Best Way to become OFTEC registered

[scott2hot]

Hi all,

I've recently completed my level 2 NVQ and 6189 Tech Cert and have been busy fitting bathrooms etc but want to further my plumbing knowledge and start getting into the heating side of things. As I live in an area with little gas (cornwall) Ive decided to concentrate on the oil side of things. Could any of you recommend the best way into this side of the industry, i.e.what courses i'd need to and what experience I would need to gain.

Is it easier to become qualified on the gas side of heating as I do live in an area of Cornwall that does has gas but believe it is easier to get qualified on the oil side of things - is this correct

Many thanks for all you help.

 

[jase158]

I may be wrong, but believe that you should do NVQ3, then do an oil course, then do a oil assessment.

NVQ3 to understand boilers, unvented, i.e.
oil course to understand differences of oil and gas.
assessment to get accredited by oftec.

Just a guess but thats what I would expect

 

[dontknowitall]

You can just turn up ... nearly! I didn't have to prove any qualification (that I can remember). Another chap on the course didn't even do plumbing.

You'll need to take the OFTEC 50, which is an introduction and the practical assessments involve more teaching and learning. All this takes 5 days and sets you ready to take the OFTEC 101, 102, etc.

Best to try 2-3 training centres. Are there many Agas and Rayburns in your area? If so, it could be worth training at Aga in Telford. That's where I went and although not absolutely brilliant it was a perfectly okay training centre. I'm quite happy to return there for my next assessments in a couple of years.

Cost is around £800 per week of training £800 for 5 years of registration to OFTEC, £300 a year for compulsory public liability insurance and you'll need around £800 for tools and other oily stuff.

 

[jase158]

You can just turn up ... nearly! I didn't have to prove any qualification (that I can remember). Another chap on the course didn't even do plumbing.

You'll need to take the OFTEC 50, which is an introduction and the practical assessments involve more teaching and learning. All this takes 5 days and sets you ready to take the OFTEC 101, 102, etc.

Best to try 2-3 training centres. Are there many Agas and Rayburns in your area? If so, it could be worth training at Aga in Telford. That's where I went and although not absolutely brilliant it was a perfectly okay training centre. I'm quite happy to return there for my next assessments in a couple of years.

Cost is around £800 per week of training £800 for 5 years of registration to OFTEC, £300 a year for compulsory public liability insurance and you'll need around £800 for tools and other oily stuff.

wow thats surprising.

learn something new every day

 

[dontknowitall]

wow thats surprising.

learn something new every day

LOL - we're decent chaps in the oil trade, even if we are smelly and old fashioned!!!

 

[jase158]

I was suprised as there is a lot of money in oil, mainly because less people do it, yet it costs a lot less to train on it.

Is oil safer then gas?

 

[Best]

Lots of people have some sort of oftec qualification despite having little,if any experience. You don't need it to do the courses, just pay your money. Always annoys when someone states " get a qualified oftec engineer". Legally yes, but dosnt mean a lot if the" engineer" only started recently. Not knocking it completely though, as hopefully it should help make everyone aware of regs, & ofcourse plenty of real heating guys out there are oftec.

 

[dontknowitall]

Yes and no. The storage of oil is nothing like as safe as gas (in my opinion) as older tanks are quite flimsy and many are not that stable. As a chemical it tends not explode though like gas but on the other hand I think the heat in oil boilers is much greater.

Re the numbers, there are around 28m houses in the UK of which around 2m are on oil, the rest being natural gas, LPG or just electricity.

 

[dontknowitall]

Lots of people have some sort of oftec qualification despite having little,if any experience. You don't need it to do the courses, just pay your money. Always annoys when someone states " get a qualified oftec engineer". Legally yes, but dosnt mean a lot if the" engineer" only started recently. Not knocking it completely though, as hopefully it should help make everyone aware of regs, & ofcourse plenty of real heating guys out there are oftec.

I think there's some confusion there.

To obtain your registration you need to prove you've taken and passed the relevant exams.

It's not illegal for anyone to repair or service oil boilers but it is illegal to install them unless you're OFTEC registered and it's also illegal (as far as I know) to use the CD10 forms to prove a service unless you're qualified.

 

[SimonG]

Damn site messier. Can't beat getting home covered in soot and smelling of kero!

 

[Best]

I am not saying anyone can be oftec registered without having passed the relevant oftec exams, but just pointing to it's limitations. Trouble with lots of courses, in my opinion, is someone with no experience can do the exam & then be unleased onto the public.