Archive for the ‘Plastering’ Category
Testimonials Tell The Good News Training Story!
When it comes to Trade Skills training centres, it really is a case of the good, the bad and the ugly! Student testimonials can help to make your mind up about which one’s wear the white hats!
It can be a bit confusing when it comes to trying to work out which trade skills training centre is really going to provide the correct courses and ultimately, approved qualifications to best serve your career prospects. Unfortunately, we hear too often from students whose choice of past trainers was not all that it should have been, often the focus of attention for trade industry regulatory bodies.
Even worse, some centres fold unexpectedly and the students will have to restart their training elsewhere.
AbleSkills has been established as one of London’s and the South East’s foremost skills training centre of excellence, offering a comprehensive range of City & Guild approved and accredited courses, the most popular of which, are the entry level Plumbing 6129 Technical certificate and Electrical NVQ 2330.
Unlike some institutions or non-accredited trainers, AbleSkills is a specifically dedicated centre with a fully developed course development structure, which can take an entry level student through all required subject knowledge in order to gain the approved and verified standard at each stage of the process to becoming a fully qualified plumber, electrician or another skilled trade, such as a Gas fitter, tiler, bricklayer or plasterer.
AbleSkills also offers advanced courses for experienced electricians and plumbers to update their knowledge in order to compete successfully by offering a range of qualified technical services, both as a company employee and if you decide to be self-employed.
For most students, AbleSkills is their trainer of first choice because their key concerns of flexible course timings and duration, fully equipped and dedicated workshop classrooms and approved, verified and industry experienced course tutors tick all their boxes!
Don’t just take my word for it, read below a brief selection of testimonials from delighted AbleSkills students :
• “ This is my second course that I have undertaken at Able Skills ….Both courses have been excellent value for money. I would recommend Able Skills as a training centre to everyone; the teachers have great knowledge and are so helpful and informative. They deliver the course in such an easy way to understand and at a pace that you can enjoy and take it all in. I’m looking forward to booking my next course here”
• “The tuition, resourced and support that came from all staff within the facility was second to none.
There is constant updating of information across all trades and the administration support is outstanding. There is an onus on individuals to expand their knowledge by private study. I would endorse Able Skills without reservation”.
• “ Able Skills were first rate, looking after all of my needs from Accommodation through to Instruction.
I received excellent tuition from the Instructors who were superb tradesmen and very approachable from day 1.
• After finishing the course I feel more than confident to gain employment within the industry and Able Skills will continue to support me through NVQ if I choose that route. I want to thank Able Skills for an outstanding course and service and wish them all the best. The instructors are great, helpful and patient. They tell you what to do and let you get on with it, but are there for any queries or problems, giving you the benefit of their experience. I would recommend this course and able skills to anyone”.
• “All staff are helpful, and even willing to share their knowledge, during breaks. In my opinion, able skills, merits itself by being very good value for money. A professional centre, that I will definitely be using again, and recommending to my friends”.
• “I can thoroughly recommend all of the courses; the instructors are all very knowledgeable in their trades, extremely helpful and put themselves out to make the week both enjoyable and also a valuable learning experience for every one who attends”.
Plumbing Training – the people’s choice!
With so much gloomy economic news recently, it’s always reassuring to hear that the Construction trade skills are solid as a rock, as we would expect them to be! Despite the economic downturn, the news is that training centres and colleges are still experiencing strong demand from students wanting to train to be a plumber, learn electrician skills, or enroll on a plastering course.
The truth is that there always has – and will always be - a shortage of properly skilled and qualified plumbers! Even when cheap East European labour was at its highest in the UK up to fairly recently. Just prior to the onset of the credit crunch, demand was estimated to be running over 32,000!
According to recent reports, plumbing is still the most popular choice, with a quarter of trainees choosing to enroll on the City & Guilds 6129 Plumbing course level 2 – a technical certificate that enables you to carry on to the full NVQ Level 3 course.
An established, approved Skills Training centre always represents a vital career opening for many looking to enter the trade construction industry as Colleges do not have the capacity to train the yearly requirement of new plumbers, which typically has always been known to stand at around 3,000 trainee vacancies per annum.
Unlike some institutions or non-accreditated trainers, AbleSkills is a specifically dedicated centre with an engineered course development structure, which can take an entry level student through all required subject knowledge in order to gain the approved and verified standard at each stage of the process to becoming a fully qualified plumber, electrician or another skilled trade.
The first key learning schedule is gaining awareness and understanding of the basic principles and a popular method that students opt for is to undertake the Plumbing 6129 home study course. This means learning in your own time and at your own pace, ably assisted by comprehensive self assessment for each module, in order to prepare yourself for final assessment. Practical workshop training begins once the theory learning has been satisfactorily verified at the required standard.
Offering flexible course times and durations – including weekend plumbing courses – for different certifications and qualifications is as varied and student friendly, if not more so, than many of the traditional educational establishments.
First Enquiry With A Trade Skills Trainer Gives First Clue!
Finding a quality approved and accredited trade skills trainer can be a bit of minefield as there are now so many organisations offering a confusing number of courses. Which course is best for you and are you going to get the correct training and qualifications to really allow you to make real progress in your career path?
The key is always to do your homework! By spending time carrying out prior research you will be armed with the right knowledge in order to make a sensible decision. Visit their website first and really look carefully at all the pages and ask yourself the really important questions as you look through, e.g. how long have they been in existence, are they really approved for the right type of courses, how many experienced, trained and qualified teachers and verifiers on the staff?
It should go without saying that you should not be dazzled by cut price, bargain basement course selling, which claims to offer instant industry working status. Remember - experience and expertise takes time to build, and is not achieved in a matter of days or weeks.
Most importantly, and dependent on the individual course level, where exactly will you be training – at their premises or elsewhere?
If you are serious about entering a trade profession, then the likelihood is that you should already have found out that to begin a career as an electrician, you are required to undertake a series of courses that will take you through a structure of required knowledge learning and skillsets, beginning with the City & Guilds 2330 level 2.
Likewise, plumbing training requires a body of knowledge and practical training to be fully understood and practiced as you progress through several levels, but once again, you will need to start with City & Guilds Plumbing 6129 level 2.
Be aware that short centre certificate courses are mostly primers, and aimed for DIY or one set skill learning, giving you insight into the requirements to carry out the basic task the course claims to provide. It does not instantly transform you into a fully fledged tradesperson in that field!
An established and recognised training centre will also offer short, advanced courses for the experienced trade, such as electricians, plumbers, gas fitters, tilers, plasterers, bricklayers and builders to learn specific skills and update their knowledge, which can be added to their range of customer services.
First enquiry will give you a first clue! Listen to the their telephone style. Friendly, yes, but do they sound knowledgeable and can explain in detail about the course you have in mind? Are they approved by City & Guilds and the major trade body examiners and verifiers, most importantly in electrical and plumbing? Do they offer you the opportunity to visit their centre so they can spend time showing you around?
Find out just comprehensive their courses are, availability and if subscribed? What course teaching aids are available and are you offered flexibility with regards when you can train, how long it will take and are there staggered schedules for some types of courses?
There are sure to be other questions you will need to ask with regards your own specific requirements and once again, focus on how keen the response and desire to genuinely help. The next important step will be the visit to the training centre itself!
Construction Projects Looking Good For Trade Skills Training!
It’s not all bad news in the UK economy! In between news of the country’s slow and painful climb out of recession, there have been announcements by Government and private planners of exciting new construction industry projects. The good news is they are almost guaranteed to provide solid future employment for electricians, plumbers and other trade skills personnel such as plasterers and bricklayers.
Here are some recent examples of newbuild projects that will bound to be recruiting for trained and qualified electricians and plumbers:
Barratts Developers report an improvement in the house building market by a 43 per cent yearly growth in forward sales of its houses in the six months leading to December 2009. The company also revealed that, with margins growing, it expects to deliver 12,000 units during the next financial year.
In the largest spend on local housing for at least twenty years, the Government has announced a £ 500m public investment to build more than 4,000 new energy efficient council homes for 8,000 people in a programme for 73 councils covering every region of England. Importantly, for the first time, all councils receiving Government funds will be required to offer apprenticeship and local job recruitment schemes, creating 7,500 jobs and around 100 new apprenticeship places.
Thirty-five of the 73 councils receiving funding will extend their council house building work which is already underway, while 38 councils receive this government backing for the first time.
Education building schemes are also in the frame in 2010! Partnerships for Schools have also recently announced 12 Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects are shortly to begin across the UK. In the early months of 2010, refurbishment or rebuilding work will get underway on schools in Darlington, Brent, Norfolk, Wakefield, Devon, Kingston & Croydon, Sefton, Havering, Lancashire, Plymouth, Tameside and Warrington.
According to Partnerships For Schools, “…delivering new schools facilities … is set to help safeguard tens of thousands of jobs on the ground in the construction and related industries.”
Further long-term prospects for those training to qualify as an electrician or plumber were also given an extra boost when it was also recently announced by Partnerships for Schools that £12 million is to be invested by the government to install new smart energy meters in institutions across Britain.
Focusing on the capital, the London Gateway project , currently standing at £1.5 billion, has begun construction, driving up an enormous potential for job creation in the South East. Latest estimates forecast a total requirement for 36,000 skilled personnel with 12,000 short-term opportunities to workers in construction and logistics.
Credit-Based QCF 2357 Replaces NVQs in 2010.
City Guilds NVQs are about to be transformed with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) in September 2010. The good news for all those thinking of enrolling on a City & Guilds course is that the new system will not fundamentally alter the level of knowledge and training requirements, as they are intended to greatly improve learning capability by making the course units easier to understand, more flexible and allow for interchangeable – or ‘combination’- skillsets.
The relevant qualification relating to trade skill training is QCF 2357, which will directly replace the current NVQs for Technical Certificate in Electrotechnical Technology (2330) and Electrotechnical Services (2356) qualification. In addition, a new QCF plumbing qualification will replace the Technical Certificate in Plumbing Studies Level 2 (6129).
Under the new system, a ‘credit value’ which measures the estimated number of hours it takes the average learner to complete all the learning outcomes and ‘difficulty’ level assigned to every unit. The values will be used in a set rule of ‘combination’. This means some units will appear in more than one qualification and the credit can be transferred between qualifications, as long as it forms part of the ‘rules of combination’. This will allow for more flexible career pathways, with reduced repetition, as learners can build on previously ‘banked’ credit as they move through sizes and levels.
The new qualifications will not affect the ability of AbleSkills to take you through a structured course development, in order to train you through the required levels to be fully ready and industry compliant within your chosen occupation.
You will still be able to commence at entry level and train through to obtain the necessary qualifications - and this also applies if you are in a mid career change. As in the current NVQ system, both the Plumbing and Electrical QCF 2357 , which would be available at levels 2 and 3, will require the undertaking of a series of knowledge units, progressing onto practical units and a final competency assessment would need to be successfully achieved before a qualification certificate is issued.
At AbleSkills, training courses will still enable any student to progress from ‘domestic-through-to-commercial’ in the key trade skills of electrical, plumbing, gas installation, tiling or associated building trades, such as bricklaying or plastering.
What To Do When Returning To A Flooded Home
Once again, torrential weather and severe flooding is in the news with many homes subject to catastrophic water damage. Returning home to deal with the big clear up still has many hidden dangers that have to be thought out before entering the house. Think logically through a check list that draws on both some basic common sense plumbing and electrical procedures.
Check the house exterior by doing a visual walk around of your home to see if there are any downed power lines, or electrical connections that may be in contact with the water. Smell for any gas in the air as often there may be a gas leak and if you find either of these problems, call the correct utility company. If water is still around the house, check to see if the outside walls have cracked or giving way because of the water pressure being exerted on them. If there’s water still around, don’t enter the home, There’s always a chance that the walls could give way and the house could collapse around you. Be cautious around porches and overhangs. These areas may have weakened during a flood and could give way or collapse.
Disconnect the electrical and gas supplies to lessen the chance of fire, explosion or electrocution. Even if the power is out or the power supply has been disconnected from the power pole by the utility company, your electrical fuse or breaker panel’s main fuse or breaker may still be on. In this case, at any time during the day, the utility company could come back and turn the power on to your home. You may not be aware that they’ve turned the power back on and your panel is now live, subjecting you to potential shock hazards.
If the only way to disconnect the gas and power is inside the home and there’s water where you have to shut them off, don’t enter the home to do so until you can safely enter the home and the water has been removed.
Before you enter a home that has been flooded, be sure to have the proper clothing, footwear, and safety items that may be needed.
Boots : wear waterproof rubber boots or waders with hard soles. If you’re walking in muddy, water-coated floors and basements, there are likely sharp objects that you could step on.
Dust Mask : wear a mask over your mouth and nose to protect your lungs from pollutants and disease.
Gloves: wear preferably rubber gloves to handle anything in flooded areas. Materials may be a health hazard due to sewage, chemicals, and oil in the water.
Hard Hats and Protective Clothing: Loose and crumbling ceilings, falling debris, and trapped water are potential hazards to your head and body when entering a flooded home.
You are will need a First Aid Kit, Flashlight, A Dry Wooden stick ( to turn off electrical breakers, unplug cords) and cleaning supplies.
After flood waters have receded and there’s no water pressure on the walls, you can slowly pump the water, being careful not to pump it out too fast. Remember, the ground is still saturated with water and removing the internal resistant pressure on the walls may cause them to give way. Lower the water level over a period of a few days, reducing it a few feet at a time. With the power off, carefully spray the house down with water to remove a majority of the mud and muck from your home. Use disinfectant cleaners to wash walls and floors down.
Sump pump pits often fill up with mud and debris and must be cleaned up from time to time, especially following a flood.
It is important to open up the bottom of flooded walls and remove all wet material from them. Turn on fans and dehumidifiers as soon as possible to dry the home. Deadly mold can form quickly in warm and moist areas in the home. Get wet carpeting and padding out of the home as soon as possible. Get garbage, effected clothing, etc. out of the home and clear the floor space in rooms and closets. Open the windows to let the house breath. By getting the home dried out quickly, you’ll be on your way to cleaning and repairing it.
By using a pump sprayer and bleach water, you can effectively clean your home and make it sterile. The recommended mixture of water to bleach is ten to one. The water will soak into the wood and any mould will come out to the surface of the wood to be killed by the bleach.
How Do You Know If A Skills Training Centre Is Any Good?
Skills training centres seem to be popping up everywhere these days! Government encouragement of training initiatives for huge construction programmes like the 2012 Olympics - have been a catalyst for new building training centres appearing around the country. Five minutes on the internet and you can come up with a long list of training providers, all appearing to offer the same courses in obtaining trade skill qualifications, i.e. plumbing, electrical, gas, carpentry, etc.
But judging by the feedback on trade forums, the experience for many applicants has been negative and accusations of ‘ripoff’ fly around with alarming frequency!
So how do you work out the industry’s genuine, high quality training providers from the rest?
You have to do your homework! You must be prepared to spend time to conduct research by first finding out all about the course/s you wish to take then ask the right questions and see what answers you get! Ask if you can go and take look at the training facilities and speak with as many people as possible, including the tutors and especially the students currently on the course – find out directly what their experience has been!
The very first thing you can do is check their website!
- Many offer their own certificated diplomas but do they run approved City & Guilds NVQ qualification training as well?
- Check for accreditation from recognised national trade bodies in the relevant skills sectors.
- Are the site pics genuine, or are they poor quality, low res and look as though they have been taken from elsewhere?
- Generally, is the website trying to be open and transparent, offering as much information as possible about each course?
- How many training staff and are their pics and biographies available to check for approved training status?
- Do they have a feedback forum, and blog ? When was the last posting?
- How up-to-date is all the content? Does the site look regularly attended?
In other words, do you think they have proper training facilities?
You must give them a telephone call to fully satisfy yourself with regards the following:
• How long have they been around ? How do they reply to this and how much information do they tell you and how are their claims backed up?
• Is there dedicated space and equipment for each of the training subjects?
• Do the training staff possess genuine approved, recognised and accredited qualifications and credentials ? Have they substantial industry working experience ? Both the training provider as a company and all of its instructors and trainers must be fully certificated from established regulated bodies.
• How open and flexible do they appear to be ? Can you train both at home and at their premises? Is there an extensive choice of options that allow you to study and train in your own time and at your own pace? In addition to tuition, what other training aids do you get, to help with thoroughly understanding what needs to be learnt ?
• Can they offer you proper career progression through a schedule of approved City & Guilds training programmes?
• Are there Green Energy training courses in the new renewable technologies?
Even if you are just seeking to take a course, say in kitchen fitting, you need to know that the quality of training will be identical. The key is the final authorised assessments and examinations that are set in place for you to be sure you are properly trained to confidently do the work. You must ask if they are a fully accredited NVQ Assessment centre with approval to deliver qualification training from the City & Guilds, Construction Awards Alliance.
At the end of the day - you need to know what you are getting for the money? And can you be provided with options for a flexible payment plan ? Can they offer funding to help pay for the courses?
Play Your CSCS card right and you’ll be qualified to work on-site!
Health & Safety on site – irrespective of working in domestic or commercial premises, has come a long way in recent years. Whether you work on major building developments or in households, you must show proof that you have undergone awareness training of the issues that can make the difference between safe and dangerous working. Most large sites require you to undertake an ‘induction’ session as well, even before you are allowed to work.
It has become standard to alert and reassure the public that a building firm is part of a ‘Safe Construction’ scheme with large signs showing exactly who is and who is not allowed on site and the regulatory clothing/equipment necessary. At the very least this means: hard hat, steel-tipped boots and hi-vis vest.
Increasingly, Government legislation has been put into place to ensure that everyone working within the construction industry has received sufficient Health & Safety awareness training and can show proof of training by holding a ‘Construction Services Certification Scheme’ (CSCS) Card. The likelihood is that you will not be allowed access to most UK construction sites and this may affect your ability to generally work within the industry!
Obtaining your CSCS card will require you to sit an online multiple choice test, which are held at an approved skills training centre. This applies to everyone from an entrant with no formal construction qualifications right through to a Skilled worker card, once NVQ level 2 is achieved. You would need to ensure that your trade is covered by CSCS as each card will be colour coded accordingly :
Green (site operative) - No formal construction qualifications.
Red (trainee) - NVQ or Construction Award registered (but not yet qualified)
Blue (skilled) - NVQ Level 2 Experienced Worker ( minimum 1 year job experience) - temporary, non-renewable only.
- NVQ Level 2 Qualified ( Skilled worker) – permanent.
If you are not qualified in a specific subject, Able Skills has a dedicated Health and Safety advisor, IOSH & NEBOSH Certified, always available to provide you with the training to help you pass your Health and Safety examination. Remember - Terms of Employment even with a company mostly working within domestic dwellings are likely to be dependent on possessing a CSCS card!
Wherever you decide to take Health & Safety course, it is strongly advised to enquire as to the expertise and qualification of the health and safety trainer being provided. A qualified instructor will ensure that all areas of site health and safety are covered and all learning material relevant for the test for when you are working on site. Even if you are only looking to cover a variety of non-specific trade tasks, a 1 day training course will cover the necessary requirement to gain a Site Operative card.
Tiling Membranes give total waterproofing protection.
Learning to tile is only one aspect of understanding how environmental impacts on surface behaviour affect tile coverings, especially when dealing with the floor.
At the AbleSkills training centre, a number of excellent courses are provided for both DIY tiling, great techniques and tips on a weekend course - and those wishing to train at NVQ level to be a professional trade tiler, plus courses to specifically deal with the different types of ground paving.
It is always recommended to obtain a little practical hands-on training, guided by experienced, skilled tutors who also give you background knowledge to tackling particular building tasks, if you are serious about undertaking a task like tiling a floor.
Before commencing work on floor projects, close investigation and assessment is vital in order to avoid very serious problems occurring if basic work is not correctly attended to on an underlying ground surface.
Waterproofing is essential, from the smallest household. Buildings need reliable membranes that retain the dryness of the concrete, masonry, metal and wood structures and make it safe against the attack from salts, alkalis and from certain acids.
Polyethylene is the most commonly used material for practically all applications, although you may still find older premises where roofing felt was often used as a membrane.
There is almost certainly going to be one of two likely situations which call for the installation of a ‘membrane’:
Extreme moisture - A waterproofing membrane prevents any water from seeping through grout and even through concrete backing board if a floor is likely to become very wet and damaging the wooden flooring beneath it.
A substrate that may shift or crack – an isolation membrane can prevent cracks from transferring through to the tile or grout if slight shifts of a substrate are likely.
A professional-quality waterproofing membrane composed of two layers, one fibrous and the other made of modified bitumen, should be specified for floors that will be exposed to standing water for prolonged periods. For maximum protection against cracks, use an isolation membrane composed of a layer of polymer and a reinforced fibre sheet.
Trowel-applied and sheet membranes - Any membrane must firmly bond with the substrate, using either paste or mortar. A “trowel-applied” membrane comes in two parts, the membrane and the adhesive or paste. One type has a temporary paper backing. Paste is also used with a type of membrane, used for cracks only, that consists of a narrow roll of mesh tape. A “sheet membrane” is applied in much the same way, except that it is set in thinset mortar rather than adhesive.
Only when you master going faster with the plaster - you avoid a big disaster!
The plastered surface has a long tradition, as this type of covering was considered to be the best way to get an even and smooth surface finish on masonry walls and ceilings. With today’s new-build construction techniques, the types and forms of plaster and its elements have adapted to the newer and more innovative ways of using plaster based finishes.
Training to be a plasterer requires learning to both learn and master a considerable varied skillset to approved City & Guild qualification standard. Entry level certificated diploma courses are recommended for being extremely useful to gain insight into this substantial and always in demand trade skill.
Plastering different types of walls and ceilings requires adopting different techniques which can also be dictated by requirements of the client or the nature of the space :
Dry Lining: Dry lining or dry plastering, forms the basis of modern plastering and is the most preferred method of construction in timber frame structures today.
Plasterboard walls - manufactured in a standard size of 2.4m x 1.2m - are lightweight, offer greater flexibility, speed of installation, reduced structure load and are time and cost effective.
Wet Plaster: Most common of all plastering techniques, wet plaster finish is obtained by covering the surface to be plastered in mortar and smoothened with trowels to produce a clean finish. The dried wet plastered surface can be papered or painted according to preference. However, like most plastering techniques, wet plastering job requires a skilled hand and sufficient time for drying. Unfortunately, wet plaster is also prone to cracks, shrinkage, and in frequent need of re-plastering to cover up the cracks.
Screeding: A traditional plastering technique, screeding is not as simple as it looks. A time consuming and labour intensive job, ready mixed screed is now being used on construction sites. The mix is quality assured and helps save on time, labour, less wastage. Cement screeds have been replaced by gypsum or calcium sulphate-based ones. These screeds are easier to handle, quicker laying, without compromising on the strength, despite lesser depths, when compared to the traditional screeds.
External Plastering: Plastering techniques such as external plaster - also known as Stucco - require keeping in mind the wear and tear and weather damage that may occur. Types of finishes include : Rough Stucco ( which imitates stonework), Trowelled Stucco, Coloured Stucco (for attractive colour finishes) and Pebbledash ( which uses small rocks, stones or pebbles).
