By ELLEN READ
Tony Peirce has just spent almost $9000 trying to certify his staff to do a job they have already been doing for years, and he says excessive Government regulation is to blame.
While the Auckland plumber is fully behind the safety aspects of the licensing requirements he is
meeting, he resents the money and time spent gaining what he says is a largely irrelevant qualification.
A Target television programme, screened this year, showed plumbers replacing elements and thermostats on hot-water cylinders without having the correct certification and not performing the set safety tests.
As a result, the Master Plumbers Association and the Apprenticeship Training Trust reminded their members that they should have a Tradesperson's Electrical Certificate and a special testing unit.
Wanting to comply, despite having worked in the plumbing business for 33 years already, Peirce enrolled three of his five staff on a training course.
That's where the difficulties began.
Peirce says plumbers and gasfitters need to know only a small portion of the material required for the certificate - which includes screeds of Government legislation - and says the expense of the qualification adds to already high compliance costs.
He calculates the costs of "this disastrous undertaking" at $8576. That includes the courses at $650 each plus a variety of lost income for the training days, vehicle costs, examination fees and evening meals.
"They all failed the exam. It turns out there is virtually nobody passing and only one or two people passed in New Zealand," Peirce said.
After resitting, one of his tradesmen passed but the other two have decided not to proceed with the certificate.
In a letter to the various Government departments, registration boards and training organisations involved, Peirce said he had spent countless hours organising his staff and telephoning the board and training companies, and it had been a frustrating experience.
"It is very upsetting to see others around us who carry out this work with no registration of any form for much lesser costs and never get held responsible or checked," he said.
His staff regularly attended seminars and conferences to keep up to date but "when [they] are faced with these kinds of costs, we will have to reconsider what we are going to do in the future".
He intends to suggest to next week's Auckland Master Plumbers Association meeting that members refuse to send any more staff on the courses and instead suggest a one-hour competency test where the tradesperson can show he or she can perform the task safely and properly.
"All you do is the switch and element in a hot water cylinder," Peirce said, before demonstrating how easy it was. Anyone who could rewire a plug could do it.
"As a small business owner, this is only one of the many compliances forced upon us."
By ELLEN READ
Tony Peirce has just spent almost $9000 trying to certify his staff to do a job they have already been doing for years, and he says excessive Government regulation is to blame.
While the Auckland plumber is fully behind the safety aspects of the licensing requirements he is
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.