[shammy davis jnr]

right you lot how easy is it to gain work in the rope access side of things im thinking of going and sitting my irata 1 so will it be easy to pick up work sub work to clock my 1000 hrs before i sit my level 2

[shammy davis jnr]

as above and what rates of pay can you fetch doing this type of work ,our does not pay that much esp in window cleaning so any advice would be appricated
cheers davis

[AJ]

Abseilers I know have said to me the secret is to not 'pigeon hole yourself'.
By that they mean don't just do window cleaning, get involved in mastic, pointing, pigeon netting etc.
That way you can spread yourself out to building companies etc.
As for wages it varies, some say £125 a day for a firm, some say £250 for self employed depending on the site

[TennetClean]

Abseilers I know have said to me the secret is to not 'pigeon hole yourself'.
By that they mean don't just do window cleaning, get involved in mastic, pointing, pigeon netting etc.
That way you can spread yourself out to building companies etc.
As for wages it varies, some say £125 a day for a firm, some say £250 for self employed depending on the site

£125 - £250 a day does not seem very much money considering the advanced training and of course the risk involved with abseiling.  You can earn more than that doing domestic with a waterfed pole!

[AJ]

Exactly!
Thats why I use subbies.
I would imagine you would want a bit more if you're up 20 floors, I would anyway.
I suppose once you have had the training it is just like any other method of access.

[*foxman]

Abseilers I know have said to me the secret is to not 'pigeon hole yourself'.
By that they mean don't just do window cleaning, get involved in mastic, pointing, pigeon netting etc.
That way you can spread yourself out to building companies etc.
As for wages it varies, some say £125 a day for a firm, some say £250 for self employed depending on the site

£125 - £250 a day does not seem very much money considering the advanced training and of course the risk involved with abseiling.  You can earn more than that doing domestic with a waterfed pole!

There is virtually no risk abseiling. It's one of the safest industries in the world. There is 100% backup on everything.

[shammy davis jnr]

i would have thought there would be more cash than that in the rope access by the time you pay travel you would be beter off domestic window cleaning ,but if its what you do its not a bad wage i supose ......i just fancy sitting the course to try it always fanced it hey it costs 200 quid for a hot air flight  and five hundred a week for a level one course should be a buzz

[Captain Scarlet]

There is good money with this down in South Wales, Luke

[*foxman]

There is very good money in rope work- around 150 - 350 a day compared to standard day rates for a hired window cleaner. Trouble is your not going to get that day in day out.

Most Abseilers aren't window cleaners so they do a rubbish job and are very slow, a good window cleaner on the ropes can pretty much do almost twice as much as a 'rock climber/rope access' guy and are worth a lot more. I've got my IRATA cert and we've hired in 'hippy' rock climbers who odd job - you can run rings round them.

[shammy davis jnr]

so say i got my five guys trained in rope access would i be able to sub contract them out to a larger company for the odd day here and there our is there a danger of the larger company poaching your staff if you have forked out to train them
our are big companies just happy to get the odd shift when required and if i do sub them out is it me our the main contractor that insures them
as i say im just looking into this and am baffeled how the system goes as never done this before 
some good advice so far though

[trevor perry]

the I.R.A.T.A course is only for a level 1 certificate and you have to have a thousand hours experience before you can apply for level 2, if you are abseilling using level 1 certificate then you have to be supervised by someone with a level 3 certificate, my point is if you do get training you will still have to pay a level 3 technician to supervise you doing the work for the first 1000 hours. sounds a bit of a con to mee.
   is the above a legal requirement or is it possible to get training anywhere else , you can fly a plane with less training than that.

[The Seven Bays Window Cleaning Company]

There is very good money in rope work- around 150 - 350 a day compared to standard day rates for a hired window cleaner. Trouble is your not going to get that day in day out.

Most Abseilers aren't window cleaners so they do a rubbish job and are very slow, a good window cleaner on the ropes can pretty much do almost twice as much as a 'rock climber/rope access' guy and are worth a lot more. I've got my IRATA cert and we've hired in 'hippy' rock climbers who odd job - you can run rings round them.

Oi... watch who your calling a hippy rock climber....

[Pat Purcell]

Im only going on what ive read on the internet and what Ive been told by a few people ho have done rope acces over there , but I don't believe you need to be IRATA certified to do rope access,
That doesn't mean that a building manager or even your insurance company won't want you to be, just that there is no specific rule that says you have to be certified by IRATA as they are a trade association, not a government licencing body
I have done window washing using ropes here in the US since the mid eighties and we train all our people in house. IRATA is not very commonly known here although I have seen on the internet that they do have a presence here
If you become IRATA certified then you will learn a lot more than I would ever know as they teach all aspects of rope access wheras we only deal with abseiling to do windows,

[*foxman]

There is very good money in rope work- around 150 - 350 a day compared to standard day rates for a hired window cleaner. Trouble is your not going to get that day in day out.

Most Abseilers aren't window cleaners so they do a rubbish job and are very slow, a good window cleaner on the ropes can pretty much do almost twice as much as a 'rock climber/rope access' guy and are worth a lot more. I've got my IRATA cert and we've hired in 'hippy' rock climbers who odd job - you can run rings round them.

Oi... watch who your calling a hippy rock climber....

Sorry to offend! But we've hired in a lot of abseilers over the years and the majority have been 'hippies' i.e new age type fellas and they're into rock climbing more than anything else - they just wanted to get paid for being on the ropes.

obviously not all rock climbers are hippy's. Loads of normal people do it for a hobby. But the ones who want to get paid for their hobby tend to be, as far as i've seen.

[*foxman]

the I.R.A.T.A course is only for a level 1 certificate and you have to have a thousand hours experience before you can apply for level 2, if you are abseilling using level 1 certificate then you have to be supervised by someone with a level 3 certificate, my point is if you do get training you will still have to pay a level 3 technician to supervise you doing the work for the first 1000 hours. sounds a bit of a con to mee.
   is the above a legal requirement or is it possible to get training anywhere else , you can fly a plane with less training than that.

IRATA course is for every level. You dont have to be supervised by a level three to work on the ropes as Pat pointed out, IRATA is not the law by any means. If you want to move up a level IRATA want you to be supervised be a level 3 so as to  'keep it in the family' but it isn't required. The company you do the work for can sign your book and this counts towards the hours the same as a level 3 supervising.

[trevor perry]

thanks foxman that clears things up a bit , it may be worth doing the course now.

[shammy davis jnr]

now that i have established you need to be a cross between willie nelson and sr edmond hilliary 
is it easy to to obtain work once you have sat a level one course with little experience our do the companys in question just look for more experienced guys our is it down to who you know and does weather play apart in whether you get payed our not..our do they pay stand down time

[*foxman]

now that i have established you need to be a cross between willie nelson and sr edmond hilliary 
is it easy to to obtain work once you have sat a level one course with little experience our do the companys in question just look for more experienced guys our is it down to who you know and does weather play apart in whether you get payed our not..our do they pay stand down time

As with most things it's who you know workwise - if you got the contacts the work is out there. It's a case of making yourself known so when something comes up you come to mind. It's more about being good than experience.

It's never about the weather its about getting the job done -  same as anything else, if you want to get paid.

[shammy davis jnr]

good point fox man will need to give it a go i think somthing diff from the norm you have been good on the subject thanks for your info