Plumbing and Domestic Heating Technicians plan, select, install, service, commission and maintain all aspects of plumbing and heating systems. Plumbing and domestic heating technicians can find themselves working inside or outside a property. Customer service skills and being tidy and respectful are important qualities as they can often find themselves working in customers’ homes as well as on building sites.
As a competent Plumbing and Heating Technician, the installation of plumbing and heating systems includes accurate measuring, marking, cutting, bending and jointing metallic and non-metallic pipework. Appliances and equipment can include gas, oil and solid fuel boilers as well as pumps, heat emitters, bathroom furniture or controls as part of a cold water, hot water, and central heating or above ground drainage and rainwater systems.
Plumbing and Domestic Heating Technicians are at the forefront of installing new and exciting environmental technologies like heat pumps, solar thermal systems, biomass boilers and water recycling systems. It is important for a plumbing and heating technician to be able to work independently or as a team and use their knowledge and skills to ensure that both the system and appliances are appropriately selected and correctly installed, often without any supervision, and done so in a safe, efficient and economical manner to minimise waste.
For those starting BEFORE 01 August 2024
You will need to achieve Level 2 Functional Skills in English and maths, if you don’t already have these qualifications or equivalent GCSEs.
Equivalent GCSEs are grade C or higher or grade 4 or higher. If you are not quite at this level, you will have the opportunity to work towards these qualifications as part of your apprenticeship.
These qualifications need to be achieved before the End Point Assessment is taken, usually in Year 4 of the apprenticeship.
For those starting ON OR AFTER 01 August 2024
Important notice: our entry requirements are changing for all apprenticeships starts as of 1st August 2024. Find out more.
In addition. you will need to be aged 16 and over for your employer to benefit from support funding. If you’re older than 19, your employer may need to put some of their own money towards your studies.
You will need to have been a UK resident for the previous three years, or a national of any European Union (EU) country or European Economic Area (EEA) for the previous three years. This is unless you have an immigration status which exempts you from the three-year residency requirement. Contact JTL for more information about this.
You can apply for an apprenticeship while you’re still in education, but you need to have left before you can start with us. As a rule of thumb, you must have left compulsory education after the last Friday in June of the academic year in which you are applying.
You will need an employer before you can start an apprenticeship, although you can apply before you’ve arranged one.
How much does it cost?
The full training cost for a Plumbing Apprenticeship is £21,000, however as an apprentice you will not be required to pay anything towards your apprenticeship other than any travel costs you may incur getting to and from your employer’s workplace.
For employers there is no cost for hiring an apprentice aged 16 to 18 years. If you recruit an apprentice aged 19 or over then the costs are 5 per cent of the full cost of the apprenticeship (e.g. £1,050 over 4 years).
For apprentice wages, JTL recommend that employers follow the JIB pay rates.
Please note: Apprentices who are aged between 16 and 24 years old, and who have been in local authority care are eligible to receive a bursary. This payment is paid directly to eligible apprentices via JTL. For apprentices who start their apprenticeships up to and including 31 July 2023, the bursary is a single payment of £1,000. It can only be received once by an individual care leaver. For apprentices starting their apprenticeship on or after 1 August 2023, the bursary will be £3,000. It is payable in instalments over the first year of the apprenticeship.