Experienced central heating technicians are quitting with a heavy heart, especially now that there is a shortage. But a new mandatory certificate with high additional costs is a bridge too far for countless mechanics after decades of tinkering. “Older customers cried when I told them I was stopping.”
They are small self-employed people. They say goodbye to their customer base throughout the Netherlands, usually several hundred loyal companies and private individuals who could always call.
“I have been doing this as a self-employed person since 1992 and had hoped to continue doing this until I retired. But that is unfortunately not financially possible for one- and two-cylinder engines,” says Geert Suelmann (65) at his workshop in Emmen. “The mandatory expenses can amount to around 6,500 euros in the beginning. And then there are the annual costs. You are expected to pass this on to your customers. But that is easy to say, for many it is not feasible.”
He is strongly considering stopping work on central heating boilers. He still does plumbing and tackles problems with drainage and gutters, for example. Stopping central heating boilers immediately saves him 30 percent in income.
Not fun
“It is simply impossible to do anymore,” says Ad Stoeten (69) from Amsterdam-Noord. He worked as a mechanic for 52 years and worked in large industrial cellars throughout North Holland, up to the fourth floor in the city center. He closes his company, he writes to two hundred customers.
“Yes, not nice. But I have made a calculation for myself: the costs of the certificate for working on the central heating boilers, the course, the exam, another 1000 euros for an approved flue gas meter, that enormous administration and the calibration of your equipment amounts to 4300 euros . Probably more. That’s really too much.”
It is currently not about anything else among the three thousand installers and technicians. “So many colleagues quit, it’s just a shame,” says Stoeten. Suelmann’s son dropped out as a potential successor in the company. “I understand, the profession has simply become less fun,” says the Emmen resident.
Mandatory certificate
About three thousand employees are specialized and active in installation and maintenance of central heating boilers in the Netherlands. Since April, certification has been mandatory under the Gas Boiler Act for central heating boilers and gas combustion appliances to be allowed to work with dangerous F-gases. More than 1,300 technicians had the document and permission on time, about 1,700 did not.
They understand that working safely on central heating boilers is necessary after several deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning. “Of course, I grew up with dangerous stoves, geysers and central heating boilers,” says Stoeten. “I have obtained all the required certificates for years,” says Suelmann. “Safety is the basis of your profession.”
The Dutch Technology Industry Association attributes the backlog mainly to delays at the government agency that must issue the certificate. We are working hard there, but there will remain backlogs for the time being. In recent years, Techniek Nederland has tried to attract thousands of skilled workers. That partly works. The outflow is actually causing concern for the industry.
Sixty questions per boiler
Stoeten: “Training, further training at manufacturers, diplomas that come with this profession. You always got your paper when a new installation came on the market, and that was all fine. But these are so many new rules that it no longer makes sense. Even for the type of work suit you wear. What are they doing, it has nothing to do with that boiler,” he illustrates while tinkering with a boiler.
“You have to go through about sixty questions per boiler and check them off correctly,” he says. “If you keep working, you can normally do eight boilers in a day, but because of the paperwork, there are only six because of the bureaucracy. Add up that difference for the whole of the Netherlands,” says the mechanic.
Suelmann will miss the customers when he stops. “I started in my village in 1974, you got to know everyone. People stuck with you all these years. Doing plumbing work is also nice. But working on central heating boilers is more rewarding: you can warm people up again.”