| By :
Martin Hofschroer
Training providers that offer crash plumbing courses have been criticised by the Plumbing and Heating Industry Alliance (PHIA), reports Building.co.uk. Chris Sneath, chairman of the PHIA, has said that people should not choose training providers which promise a proper plumbing qualification at the end of a fast-track course as it is impossible to become a fully trained plumber in a short period of time. Mr Sneath is campaigning against rogue centres who guarantee people they will have the skills to become a qualified plumber but charge large sums of money and leave them with little competence at the end of a course. Imran Ahmed was asked to pay £5,000 to a training firm which said they could train people to become self-employed plumbers earning an annual salary of £40,000 within five weeks of starting the course. Mr Ahmed realised the course was a shambles when it finished one week early and he had to pester the centre to give them the certificate they promised they would provide. "The things we learned could have been done in my back garden. These turned out to be a worthless piece of paper, which is not recognised anywhere," he told Building. People must complete NVQ 6129 Level 2 plumbing courses, which usually takes around two years, before they can progress on to the NVQ Level 3 and become a fully qualified plumber. For those wanting to become an electrician, NVQ Level 3 electrical courses is usually three-years long and is the minimum industry qualification. SummitSkills predict that there are about 20,000 practising plumbers who have no recognised qualification and more than half of electricians do not hold an Electrotechnical Certification Scheme card, which proves they are fully trained. Keith Marshall, chief executive of SummitSkills, blames the large number of practicing plumbers and electricians without a license on the fact that the industry is not regulated. Founder of Pimlico Plumbers Charlie Mullins told Building that he would never employ someone who had completed crash plumbing courses as they do not have the necessary skills or training. He said: "Doing a course like this doesn't make you a good plumber same as doing a crash driving course doesn't make you a good driver." Iain Macdonald, of the Electrical Contractors' Association, told Building that fast-track electrical courses were exacerbating the skills shortage in the industry. People who want to take plumbing courses and electrical courses should always research training centres to ensure that they are properly accredited by official industry organisations.
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