PGDB absolutely terrible for a proffessional organisation

I am absolutely discusted at the PGDB  in regards to Exams.

I sat my common paper in Nov 08 and was confident going into it.

I got 54% originally, then 56% on the reconsideration.

There are marks I should have got but no one I can dispute it with.

There are no standard answers available, no one to help, and no examiners report in a long time.

I thought we paid these fees for them to help us, not to be against us.

I currently live in WA, and I travel back to NZ for each exam. There are loads of people who put so much time and effort and money to these exams. But we get nothing in return

I just want a bit more support from the PGDB, or they may as well piss off! I'm surprised more plumbers aren't standing up to this.

I also believe there is a discrepancy in the allocation of questions in the exams.

Anyway, good to get that off my mind. Back to study now!


KC

Mate if your living in WA why are you wasting your time doing exams in NZ get a WA licence or do the course in WA they have to accept in NZ.

one of my mates is scottish....i know bad luck ....he spent quite a few years in australia and obtained his Australian Equavilent to be a Plumber in NZ. he says he dosent have to re liscence every year as he has this ticket...is he correct, is there a ticket you can get that enables a life time liscence, or is he really Irish?   

nice thanks for that, i thought it was to good to be true....

Yeah, I agree. I think the board and the whole way everything is organised is so unproffessional.
I think the best avenue is through the master plumbers assn.

I'm not just b****ing and moaning for the sake of it. The set up is a disgrace.

I tell ya what. I'll be taking things in my own hands if required when I'm in business back in NZ, Hopefully soon.

I recognise the need for high standards, qualifications, unision, competance etc etc in plumbing and in all trades.

But we get almost no help from the PGDB. They are pathetic.
If I was in charge, I'd make  number one priority in asssisting and helping Plumbers Gasfitters etc..... regarding exams and knowledge . They are just not helpful.
It seems they have something to hide.


No examiners report for three years!!
No report on how many marks were appointed
I think they are trying to hide something!

I'll get this exam over with and then sort this mess out.  And trust me I will.

KC

Hey robbo

Brilliant, I like it.

I'm going to look into this.

This is the bulls***t that's happening in our society.

I'm actually in the process of looking at who and why the PGDB are in service.

I'm looking at starting one of my own and getting authority to do so.

I'll have support of most plumbers Gasfitters and Drainlayers out there......... Also most of the tutors and training boards. ..... probably most TA and building authorities...


There's no reason we can not make a stand.

Just need some time and support


KC



PS...
Plumber... Set up a web site (seperate to this, but linked)
We need to focus on this issue.

hi guys the pgdb are arse 's and couldnt organise a piss up in a brewery,anyway the good news is that the main arse phill routhan could be on his way out we just need to keep applying the pressure  please write into plumbers journal and complain also we need plumbers bumper stickers so as to get out our message to the plumbers who have no balls and let every one do the work to make things better jd

JOHN DYER-PLUMBER/GAS ENGINEER
FOR BETTER PLUMBING IN NEWZEALAND & GAS SAFETY

Dear Sir or Madam:
 I have worked in the plumbing and gas trade in NewZealand for just under 2 years and have found it to be eye opening as to the poor training and development in proper training .Any way I started with Merwood plumbing (laser plumbing)  in Taupo  doing mainly maintenance plumbing and problem solving which I started to get a good name for being an expert  ,whilst working for Dave Merwood I worked on my own from day 1 on wards and received no direct or indirect supervision at All.whilst working for him I found some of quality of his work to be of a lower standard than some of my apprentices I used to train so I moved on to work with gas   at  Macbeth Plumbing of Taupo as a plumber and gas engineer servicing and maintaining  gas appliances cookers/ gas fires  boilers etc ,whilst doing this I found boilers connected to gas supplys with flexible bath pipes,lpg gas bottles fitted over drains,and lots of other faults that would be illegal installations  in most modern countrys  of course.
The main part of my job was to be their gas expert in servicing and repairs and trouble shooting during this time  I came across several unsafe and dangerous installations for example a gas fire that was poorly fitted to the wrong flue  so  when I went to  service it I found signs of spillage and also then I went on to test for spillage with a smoke match which is called spillage test( incase you don’t understand, how to do this please feel free to call me)after finding this I decided to warn the people of Taupo of the dangers of not servicing gas appliances every 12mths (this should be your job if you were doing your job properly)we suddenly got lots of work which is good for safety
Anyway the person doing most of the gas installations turned out to be trainee still in training who when asked said that when they install gas fires they never tested for spillage,when. he went on day realease I was asked to go and find a gas leak on a new installation he did which turned out to be a cracked pipe behind the fire if I had fitted the fire I would have tested it before fitting the flue ( its called a soundness test please call if you don’t understand).
They also had a licensed plumber who fitted taps into the soap dish  holders (drilled in the centre of soap dish)
Plumbers who left numberous leaks
And all plumbers were trainees (5 and an office manager who goes out to work as well)
And of course it was in my contract,that he would pay all of your licenses which he didn’t of course, gas /plumbing
The good news is when I was doing all this gas work (no license) and never any supervision for all of us licenced plumbers.
So the moral of this story is. is it any wonder that the standard of plumbing and gas is poor in NewZealand and the trainees fail exams because they don’t get any help from craftsman or supervision.
iT is good to see that the plumbers board is still being run poorly, is this because they failed to get rid of the useless dead wood left over from the last sacking
the plumbers board (or should I say money pit) is planning to put up fees again i can hear them saying that this is good for plumbing I doult it but it will good for the boys or should I say registar I cant imagine a poorly paid plumber wanting to pay $3k + to a board that undermines plumbing and are employers going to pay them more to cover this
Also please see my jds corner in the plumbers jounal and also see the storey about gas accidents in 2008 and also theres work in gas appliance servicing on page 23&32 aug/sept issue
Thank you  john dyer gas engineer plumbing expert
 073774141