Sanitary, heating and air-conditioning is the trade Germany's heat-pump rollout made scarce. Filipino HVAC and plumbing technicians — refrigeration, piping, building services — are the closest foreign match, on the experience route for diploma holders and as apprentices for the rest.
SHK combines plumbing, heating and refrigeration in one German occupation; Filipino technicians usually hold one or two of the three. Refrigeration and air-conditioning technicians with diplomas and Gulf building-services experience map best; plumbers with piping and pressure-test backgrounds fit installation crews; heating-specific skills — gas, hydronics, heat pumps — are trained on arrival by the employer and the Innung.
Brazing, pressure testing, refrigerant handling and fault-finding on split systems; pipework installation; drawing reading — at Prime Search's Makati workshop, watched live. Because SHK work is customer-facing, we target B1 before arrival for installation roles and A2 for workshop and prefabrication roles.
Route for this trade: the experience route (§ 6 BeschV) for candidates with a two- or three-year technical diploma and two years' experience — at tariff pay in a tariff-bound company, or €45,630 a year in 2026 — with no recognition procedure; the recognition partnership (§ 16d) with A2 German where you want the German title; the vocational-training visa (§ 16a) with B1 for candidates who hold an NC II only. We check the training length behind every certificate before presenting a candidate.
Recruitment in the Philippines runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024). Your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in Berlin — recruitment agreement, job order, master employment contract, commercial-register extract — and the verified file is registered with the Department of Migrant Workers. Every selected worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate.
Everything here is subject to applicable German recognition, immigration, licensing and labour-law requirements.
We recruit refrigeration-trained technicians and plan the heat-pump and hydronics training with you on arrival; the refrigerant certificate is obtained in Germany.
Yes — SHK is one of the most common § 16a training occupations for foreign apprentices; B1 required.
The training visa; the experience route needs a two-year diploma.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.