OFTEC registration yay or nay?

Southern Dandy

Hey lads dont know ifthis is the write section to post but, im due to start a course with FAS in oil burner maintenance. This course enables you to seek registration with OFTEC but what im wondering is do you have register with them in order to service and repair oil burners?.

Naturally you see fellas advertising in the local paper who are plumbers id imagine offering there services but i doubt they are with OFTEC which makes me wonder is it necessary to register with them? and if so what are the pros and con? Before you say it i have been on the website but when i hear the likes of registering as a business, soul trader etc its like explaining quantum physics to me. Any help appreciated, cheers.

Billy Bunting

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking you can hop off on an Oftec coarse and then you can call yourself an oftec man, you dont need to be oftec registered to work on oil, yet!!! but most boiler manufacturers wont entertain you, theyre considerable expenses involved with oftec registration and unless you know your gona get the work then its a waste of money attempting it.

What do you do for a living at present ? any oil experience ??

Southern Dandy

Billy Bunting wrote: »

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking you can hop off on an Oftec coarse and then you can call yourself an oftec man, you dont need to be oftec registered to work on oil, yet!!! but most boiler manufacturers wont entertain you, theyre considerable expenses involved with oftec registration and unless you know your gona get the work then its a waste of money attempting it.

What do you do for a living at present ? any oil experience ??

Nah no experience unfortunetly only interested in the maintenance and repair of burners not installation. I am a electrician by trade worked in factorys doing maintenance so plenty of mechanical experience from helping fitters. Im based in tralee small town but how bad, its a new skill and in part a new form of income regardless whether i get one or two calls a week every little helps, its something i know id like to do and know i can easily do, setting the cost of registration aside what are the pros and cons to going with OFTEC?

DGOBS

Honestly, 1-2 calls a week (even a day) wouldn't be worthwhile our outlay for training, insurance, tools, testing equipment, calibration of testing equipment, carriage of spares and the list goes on.

You really need to make a choice to enter the industry or not to make it worthwhile, and go for it.

It will take a few years to build up some decent sort of customer base (and your own expertise), and even then to do servicing 'properly' you will have these DIYers offering services etc for €30-40, and end up only cleaning up after their mess (and they do leave a mess behind them!)

Oftec, yes,most likely the correct route, offers some sort of credibility (that is fast fading) although regulation possibly approaching will make something of the like a requirement, not a choice.

Be careful, some Oftec training courses are better than others, assume by your location, your talking about FAS cork.

DoneDL

Also consider doing some training with the various manufacturers.

DGOBS

+1 DoneDL, as many as will entertain you.