I fear your qualifications would not be recognised here, going by earlier posts on this subject
However, that hasn't stopped others continuing their trade here, but if you want to be legal......

 

You may be qualified in UK but are you qualified in Spain? Jobs in Spain are like gold-dust especially if you are not fluent in Spanish. Beware of "British Builders" or tradesmen many of whom had only ever done a bit of DiY before getting off the plane. That is not to say that there are not some good ones, who are also honest and competent, but they tend to be few and far between. Most importantly, avoid getting into partnership with one unless you are 110% certain of the person you are involved with, because you may find that you are left with all the liabilities while the profits have disappeared with your one time "partner."

I'm sorry if the above sounds negative, but it is best that you be aware before taking any big steps.

With regard to moving to Spain, you will be required, within 90 days of your arrival to register on the 'foreigners register' and to do that you will need to show a regular income of at least 600€ going into a Spanish bank account and proof of health-care coverage which, if you are under state pensionable age, will have to be private health-care insurance.

 

Steven have you thought about commuting? If you work for 6 months in the UK you'll be able to live very well in some parts of Spain for the other half of the year. And you'll earn more. And of course if you can drag yourself away from the restful/cultural/beach/or whatever spanish life you can see for yourself how tough working (or in the case of many looking for work) can be.

As extranjero says there is the qualification issue, but also the very low wages (especially take home pay) and loss of other benefits. And working 6 months in the UK is very tax efficient as I know

 

He would still have to qualify as a resident (650€ + healthcare) even if not working in Spain.

 

You haven't said which part of Spain.I know down here on the CDS even Spanish fontaneros are struggling to find work.Best thing you could do is pick the area where you want to go to,have a months holiday and look around and then it will give you a true picture of how things are which sometimes forums can't do.There are still a few jobbing Brit builders over here who are working but they have been here for many years and built a trust and reputation.Sorry to say the days of jumping on a plane with a suitcase full of building tools have long since gone.Hope you find what you are looking for.Regards.SB.

 

Hola

There are areas in Spain that need English plumbers; the big but is that you have to get yourself known by all and sundry while building up your reputation and client base and the client base must be big enough to support your needs of working 40 hours a week.

Davexf

 

... but to do serious plumbing work, you have to be qualified in Spain. For example, to issue a boletin, an English plumber will have to call upon the services of a Spanish one - and they may not be too chuffed at loosing the work in the first place.

I wonder how easy it is for a UK plumber to get the necessary qualifications in Spain (ISTR that it's just as hard as it is for electricians).

Sure, a UK plumber can do work for a UK IMMIGRANT but will they be complying with all the Spanish regulations?

 

Many British immigrants prefer to use Spanish plumbers, electricians etc. We do as do all our British friends and acquaintances.

 

immigrant!, immigrant!!, I will have you know that I am a proud English expat,,,,,,,,immigrant!!!,,,,,,,the bloody barefaced cheek of the woman, got to go as I have just started with a bout of 'the vapours',,,,,immigrant tsk.

 

It also has to be mentioned that the plumbing in Spain is totally different to the plumbing in the UK and you'd need to practice, learn and understand how it works and the regulations first - not to mention the language

Jo xxx

 

Hi jo

What part is totally different ?


Tony

 

Hi Steven, Welcome to the Forum. Let's say you are qualified to work in Spain and you are fluent in Spanish as a starting point.

Spain needs more plumbers (especially on the Costas) like it needs another Civil War. The recession in Spain continues, little or nothing is being done about unemployment and diy has never been so popular. These situations will not become more favourable to you for many years to come.

I hope you enjoy your holidays in Spain, but do yourself a favour, don't even think of working as a plumber there.

 

Hola

To any qualified plumber, the changes are minimal. To most plumbers here the biggest difference is dealing with wells, pumps and controllers rather than pipework

Davexf

 

I'm only going by what a plumber (British, our Spanish landladys choice. She'd used him before) said to us when he came to repair a problem with our drains in one of our houses. He wanted to re-do them all and when my husband made a comment he said that its nothing like the plumbing in the UK and had taken him several years to get to grips with it.

Jo xxx

 

Personalty haven't found it too difficult to adapt to Spanish ways

But I guess every one is different and some people are set in their ways and find it hard to adapt

I like to keep an open mind and just use the best solution for the job , whether its Spanish or English methods

Cheers Tony

 

By the way, whilst he can indeed turn his hand to many other skills (on a DIY basis), he would never dream of offering them as a charged-for service, being a firm believer in the old saying "jack of all trades, ......" Fill in the blanks.

 

He also could find himself needing to be a builder, plasterer, tiler...... if, as previously stated, the pipes are built into walls, behind tiled in baths etc.........

Jo xxx

 

Too right. My husband foolishly offered to replace a bath mixer tap for some close friends (wall mounted, of course). Had a hell of a job getting the old taps off in the first place, then discovered a leak in the pipework up to the taps but of course couldn't get to it without knocking off several tiles, it was set well into the concrete wall so incredibly difficult to work on - and the tiles are so old they can't buy matching replacements. So a simple job turns into a major one. Might be great if you're getting paid for it, but the customer wouldn't be too happy!

In the same house, he discovered there was a slow leak from the water deposito tank on the roof but of course couldn't find out if it was just the tank or the pipe in the wall without virtually demolishing the wall, so he put the water on mains supply instead. It has cured a very long standing damp problem on that wall, so the leak must have been there for years, gradually getting worse. We had a similar problem in our kitchen which didn't come to light until water got into an electricity socket and tripped everything out. Again, all the pipes were in the wall so he cut them off on the outside of the wall and put in new copper piping which comes through the wall and runs underneath the kitchen units and up to taps fitted onto the worktop, far easier to get to if anything should go wrong.

 

The baths are installed differently too, in a cradle of cement.

Having said that the UK seems to have successfully absorbed thousands of Polish plumbers and they must have different ways of working in Poland.

 

True.
But the UK has low unemployment and a shortage of skilled people like plumbers, electricians, 'proper' plasterers, brickies etc.
Spain has high unemployment although a percentage point or two down on last year's figure and I'm guessing a lot of unemployed plumbers in that 24% jobless.

 

Hi Steve

If you read this and have any questions regarding the differences I have found whilst working as a self employed builder here in the past between Uk and Spanish plumbing , please ask

If I came across it I will give my opinion

Cheers Tony

 

mrypg9------''I shudder at the thought of such people mucking about with electricity'', as a qualified electrical test engineer (British) I shudder every time I see the 'quality' of electrical work carried out by the Spanish 'electricians', too technical and long winded to explain here but some of the 'legal' methods of installing electrical systems over here would get you put in prison in Britain in the event of somebody being exposed to an electrical shock/death/fire, a lot of it could be made safe for a few cents.

 

Also as a Former Electrician, the only bad workmanship I have seen here has been carried out by Brits, one of whom claimed to be "Qualified" and "Licensed" to work both in UK and in Spain. There was one house we saw when thinking of moving here, that had been wired to some sort of UK standards with UK fittings but was not very well done, yet better than some houses we saw running on what amounted to nothing more than 'bell wire'.

A painter who was working for us was working in the vicinity of a junction box (no cover fitted) and as he painted, the lights kept flickering. On investigation, a number of terminal screws had not been tightened and the least touch on the wires and contact was lost. Similarly a socket that we had installed by said "electrician" would get rather hot when in use, removing it from its mounting box caused a flash and the power going off - again, terminal screws had not been tightened.

 

For find a job here as a plumber you must be faster and better than the plumber of the Titanic.;-)

 

I'm closing this thread. The information has been provided and nothing more really needs to be said

Jo xxx