Plumber

As a plumber you install, maintain and repair water, heating, gas and sewage systems in homes, commercial buildings and industrial sites. Your daily work involves cutting, bending and joining pipes, fitting boilers, radiators, showers and sanitary ware, and testing systems to make sure they operate safely and to the required standard. You read technical drawings and specifications to plan pipework layouts, and you use a range of hand and power tools as well as specialist equipment such as pipe-bending machines and pressure gauges. You work alongside other trades — electricians, heating engineers and construction workers — as well as directly with homeowners, landlords and building contractors.

Entry to the Plumbing apprenticeship is typically available to those who have completed the Leaving Certificate, though a Junior Cycle qualification with relevant work experience may be considered by some employers. Subjects such as Construction Studies, Engineering, Mathematics and Physics are particularly useful preparation. The SOLAS-registered plumbing apprenticeship runs for approximately four years, combining on-the-job training with an employer and off-the-job phases at a designated training centre or Institute of Technology, leading to an NFQ Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Plumbing. Alternatively, a QQI Level 5 or 6 PLC course in Plumbing or Construction Crafts at a College of Further Education can provide a route into the apprenticeship or related employment. Plumbers who wish to work on gas installations must register with the Register of Gas Installers of Ireland (RGII), which requires additional assessed competency in gas work. Some experienced plumbers progress to management or estimating roles and may pursue NFQ Level 7 or Level 8 programmes in Building Services or Construction Management through the technological universities.