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Support => PGDB New Zealand Plumbing Gasfitting and Drainlaying Board => Exam policies and updates => Topic started by: roberto on February 20, 2012, 05:32:30 PM

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Title: exam/certificate prices are a bloody joke!!!
Post by: roberto on February 20, 2012, 05:32:30 PM
i paid between 5 and $7,000 on my apprientiship including accomodation everytime I went to wellington over 4 years and to finish and get my national cert in both plumbing and gasfitting was great but to pay $300 for a exam paper then to pay another $700 just to get the certificate is stupidity! ive only got plumbing so far and have to yet sit licenced gasfitting, drainlaying and and craftsman for all three! so i have to fork out another $5,000????  >:( this is total bullshit!!! Is there anything we can do to get these costs lowered??? If we went to the board would they even listen to us???
Title: Re: exam/certificate prices are a bloody joke!!!
Post by: robbo on February 21, 2012, 08:33:04 AM
hi guys/Roberto, and how much will you earn per hour as a certifier?!!! we must have all been mad to have ever considered these trades,cheers
Title: Re: exam/certificate prices are a bloody joke!!!
Post by: Jaxcat on February 21, 2012, 03:49:18 PM
Roberto - if these costs are a "barrier" to entry into the trade then I think you should write to the Hon Minister Williamson, and Mr Alan Bickers of the PGDB.  It is very hard getting them to justify the costs on the issuing of registration etc.  What they have done is lump the costs of assessing overseas tradespeople for registration into the same pot as apprentices who have completed and are seeing registration.  It doesn't seem right.  Most apprentices I have had anything to do with spend their money unwisely and have made no provision for these costs - however I also don't believe the costs are a true reflection.  You used to be able to choose whether you actually got the "certificate" - which cost an additional $50 - now I believe you have no choice but to pick up if - even if you don't want it to hang on your wall.  As to hourly rates for certifiers - depending on what part of the country you are in - I would have thought anywhere from $25 - $38 per hour would be about right - that is as a PAYE paying wage earner.  Many certifiers work as contractors and rates for that would vary widely I would imagine.
Title: Re: exam/certificate prices are a bloody joke!!!
Post by: robbo on February 22, 2012, 01:39:09 PM
hi guys/Roberto, i wonder if employers could/should be encouraged to pick up costs of getting registered/re-licencing/points training, and then adjust the charge out rate to suit/cover after all companies make the most out of employing our tradespeople, perhaps this will be a thing of the future to encourage new entrants and boost numbers,
Title: Re: exam/certificate prices are a bloody joke!!!
Post by: Jaxcat on February 22, 2012, 01:53:40 PM
Robbo, employers will not be keen generally to pay licensing costs as this is a portable qualification - i.e. your employer could pay it today and you could resign tomorrow.  I think most employers pick up the costs of upskilling on a mutual basis with their employees i.e. perhaps they pay the costs of the course and the employee attends in his own time.  Employers are already facing huge increases in apprentice training costs (around 30%) - and it seems to me most employers are struggling to keep their heads above water at the moment - there have been increased costs in petrol, diesel, ACC levies, Kiwi Saver etc over the last few years - with an enviroment that does not accept price rises.
Title: Re: exam/certificate prices are a bloody joke!!!
Post by: robbo on February 22, 2012, 05:28:24 PM
hi guys/jax, yes you make good points, as far as a portable licence is concerned i would think that if an employer paid for the licence and then the employee left it would be agreed reinbursment would be in order,cheers
Title: Re: exam/certificate prices are a bloody joke!!!
Post by: Thunderhead on February 22, 2012, 05:45:03 PM
I dont expect my employer to pick up any costs of me retaning my license...i think its my license and its up to me to keep it!...my employer goes through the same thing as i do...its your license its up to you to keep it if you want to continue to work in this field...well thats how i view it anyways...and jax has a very good point about it being a portable license.
Title: Re: exam/certificate prices are a bloody joke!!!
Post by: Rodza1 on March 02, 2012, 04:17:21 PM
Im sure this is the new apprentice crash that was seen in the 90's...it will get to a point so many are funnelled off into building and electrical the government will notice like last time the training programmes have record low numbers and give the blokes running this s**t show funding,excess funding too as we all know the ito and cant do anything within a ''budget'' unless its three times what it realistically should be.That will get it back on track,but like last time itll be like giving a man with a broken leg a crutch or a plaster.
The problems will resurface yet again when the human greed of these organisations gains momentum.
Title: Re: exam/certificate prices are a bloody joke!!!
Post by: peninsula plumber on June 09, 2015, 08:28:32 PM
For $411 they could provide color pictures!