How to Get a Gas Service Licence & Gasfitters Gas Work Licence – Career Path !

Last week the Bizmatrix team and myself attended the our annual professional development VELG Training 2019 Conference , where over two days we attend over 15 sessions and presentation.

There seemed to be a universal agreement in regards to school leavers in their final years . A great majority seek the Higher education pathways and very few the Vocational Education pathway.

Yet the vocation pathway can lead you to higher education in  a more profitable way.

One the most startling statistics – a person who completes a vocation like a trade is more likely to be on an average income of around $120,000 as compared to a person who seeks the University Degree where they could expect a negative income of around -$12,000 .

There are plenty of unemployed Graduates with Bachelor degrees or MBA’s.

When I was in High School I knew exactly what I want to be when I left school – I want to be an Electronics engineer, unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the required OP or TE score in those days to get into Uni , so I decided to become an Electrician and completed an apprenticeship , on completion I then tried night college for 2 years to complete my Diploma in Electronics.

Then I realised that I did not want to be an electronics technician. However, the education assisted me with the complex electrical control systems and later specialised in complex electrical.

The next step in my career was to complete a gas fitting course for a gas fitter licence and successfully completed 5years after my electrical licence. I now held a dual licence for both Full electrical and gasfitting.

Being self employed being dual licenced enable me to provide a service to not only service electrical and gas appliance but also install gas and electrical systems and appliance.

The advantages of being dual trade licenced proved to be beneficial in 1994 , where we provided a team of 30 gas fitters to complete the conversions for the Towns gas to Natural conversions for Gas Corporation QLD and Boral gas for the North Side of Brisbane from Sandgate to the Brisbane River CITY. Our team mainly focused on the commercial customers, like Mcdonalds, Hungry Jacks , Pizza Hut, Cafes, Hotels , Kitchens and  restaurants.

Over the years of being self-employed, we travelled through many changes of the economy,  to the recession we had to have in 1980’s , 18% interest rates for our home loans, power strikes, pilot strikes and builders going broke. To the World expo and Olympics highs to the second and third recession and then the Global Financial Crisis.

So how do you survive through these periods, I know having duel trades and having a base trade has helped to keep me in the right place and with work, no matter what happens to the economy. Should the industry slow in one area, you can adjust and move to the other area, whilst specialising in one central area as required.

Try not to be everything to all people, be a specialist and use that speciality across the sectors.

I always get asked, how to find good staff?

My answer is to create them, hence why I crossed trained and qualified our teams. Creating duel licensed techs.

Suggested method of creating a good technician.

Having a base trade helps, like a plumber, electrician, Mechanical fitter then what is the path, get them gas licenced.

Step 1- Complete the first stage the Restricted gas licence course = Gas Work Licence (Restricted to service only)

Then the tech can disconnect and reconnect a Type A gas appliance and service, maintain and repair only any Type A gas appliances.

After a period and they have completed some experience and created income doing service, the next step is to complete the Gas Work Licence Interim – Certificate III in gas fitting

So there is two options to complete the certificate III in gas fitting.

Option 1- User pays or Option 2 apprenticeship system- fully funded

Step 2- Complete the balance of the subjects for the Certificate III in gas Fitting ,

The student will be recognised for the 10 odd subjects they completed in the Restricted Gas service course on completion of the Certificate III units, = Gas Work Licence Interim- the GWL interim licenced person can work and do full installations and all his work must be signed off until the full licence.

Step 3- Open Gas Work Licence –Complete the four Certificate IV subjects

Complete the four Certificate IV subjects and practical experience declaration within 3 years. The good news if you completed the Gas Service Licence- then two subjects are done, leaving Estimate and cost work – Size consumer pipework.

The outcome of the above steps is a licenced Type A gasfitter or Gas Work Licence to add to an existing or be a standalone qualification/ licence.

Leading on with this Qualification if the person only holds a plumbing or fitters’ qualification, then look at adding a restricted electrical licence to the GWL as the eligibly requirement for a restricted electrical licence is a call of trade and or Certificate III in that trade minimum.

Then in our next series, the path could take you to the next level the Type B gas courses for authorisations and qualifications for Type B gas service and or installation.

When times are tough, it is great to have something that you are able to fall back on… When I sold out of my last service company back in 2007 , I needed to go back to my electrical trade , which served me well and definitely protected me from the effects of the 2008 Global Financial Crash, Then my trades certainly helped me again in 2010 when I launched Bizmatrix where we specialise in the two trades gas and electrical which have served me well for the past 38 years.

In a final note, it doesn’t matter what you do in life, the vocation education area is a solid foundation which can step you in any direction you want to go.

Vocation Education and training centres on real World learning, hands on with current experiences. These experiences can be used immediately.

Whatever you do – Have the passion, follow your dreams and give it a good go.

Look for the learning with everything you do. And remember it is not always easy -just  persist.