“You don’t apply to be a Master Plasterer — you prove it.”

This week on The Plasterers Podcast — The Mick & Dave Show, we’re talking about the Master Plasterers Award and what it really means to earn it.

This isn’t about certificates handed out for turning up — this is about recognition that’s built over years on the tools.

Mick and Dave break down what the award represents, the standards behind it, and the level of skill, consistency, and experience needed to reach that level in the trade.

They share their own journeys, what separates a good plasterer from a master, and why respect in this game is earned — not given.

There’s real talk about graft, pride in your work, and the responsibility that comes with being recognised at the top of your trade.

No shortcuts. No handouts. Just proper plastering at the highest level.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:44

This podcast is brought to you from our sponsors, the Latin Plaster magazine. The free online magazine run by the Plasters for the Plasters. Find us on Google or type in www.platumplaster.com. Hiya Mick, how are you? Hello, Dave. How are you, mate? I'm not so mad yourself. Yeah, good. Really good. Yeah, just say a quick one. We know guests today, have we? You know. I know it means I've got to put up with you, doesn't it? I'd put up with you, you stupid old fucker, but never mind. We had Mark lined up, a good friend of ours, but unfortunately, he's a bit pooly. So get well quick, Mark, because we're looking forward to having you on board. You're a top guy, and we're really looking forward to having you on board, and it'd be a really good podcast. So get yourself right and catch up. You so it's down to me and you, in it. What are we gonna have a chat about? Well, are we out on are we out on well? Go on. I don't know, really. What the fucking are you doing now? You fuck fuck what the fucking are you up to?

unknown 1:59

Eh?

SPEAKER_02 1:59

What are you? I'm just trying to sort of this microphone now because he's doing my heading. You're doing my fucking heading. My fucking microphone's doing your heading, you're doing my fucking heading. What are we going to talk about today? Right. Well, fair enough, let's have it right. Last week we were both honoured and we both became master plasters. You know, quite honest, it's it's a pretty prestige thing. And but most a lot of there's a lot of lads out there who can actually get the qualification and get become master plasters. You just have to know about how to do it and how to go down the the routes and and what have you. So roots we've got what we're doing today then. Well, yeah, we can talk we can talk about that and you know tell lads how how they can do it and what have you. So are you ready for that?

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Cool. I think we best give them a little bit of a little bit of an insight into it first, though, just haven't we? Well, go on then, mate. Go on. Yeah, this is basically straight from the wasteful company of plaster's website. And it basically states the Master Plaster certificate recognises those who have achieved the highest levels of skills in the industry over a number of years and can demonstrate excellence in the art, craft, science, and practice of plastering.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

Sounds a bit official, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Sounds like nice that doesn't it?

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Sounds a bit official, that doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Yeah, just a bit. Go on. So applications are two ways you can become a master plasterer. You can either provide evidence of 20 years of experience in the plastering industry, and at a minimum, you'd be qualified to level three plastering. So it's either an advanced craft award or an MVQ level three. If you're in Scotland, obviously it's an S V Q MVQ level three.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

How many years again did you say?

SPEAKER_01 3:59

20.

SPEAKER_02 4:00

Right, so let's get it right. There's lads out there who's been working on tools for well, probably since you left school, type of thing, in the 30s and 40s. They'll have the 20 years in, won't they? Realistically.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

Yeah, they should. And there is there is another another pathway in as well. Go on. Master plaster scientists may also be granted to experienced plasterers who are able to demonstrate that they have sufficient technical skill and expertise in the plastering trade. They may be currently active as a plasterer or may have started their careers on the tools and moved into other roles in the industry.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Right, so basically, they could have been a plaster and maybe, you know, gone inside management or somewhere on that type of line where they've gone up a bit, you know what I mean? They've progressed a bit and what have you.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Or gone down the teaching route. Or what? Or gone down the teaching route, or gone down the teaching route, even.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

Yep, yeah, gone down to but realistically, it's a bit of condescending because to progress, you'll have to have your level three anyway in the first place. To go, you know, yeah, you know, you're gonna go into building management, you that's like a level four, level five university course. So you'll have to do your level three first before you can get on. So when you when they're saying all that, it's a bit of a contradiction when they go into an agarole. That's dumb me, anyway.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

So do your holistic out criteria is now go on basic criteria, evidence of 20 years experience in commercial and heritage plastering. Right. So it's not just one or the other, it's got to be a mix of both. A mix of both.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

So lads who's like been on tools and what have you, they're doing how they're running the corners in, they're doing fibrous work and what have you, bit of lime work, pebble dashing or whatever. That's basically covers the criteria. Providing they can prove they can prove it.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

And yeah, you need you need evidence of the involvement in a portfolio of at least three notable complex commercial and heritage plastering projects.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Yeah, right, okay, fair.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

The evidence should include descriptions of the projects, yeah, their roles in them, photographs of the work, or third-party testimonials of their contribution to projects. So I'm guessing that's basically like a witness statement where it whoever you worked for writes up a statement saying that you did X2YZ on that job.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Yeah. So basically, like you say, the other bit on the It's like an MVQ.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah. It's an MVQ. So the other bit on the bottom is you need two nominated referees as well.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

So that could be two people that work with someone that work with a website.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

You've got to know the question.

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Yeah. Right. Okay, so that's so basically your 20-odd years on tools. If you haven't got your level three, you deserve to have it. It's a qualification that you should have. We've gone about this before, you know what I mean. Get some recognition for your for your trade. You've done it, you're not going to sit in college, you're going to do an MVQ on site, someone's going to come and see you. But you're getting you're getting yourself recognised, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 7:32

And the things were a lot of people. Well, that's the issue we've always had is the old the old the older guys tend tend to say, Well, I've been doing it for X amount of years and I've never needed a piece of paper. Well, you don't. But if you want to progress. Well, you don't, if you want to carry on and doing what you're doing, but again, like we've said before, if you want if your body starts failing, you need to be looking at something else. Yeah, but that's correct. Then you need the level three.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

Yeah, realistically. So, you know, right, okay, so I've got me I've got me level three, I've applied. What's the next step?

SPEAKER_01 8:13

What happens then? Well, the next step is once you complete the application form, sent it all in, you will then get a phone call from usually one of the livery men of the company who will ring you and basically test your knowledge. It's like an in an interview type of thing. Yeah. More in depth. A bit more in-depth. Yeah. Yeah. Just to sort of figure out whereabouts you actually are and what you've done and X, Y, Z. Anyone could write down on a piece of paper what they have done. It's a case of proving what you've done. And proving you've got the knowledge there as well.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

So obviously, the person who's talking change being delivery man, he will have to be, you know, a skilled craftsman to have the knowledge that what you're telling him is correct. They've got the delivery man, he's advanced through the graph craft guild and what have you. And yeah, you'll have to be skilled.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Brilliant. So basically, yeah. Yeah. Basically, when you talk to people that are outside of plastic and don't understand this, if well, I'm gonna put it into context for you a little bit. So since 2011, there's only been 48 master plastered certificates awarded. Wow, that's pretty good. It puts you in a bit of an elite group. As we've been politely informed by a few people.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

It it is and it opens doors. You know, it opens doors. The award ceremony. Can you tell us about what happens? So, Mick Greg, okay. We've both got made master plasters. We then have to go down to London.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Yep, we do.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

So, do you want to tell us what about that and what happens?

SPEAKER_01 10:17

The award ceremy this year was it's a place called Mansion House in London, which is a very old historical building, and the ceremony took place in the Egyptian hall. Right, okay. Now don't fall into the fact of thinking that you're gonna be only people there because you're not. There when we were when I was there, there was roughly I think there were 70 livery companies there. Wow. And the award ceremony is it goes on for roughly an hour and a half, nearly two hours.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

Right, okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

So you're you're sat in a chair with the program in front of you. In the program is a l are the names and little write-ups of everybody that's receiving an award there. The awards can go from journeyman to apprentice to master. The list is endless. We were there with uh some people that were called uploaders. Now to this day I don't still don't know what an uploader is. Electricians there, joiners there. You name it, they were there. Well, not all masters.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

Right, just all the different categories tournament. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Some were apprentices, right? And then there were the masters as well. What tends to happen is they go through it by each livery company. So whoever's been nominated to receive the award on from that company is then called up to the stage, and you get presented your certificate by the Lady Mayor of London and the master of your livery company at the time.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Right, okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

So it's pretty and you can't you can't take any photographs in the hall, in the Egyptian hall. All the photographs are taken by a professional photographer, and and then a few days later they send you the link through. It's all free, all the photos are free. And then you can scroll through all the photos, and trust me, there are a lot. And then you can basically download the ones you want. Right. Or the ones that involve you, so that's a relative. You do get a sandwich lunch provided. Right, okay, there are a hell of a lot of people there. Well, a little bit, yeah. Because once once you've had your presentation, you you've had your photograph taken while you while you've been presented with a certificate. Then when that's all done, all the guests are rushing out of the room so they can go and feed the faces, you're still stuck in there because you've then got to have a photograph done with the master of your livery company. And trust me, that can go on for a while. We were quite lucky, our master had already got himself second in second or third in the queue, and basically just shouted us all straight across. And I think the statement he said to me was, Let's hurry up, guys, because I'm not eaten for four hours. But I thought that was quite fun.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

Oh, brilliant! That's good. Right, so basically, hey, shut up, you're doing me fucking any right. So basically, Mick, we when you get this qualification the master plaster. Now that's looked pretty good on your CV, doesn't it? So, lads, you know, you're on site and what you become a master. So, you know, you you can realistically you're gonna quote in for jobs, you're gonna be front of Q kind of thing, wouldn't you? You know what I mean? You've got you know, you've got a company master plaster, you're gonna be front of Q when you're quoting because it's such a realized uh qualification. Well, not a qualification, it's it's an award, it's a prestigious thing, it's uh an achievement. Uh and like you say, there's only 48 master plasters since uh 2011.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

2011.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

Yeah, so basically, you know, to it's an honor to actually get it. It's not a not easy to to get, quite honest. But we're very fortunate. We we both got it, we've got the proven track record, we've done the uh site work, everything's work, line work, running cornics in teaching, the false bank, yeah. Uh you know, and you know, we then went to the interview. We we both applied the same day type of thing. We had separate interviews, we passed the interview, and then once you pass the interview, it then goes in front of what's called the coach, which all the livery men and what sit down to find out whether you met the grade basically to be called a master. It's not like one person decides, you know, it's a conglomerate, it's a you know a little people who decide that you're going to get it inside the year and a and realistically, you know, with all these years of experience and knowledge, and even with all that, well, we're still a bit on tender ups. Are we going to get it, or we're not gonna get it? And you've been so bloody impatient every day you ring your milk.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Well, it is that's that's the hard bit. The hard bit is having the patience and waiting for like an email to land.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Yeah, basically, it's having the patience to know whether you you've got it, and then when you've got it, then you you know you are then invited down to Mansion House in London to receive the award and what have you, and you know, your name goes on the list. And what but what we're trying to say to the lads is it's achievable.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

It is achievable, you know. So to put it into context, we didn't we found out we got it just before Christmas, didn't we get for Amber Riley?

SPEAKER_02 16:51

Yeah, we found out not officially unofficially found out, unofficially found out, but we've got to keep it quiet. It's like all right, but you can't say no about it. So we've done all these podcasts, but we haven't been able to say anything about it. No, it's all the fishman, what have you?

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Then you get the date through, and the dates the date was in March, yeah. So from like December to March, you know you're gonna get it, yeah. But it's just a case of having to wait.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Uh yeah, you're not any good at that.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

Yeah, and that's that's the annoying bit, if we're brutally honest, but it is what it is.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

It is, but like but let's again just go back in context and think about it. So you're a plaster, you've been on site, you've worked on a dirty job, you're pulling bloody dirty ceilings down on your head full of bird shit and soot and all this malarkey. You're sitting in a van in a back alley full of dirty, bloody bin bags and everything else. So you one day you've done all then next day in mansion house in being a master plaster.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Yeah, it's quite surreal.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

It's it's some you and when you sit there, we've all done it. Oh case probably on chips and bloody corn big butt or something. You know what I mean? And and and then next week hellfire, you know, you you're there, and it's it's an achievement, it's achievable to most people. Most lads, if you've got the knowledge, you got the experience, yeah. Go and get it done, go and get the MD create, go and get it done. And and and that that's it, and you know what I mean? Well, simple as, and it it's worth it. It's a title you'll have the rest of your life, you can use it on your bill edge. You know, you you want to go anywhere, and I don't know, you might have got some poster and some twats trying to show off. I've done this, I've done that. He turned out and say, Well, I'm a master plaster, actually. You know what I mean? And shut them up, won't it?

SPEAKER_01 18:48

And and you get the time to prove it.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

You get the time to prove it. No, that this is it. So, so yeah, brilliant, absolutely superb. So that's basically we're gonna stop now and have some music, and this time I get to fucking pick it, Mick. I had to put up with all this crap we've had all the week. Well, go on. Do you want to pick one? Go on. I'm just sat there thinking to myself what's coming now. Well, yeah, I think what what we need to do now, we'll stop and have some music, or we'll come back and wanker at week and what have you, and carry on in one or two, you know. We'll see what happens. All right, so I'll see you on the side of the music.

SPEAKER_05 19:33

We're gonna play some music for you right now. Here we go.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Well that'll be a good piece of music. Yeah, that with Led Zeppelin. Immigrant song. One of my all-time favourites. So gonna die no rock there for people, but never mind. Right, we're up to Wanker a week, Mick. Who have you got? Have you anybody? Because I well, I thought I went to die this week. I decided last week. Yeah, real one this week. Absolute knob. Basically, Ted Davy, leader at the Liberal Party. What a wanker. Basically. You had to see him on tele this week. He walks on on stage at some liberal conference with dark glasses on, some music. What a twat, basically. You look at him, what a fucking wanker he is. Honestly.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

You look at him.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

Oh yeah, I can't. I can't stand the guy anyway for ripping up post off postmasters off and what have you. You know, he's not a good person. And then next year's, oh, we're gonna shut down GB News. Hang on a minute, I listen to that religiously on a channel that talks bloody sense, and he wants to shut it down. And he's up and down on stage, he's not wearing a bloody swimsuit or summer. He thinks he's some type of celebrity. So by four, he is my 100% wanker of the week.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

I'm a wanker, I'm a wanker, and it does me good luck.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Did I tell you that time, Mick, when I got bit by a dog? Did I tell you that? I don't think so. Right. Well, what he were, I was working on tools, and I'd got this house, and he was like, Patch of ceiling. Job with like insurance job. So I'm banging on door, it's a terrace house, and sat in windows, this big, massive Alsatian, big early, long-hird Alsatian dog. I thought, Christ, that's a bit of a monster, is that? Anyway, I'm banging on door, and woman puts the dog in kitchen, and I goes in, hello, come to your ceiling. Yeah, it's in kitchen. I'm thinking, oh, Glassdoor, the dog's at the back of Glassdoor, jumping up and trying to get to me. And um she says, Well, you're in kitchen, my dog's in there, and once it's in you, you'll be alright. I hope it is. Anyway, she what she did, she opened the door, dog too bigger than her, jumped out, knocked me down. I'm 16 and a half stone, knocked me down and biting me bloody bollocks, bit me rating. I'm on floor, dog's getting stuck into the meeting tooth vegetable, thought it was Sunday rolls, you know what I mean? Pushed it off me and like jumped up, oh fuck off. I jumped well, I struggled to go into my van, right down to the hospital, pulled the pants down, everything's bleeding, blood everywhere. Well, I ended up in a bloody bad way, honestly, as you can imagine. And uh big dudes and little dudes, we we bloody sued them, and uh, and that were it, basically. You know, police got involved, said you want to get them sued because he's controlling the round. And they tried to cheat and say, Well, you walked in without knocking on door if you do that. Anyway, we did them and we bloody sued them, and but it kind of put me off big dog trail. Well, it still has done, tell you too. It has. Yeah. Right, we're coming to end up podcast, so we better get a belt on. It's been a good one. Next time we're hoping to have a guest on board again. Again to Mark. Yeah. So that's it. I hope you've enjoyed it. We're still growing like mad. America, thanks to everybody in America, you seem to like John Tuman, really, really enjoy him. Don't know why he's two English guys, but never mind, that's it. We're just glad you do. And so, right, well, thanks. It's a goodbye from me, Dave. And a goodbye from me, Mick. And we see you speak to you soon. Speak to you soon.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Always look on the bright side of life. Always look on the light side of life.