How to become a boiler engineer

If you like meeting new people, enjoy each day being different, have good practical skills and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, becoming a boiler engineer could be the ideal job for you.

When customers’ boilers or radiators break down in the middle of winter and they’ve no heating or hot water, you’re the person they’ll need to save the day. It’s an incredibly rewarding job.

It’s the right job for you if you’re…

Someone with a high level of attention to detail and good technical skills. There’s also a lot of physical and manual work, so it’s a big advantage if you’re relatively strong, fit, and good with your hands.

And unlike a lot of jobs, you can become an engineer at any age – you just need to pass the necessary exams and be physically able to carry out the work.

You’ll also need to be good at

• Solving problems quickly and efficiently
• Communicating with customers in a clear and friendly manner
• Maths
• Working well as part of a team, and on your own.

What qualifications will I need?

A diploma or NVQ in heating or gas utilisation, domestic natural gas installation and maintenance, or domestic plumbing and heating.

You’ll also need work experience with a registered gas company or engineer. And if you want to take formal gas training and assessment qualifications, you’ll need six months’ experience before you start.

If you don’t have much practical experience, you can take a one-day-a-week course for 14 weeks. You’ll then need to take the Domestic Gas Safety CCN1 course – which needs to be completed before you apply for further gas-specific qualifications.

You can then apply to be on the Gas Safety Register – the official gas safety authority for the UK. Once you’re on it, you can then work legally as a boiler engineer.

What does the job involve?

You’ll repair, install and service boilers, radiators and other gas appliances. Jobs could be large or small, and in a variety of locations. It could be a cooker in a flat or a heating system in an office – two jobs are rarely the same.

Other jobs include

• Checking and testing for gas leaks
• Servicing and repairing heating systems
• Joining, bending and cutting fittings and pipes
• Giving quotes and talking about available products to customers
• Making sure safety standards on appliances are met.

What's it really like?

If you enjoy problem solving, technical and physical work, becoming a gas engineer could be just the right job for you. You’ll talk to different customers constantly, meet people from different ethnicities, religions and backgrounds – so being sociable and friendly should be second nature. And sometimes, you may be the only person our customer speaks to all week, so you can become a trusted member of many different communities.

Remember, if you qualify as a boiler engineer, why not consider becoming a Local Hero?