your own though...

[Platypus]

Very good idea IMO.

Find a local college which does a course.

[gingerjedi]

Where do I start?

I'm quite bright but nearly 40, stupid idea?