i think its more a case of gas is dangerous
if you shadow a plumber no one i know has ever drowned as a result of your making a mistake but if you do something while shadowing a gas engineer then the consequences are that much greater
thet cant be watching you every second and their public liability is unlikely to cover work you are doing while with them
tell me what benefit there is for a gas engineer to let someone in their area train up and get qualified and then take their work doesnt really make much sense now does it
if you sign up for a course if you dont research said course and knowing full well you need to build a portfolio of gas evidence dont ensure you have a engineer willing to help you then tbh thats your own silly fault isnt it
If this is directed towards me - then you obviously have not read or understood what I have written, and I would not openly say I am silly - based on what your are writing above
I researched the course and knew exactly what I had to complete, I had the committment from said person - who then forefit the obligation towards me, and fell to pressure to people who are obviously as scared as you are to have some competition.
I also offered to stay working for the said person for a minimum of 2 years beyond any training support he was giving me ,as a way of giving him something back.
On top of this - I also agreed to pay for all out of pocket expenses that he would incur by having me in tow, and I was also paying for all my own college materials etc.
So I had done everything I could - so now what is your point here, as I am at a loss to understand your logic when you call me silly?
You obviously have a somewhat questionable concern over the training of others - and by simply stating that Gas is dangerous, and water is not - is simply unjustified - especially when you add the part about someone getting trained to remove some workload is basically not logical?
Are you going to tell me here and now that All Gas Safe (or Corgi in the old days) qualified people are Safe - if you are, then I am sorry but I will strongly dissagree. I have seen many installations that are dubious to say the least, but they got the Ticket so they must be safe - Yes?
How many of these said people were getting struck off the Corgi listing through poor workmanship and dangerous installations (how many more should have been struck off if the number of assesors was at a level to be able to catch out the relevant people)?
How many are still installing poorly installed appliances?
Fortunately I have at least walked away with the NVQ 2 & 3 qualifications, so I did not loose everything - only the actual option to go through the Gas side completely, but please don't try and condone this practice on the back of Gas being dangerous.
You are obviously one of the same like minded people who are worried about being in a trade with some quality competition - which is a shame.
To your quote relating to the water side not carrying the inherrant dangers of Gas, could I not blow someones home up if I were to install an unvented system incorrectly - or decided to overide some of the safety devices on the system - and look, no gas here is there, just super heated water due to the extra pressure in the vessel - but you knew that already, but ommitted to show this risk..
It's a shame really that so called proffessional people stoop to this level, for fear of losing out to say someone who could quite possibly be a bonus to them.
There is a lot of talent out there which is being condemed before they can even get off the starting line, through ignorance, self preservation and greed.
Also, you forgot to mention that a lot of gas installations are carried out by non Gas Safe registered people - which is then signed off at the end by a Gas Safe registered person.
So your statement to shadowing a gas qualified plumber having potential ramifications is not justified imho.
All gas work (within the legal realms we are talking about on here), gets finally tested prior to signing off - if it wasn't, then the Gas Safe person has negated the requirements of the task in hand.
We could go on for years with this type of debate - as there are fores and againsts on both sides.
I will never argue to the fact that we should ensure we have qualified people carrying out work - be it gas, general plumbing whatever the task in hand, but I do agrue the fact that the ones who were fortunate to get into the Gas side, should be in a position whereby they call the shots who is worthy to get into the Gas installation side today!
The governent need to act swiftly to this - as we are soon going to approach an era of total lack of skilled people, through the affore mentioned ignorance and greed.
We are seeing this now in my opinion, poor quality installations on both sides. The fast track courses who say they will train you to become a plumber in the quoted time.
Unskilled workers undercutting us all the time.
I did my years at college and got shafted at the end - there is no way that you can say this is justified, and try to turn this around to say it is my fault.
In the years ahead of us, we will once again be calling on trades to come to the UK - in order to meet the demands. We see it everyday - but people like you are so blinkered, that as long as it is not in your back yard - then it's all good.
If this influx begins to affect you - I would hazzard a guess here, and state that you will most probably be one of the first to stand up and say how unfair it is, that the government are letteing this happen. Oh how ironic that would be!
I personally believe this is already the reason behind why the Gas Safe people are closing the doors on others - as it is the only way in which they can keep earning - it has nothing to do with the safety side (which I agree is a concern, no argument from me here) - it simply boils down to who would be prepared to work that little bit harder to get the money at the end of the day.
Whilst the Gas safe option is limited - then you are all safer than if this monopoly was taken away from your control, and you can all keep the costs of repairs etc far higher.
