Opinion

I hammer away relentlessly at cowboy builders, electricians, gas fitters and DIYers who attempt, and fail to work to CURRENT Building Regulations. So I have to applaud Plumbfix as well as Wolsely (Plumb Centre and Parts Centre) for their stand on supporting CORGI and CORGI Registered gas installers by limiting the sale of gas related products to the general public. It would be fantastic if more retailers got on the ball and stopped selling certain items such as gas hoses and other fittings used almost exclusively by gas fitters to anyone without an up-to-date CORGI card. continue

‘Can you issue me with a safety certificate’ or the more common phrase ‘can you commission my boiler’ is the start of a conversation that in destined to go nowhere with our company. The reason is simple. If the conversation starts with either of those two phrases I know that someone has installed a boiler or cooker or some other gas appliance illegally and wants me to sign for it and state that it’s safe. The straight answer is NO! We will not sign off anyone else’s work for a few quid. continue

As I mentioned in Part 2, there are a few items that need to stand out for any application to make it past a set of experienced eyes. What you need to put on the CV of course is dependent on what type of job you are trying to land. So, if you are looking for a role which requires a lot of IT experience you should show your experience in that area. Don’t spend a lot of time showing all of the other roles you’ve experienced unless it’s relevant. If you are looking for a role and are fresh out of school you will not be expected to have much experience so don’t make stuff up either and don’t fill your CV with unrelated items. continue

We recently placed an ad for builders mate (a helper for one of our field operatives). The job would entail helping the maintenance engineer with day-to-day work in and around the Greater Manchester Area. We were not necessarily looking for any qualifications and hoped that we might get lucky and find someone interested enough to eventually work towards their trade papers.

Two very interesting things emerged from this experience. The first was that we received a great many applications from people who already had there gas papers (A.C.S.) and were looking to get their twenty job portfolio together so they could gain their CORGI/Gas Safe Register card. The opposite end of the scale was that we received many applications that were incomplete, displayed no real interest in working for us or anyone else for that matter. All but a few even mentioned plumbing, heating or electrical references in any context.

I have over the years had to hire and let staff go. It is not an easy job to do either and after having to sift through hundreds of applications or CVs you get fairly fquick at it. There are a few items that need to stand out for any application to make it past a set of experienced eyes.

To see what those items are stay tuned for part 2.

About two months ago Demon Thus made the business decision to cap my service due to what they said was a misuse of my privilages. See my original BLOG on the subject HERE. They can of course make any policy they want and customers like our business will either have to put up with it or move to another supplier. I decided to move away from them as they crippled my company without any way to sort out the problem. What doesn’t make sense is that when I phoned to get a MAC code which is a Migration Code that I can give to my new supplier, who will then move me to their company, I was messed about for about a week! continue

It is with a sad heart that we say goodbye to Bill Gates. It’s been an affair that stretched twenty seven years. But like all good things it finally had to come to an end. I’m not shedding any tears though as Microsoft has cost me dearly in the past three decades. With license structures the way they are I will continue to have to spend more money to keep up with my competitors, to keep a high web presence and of course stay legal. continue

Sunday I had a discussion with a long time friend who has decided to become a Domestic Energy Assessor. As we were discussing the ins and outs of his new trade he mentioned something that made me cringe. He said that as an Assessor he would, as part of his job, have to determine what type of boiler a client had in his home. His instructor said to look for the G.C. Number which is the Gas Council number and is unique for every boiler. The instructor then told his students that they may have to take the case off the boiler to find the G.C. Number. I warned him that if you aren’t CORGI Registered and you remove a boiler cover and don’t know how to check the seals when you put it back together the you would be liable and fully responsible if someone gets hurt, or worse! continue