Advertising

[Armo74]

Hello Everyone,

How many people on here advertise themselves as a plumbing and heating company if they are not gas safe? Maybe a daft question but just wondered if you thought it gave the wrong impression.

Thanks.

 

[RPG 80]

I don't see how you can advertise heating if your not gas safe or oil/solid equivalent:30:

 

[hammers4spanner]

I don't see how you can advertise heating if your not gas safe or oil/solid equivalent:30:

Why can you not advertise heating if your not gas safe ??
dont need gsr to change pump, put in new stat , do rad add ons etc

 

[philtheflush]

thats right i totaly agree same as are you a plumber if youve only done a gas course

 

[RPG 80]

so you can advertise heating but you cant work on the boiler

 

[philtheflush]

well what does a rad do

 

[RPG 80]

radiates heat thanks to the boiler

 

[dontknowitall]

I take on gas jobs but am not GasSafe.

(That's cos I get me GS chappy in to do the appropriate parts!! I do oil.)

I take the point though about advertising "& heating" unless you have one of the heating qualifications.

 

[hammers4spanner]

You can do whatever you want to heat circuit if not gsr however you cannot do anything regarding appliance ,flue gas run etc ,

your basically saying you cant even work on a f+e tank which any plumber can .

 

[RPG 80]

What im saying is you cant work on the heat source which is quite an important part of a heating system

 

[hammers4spanner]

Agreed but can still advertise heating as long as not advertising gsr logo or gsr registerd on biz cards etc etc , i would advertise potato farming on my van if i thought it bought in work.

 

[RPG 80]

so would u advertise potato farming if you could plant them but not harvest them ? ie a full scope of the job?

 

[hammers4spanner]

Why not get a friend/contractor to assist on your works gained if out of your spec?

 

[Mike Jackson]

You can advertise anything on your van but if you can't deliver you are letting the customer down and you will end up with a poor reputation. A bit like going clubbing with a pair of socks stuffed down your Y fronts, when you get to the bedroom scene you can't deliver what you've advertised.

 

[philtheflush]

at the end of the day if someone phoned me and asked me to change a pump, rad, port valves, cylinder, ect and that was because i had heating on my cards then im doing right if someone phoned me to work on a boiler without the gassafe logo on my card im still doing right because i would tell them i cant work on boilers as im not gassafe and put them in touch with someone i definetley know who is and thats the important thing

 

[PlumbBobBob]

that's exactly what i do phil

 

[hammers4spanner]

that's exactly what i do phil

Are you not gas safe??

if not how do you find getting work just as a plumber?

 

[PlumbBobBob]

no i'm not gs. quite quiet at the moment, ticking over really.

 

[dontknowitall]

It's quite easy really. Most of my jobs don't require my oftec qual or GS. Reason I did oftec was a) I live out in the sticks and b) I didn't want someone phoning me saying "My heating doesn't work" and me not having the first clue about boilers.

Which brings us back to the original post, I suppose!

 

[philtheflush]

its crap out there at the mo but im sure it will pick up thats why i have heating on my card it gives me a bigger chance of getting jobs but if i get calls on boiler changes i go out with my mate who is gas safe and help him but services i pass on to him and if hes busy i get his plumbing jobs

 

[REDSAW]

putting plumbing and heating on your info will create a lot of gas related enquiries, if you dont have someone reliable to cover these jobs that you wish to put your name to, then your reputation is in jeopardy.imo.
then again, i believe 'general plumber' yet again pulls in more jobs of the right type.

 

[philtheflush]

im thinking of putting gaenocologist on my cards as well theres plumbing in that somewhere

 

[Armo74]

Thanks for the replies guy's, Kind of a mixed response i suppose, i agree that obviously without the boiler the rest of the system is pretty much useless, However i also believe that there is alot more to heating than just the heat source itself which is why i asked the question.

 

[JCplumb]

I don't advertise as a heating engineer but I still get a fair few calls for fires/boilers etc. I'm currently looking for someone reliable in the area to pass these on to. My website does state central heating repairs as it's easier than stating all the bits of the central heating that I'm allowed to play with.
Once you get a decent customer base though and can pull back on the advertising it gets simpler. E.g. I have 2 landlords who use me for everything except gsr jobs, they have 22 houses between them, I give them a good rate and they don't look elsewhere. Probably get a job or two a month from just those 2 customers

 

[moony]

I think 'and heating' if you haven't got a fuel ticket if any sorts is a bit misleading, but it will get more enquiries, but I can't imagine going to a job to check why heating isn't working and not being able to check boiler if needed. What would you say? I can check pump, valves, programmer but can't open boiler , also can't do a service either sorry missis. If your going to try and advertise heating at least go to the effort of getting a fuel ticket as dontknowitall has.

 

[WaterTight]

99% of the public see the word plumber and think you do everything anyway. My experience is that not having heating written on cards/website has in no way stopped me receiving endless enquiries about boilers and gas which I refer on to others. I'll take the rad jobs but that's about it. I don't hunger for a challenge. If I could I'd fill my day with outside tap replacements. Ah that'd be the life. Unscrew you, dum-de-dum-de bit of ptfe, in with the new, doop-de-doop, 50 squids please and off to the next one!

 

[hammers4spanner]

Thanks for the replies guy's, Kind of a mixed response i suppose, i agree that obviously without the boiler the rest of the system is pretty much useless, However i also believe that there is alot more to heating than just the heat source itself which is why i asked the question.

what everyone is saying its not required to be gsr but helps

 

[mutley racers]

classic, i like that wacko! This ever happened to you??? I had this dilemma when i first got my nvq 2. But i did advertise heating. But then, i knew a GSRE who i could call to do the gas side.

 

[scorps]

I don't advertise as a heating engineer but I still get a fair few calls for fires/boilers etc. I'm currently looking for someone reliable in the area to pass these on to. My website does state central heating repairs as it's easier than stating all the bits of the central heating that I'm allowed to play with.
Once you get a decent customer base though and can pull back on the advertising it gets simpler. E.g. I have 2 landlords who use me for everything except gsr jobs, they have 22 houses between them, I give them a good rate and they don't look elsewhere. Probably get a job or two a month from just those 2 customers

I live in Bolton JC,you can pass some on to me,I won't let you down either

 

[markfxy]

don't need to be gas safe to install a heat pump, solar thermal or an electric boiler so why shouldn't you advertise heating

 

[scotty plumber]

I don't see how you can advertise heating if your not gas safe or oil/solid equivalent:30:

Ive got to disagree as heating is normally a big part of a plumbers job regardless if gsr, if a customer enquires all you have to do is tell them straight away what you can and cannot do and then chance's are you will get the work and if you make a good job everyone is happy.

 

[philtheflush]

moony if getting a gas ticket was that easy to get id get one. and watertight what tool do you use that makes those sort of noises unless its broke

 

[moony]

phil I've just done oil - had little experience in it before and took 7 days. gas isn't everything but i now have gas lpg and oil so have most covered - that way i don't lose a full house plumbing job just because i don't cover the particular fuel - how much has that cost me ? 3-4000 every five years in assessments and registration for the 3 fuel types - I'm time served level 3 so perhaps its easier for me than someone who didn't do the apprentice route - but i see it as part of the parcel so to speak.

 

[Guest123]

Find what you do best and brings the pennies in and stick to it. Although being diverse in other things does no harm as long as you know what you're doing and can do it well and legally.

Personally I'd love to do a Robson Greene and travel the world on a fishing trip and get paid for it, but until that miracle happens, I'm stuck doing what I do.