Quote from forextrades:
It has already been mentioned, but you don't need a plumbers license to work as a plumber. The contractor you're working for simply needs the license. In many states, you need to work 4-5 years as a journeyman plumber before you are even able to take the test to get your license.
None of us know how long the guy has been working as a plumber.
Actually, we do:
"Joe the Plumber" isnât a plumber â at least not a licensed one, or a registered one.
A check of state and local licensing agencies in Ohio and Michigan shows no plumbing licenses under Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacherâs name, or even misspellings of his name.
Last night, his name, "Joe the Plumber," came up about two dozen times in the debate between Mr. Obama and Republican nominee John McCain.
...
Mr. Wurzelbacher told reporters Thursday morning that he worked for Newell Plumbing & Heating Co., a small local firm whose business addresses flow back to several residential homes, including one on Talmadge Road in Ottawa Hills.
According to Lucas County Building Inspection records, A. W. Newell Corp. does maintain a state plumbing license, and one with the City of Toledo, but would not be allowed to work in Lucas County outside of Toledo without a county license.
Mr. Wurzelbacher said he works under Al Newellâs license, but
according to Ohio building regulations, he must maintain his own license to do plumbing work.
He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio, which means heâs not a plumber.
Mr. Wurzelbacher said
he was hired by Mr. Newell six years ago and that the possibility of him eventually buying the company was discussed during his job interview. [I'll bet it was.
- kut2k2]
He said itâs his understanding he can work under Mr. Newellâs license as long as the licensed contractor works on the same site.
Mr. Wurzelbacherâs notoriety has raised the ire of Tom Joseph, business manager for Local 50 of the United Association of Plumbers, Steamfitters, and Service Mechanics, who claimed that Mr. Wurzelbacher didnât undergo any apprenticeship training.
"When you have guys going out there with no training whatsoever, itâs a little disreputable to start with," Mr. Joseph said. "Weâre the real Joe the Plumber."
Mr. Joseph said Mr. Wurzelbacher could only legally work in the townships, but not in any municipality in Lucas County or elsewhere in the country.
"
This individual has got no schooling, no licenses, heâs never been to a training program, union or non-union, in the United States of America," Mr. Joseph said.
The association has endorsed Barack Obama, according to Mr. Joseph.
Questions were raised Thursday morning whether Mr. Wurzelbacher is a registered voter.
Linda Howe, executive director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, said a Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher, whose address and age match Joe the Plumberâs, registered in Lucas County on Sept. 10, 1992.
He voted in his first primary on March 4 of this year, registering as a Republican.
...
In January, 2007, the Ohio Department of Taxation placed a lien against him because $1,183 in personal property taxes had not been paid, but there has been no action in the case since it was filed.
He said he was born in the Toledo area, lived until he was 13 in the Florida Panhandle area, went to Springfield High School, and then entered the U.S. Air Force. He was stationed at an Air Force base in Alaska from 1992 until 1995. He said he was honorably discharged.
Mr. Wurzelbacher also said he lived in Arizona from 1997 until 2000.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081016/NEWS09/810160418/-1/NEWS
