Should the uk tiling trade be licenced...?

[inspiredandy]

I say yes as long as the government aint got nothing to do with it. Pump any money back into the industry for training etc!!

 

[R Montgomery]

Yes. I was a licensed contractor in California before returning to the U.K. and even though at times it seems like just another way for the state and individual cities to get their share of your work it does have benefits for both you and your client.Mainly legal protection for you to guarantee payment and legal protection for the client to protect against low quality work.The exam was a bit of a joke in the way it does not show if you can do the work.I suppose they leave that up to the established contractors who have to sign off on your application.

 

[tile55]

In my opinion regulation is not all good. As said before Corgi regulates gas and plumbers. In theory, this is great, as dealing with water and gas is dangerous and expensive to put right. However the most cowboys out there are proberly plumbers, followed by builders.

In an ideal world the whole of the construction industry needs to be regulated by an independent regulator, but this is far from an ideal world.
The government is trying to regulate through the back door, think of Cscs cards, Cis cards and this new door stop selling rubbish. All these schemes require honest tradespeople having to fork out large amounts of cash to pass tests year on year with no financial benifits to themselves.
The sparkies have to jump through hoops to be certified and Part P etc. but most people dont want to pay the figures that they are quoted and get someone cheaper and most likely not regulated.

The customer dictates the market, whatever they are willing to pay to get the job done, whether regulated or not, it does'nt matter to the majority of the market.

Eample. How many of you guys have been asked to see identification when veiwing a job. Do people ask if you are regulated, what happens when things gp wrong. I thought about joining the TTA but when I weighed up the pros and cons I decided against it.
There simply wasn't enough benifits for my company to consider it worthwhile.

 

[tile55]

By the way I voted no.

 

[beanz]

You've missed an option Dave... How about It should, but not til i've gained a bit more experience... At least enough to gain said licence hehe!

oh what the hell, i'll click on yes, because i do believe it should be licenced.

 

[DHTiling]

In my opinion regulation is not all good. As said before Corgi regulates gas and plumbers. In theory, this is great, as dealing with water and gas is dangerous and expensive to put right. However the most cowboys out there are proberly plumbers, followed by builders.


Corgi don't regulate gas work from april the 1st 2009.....it will be captiva...gas saftey register who do gas from then on.....corgi have lost the tender to do it..



Oh! and i don't think it was fair to call plumbers cowboys....every trade has them.....

 

[Gracer]

We have it here in Oz....I think it's fantastic, makes things a lot harder for the cowboys. Sure it's an extra cost each year(tax deductable of course) but if it keeps some cowboy from doing a dodgy job at ridiculously low prices it's worth it.
Can't believe the UK doesn't. Do you even have tiling apprenticeships over there?

 

[beanz]

Do you even have tiling apprenticeships over there?

There aren't any proper apprenticeships, as such, over here anymore. Although you do see ads on TV for "Modern Apprentceships" nowadays, whatever they are!?!?!?!? :smash:

 

[DHTiling]

There aren't any proper apprenticeships, as such, over here anymore. Although you do see ads on TV for "Modern Apprentceships" nowadays, whatever they are!?!?!?!? :smash:

A lot of the bigger tile contract companies do apprenticeships...

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Educati...rning/TrainingAndWorkplaceLearning/DG_4001327

 

[beanz]

Interesting. When i left school in 88 i was told that apprenticeships no longer existed, at least in the old sense of the word. Just when on site as a Roofer's labourer.

 

[lucius]

Dave i was about to ask what countrys do regulate trades but reading through the thread it seems Canada and Australia do they didnt when i was there only builders and that was open to abuse you just bunged someone a few quid to use the licence it will never work, their are Russsians working in the U.K. on forged, Lithuanian, Polish and other eu country passports,CIS cards and driving licences if you brought in regulation for trades that would be the least of their worries, forget it mate the only way forward is to train our youth with proper apprenticips and that wont happen in this nanny state, we are all doomed.
Lucius.

 

[sWe]

Sweden regulates tiling. If you search for "license" and my name, you should stumble across a couple of posts I've made about this.

 

[Gracer]

it seems Canada and Australia do they didnt when i was there only builders and that was open to abuse you just bunged someone a few quid to use the licence it will never work,
Lucius.

Huge fines & bannings for both parties if caught doing this here. And they do police it....at least the governing body here in Queensland does, the QBSA.

Sad about the apprenticeships, though a lot of them are changing here now with group training companies taking on the apprentices & sorting all their paperwork etc & hiring them out at hourly rates to host tradesmen. Hard too find a good one with them, however I have two at the moment & one of them is great.
I can't believe you can do an 8 week course over there & call yourself a tiler....I've had 5 different kids as apprentices over the years and none of them would be ready after even 2 years...hell I wasn't quite ready after my 4 year apprenticeship. Sure some people can pick up the basics pretty quickly...but it's all the variables & little tricks to get you out of trouble spots that takes time to learn....not to mention screeding of floors.
I also think it's important to have a working knowledge of the old methods of tiling...they still come in handy ie; wet bedding of floors & handfixing of walls & steps. Though I acknowledge these are hardly known these days.

 

[beanz]

I can't believe you can do an 8 week course over there & call yourself a tiler....

8 weeks? Mine was 1 week, and to be honest, if it wasn't for this forum, and a couple of other tradesmen i know, i'd have fallen at the 1st hurdle. You learn enough to get by on the easy jobs, everything else you have to learn day by day, at your own expense.
But then there are also a lot of tilers out there that have just come from a D.I.Y. background, with absoloutely no training whatsoever... Better me than them i say.

 

[Keith]

I would definitely agree to this becoming a recognised trade . (Is Builder a recognised trade because the state of new builds that have to be constantly repaired suggests they shouldn't be.) Tiling has no room for mistakes. Customers would be quick to tell you if something was not right.