Plumber
Laying, joining, testing and maintaining water supply, sanitary and drainage pipework in buildings and public systems.
About this trade
The Plumber trade trains craftsmen for building services and public health engineering work — pipe cutting, threading and joining in GI, PVC, CPVC and cast iron; fixing sanitary appliances; laying drainage lines to gradient; pressure testing; and the maintenance of pumps, valves and storage systems.
With large public investment in water supply and sanitation across West Bengal, trained plumbers find steady work close to home.
Where this trade can take you
Plumber in building construction and maintenance; public health engineering contracts; hotel, hospital and institutional maintenance teams; municipal water supply works; self-employment as a plumbing contractor.
Course structure
As with every trade under the Craftsman Training Scheme, the year is divided between practical work in the trade workshop — which takes the largest share of contact hours — and the supporting subjects:
- Trade Practical — the exercises and jobs that build the skill itself.
- Trade Theory — the principles behind the practical work.
- Workshop Calculation & Science — the arithmetic and applied science the trade depends on.
- Engineering Drawing — reading and preparing the drawings used on the job.
- Employability Skills — communication, workplace behaviour, basic IT and entrepreneurship, as prescribed by DGT.
Trainees are assessed internally through the year and sit the All India Trade Test at the end of each year. The full syllabus for this trade is published by DGT on Bharat Skills.
After the course
Trainees who complete the trade may take up employment directly, register for apprenticeship training under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme — which carries a stipend and counts as recognised experience — or apply for the Crafts Instructor Training Scheme to become an instructor themselves. Many also set up on their own account.