Becoming an Electrical test & inspect engineer

[Athens2007]

Hi guys,

I have just been made redundant and as you might expect finding a job is proving to be a little difficult - I don't want any tears now (i hated my old job anyway and needed a change of direction).

I want to know what does it take to become an Electrical Test and Inspection Engineer and also carry out PAT testing work.

I have my 2330 level 3, 2391, 17th Ed and Pat Testing qualifications.

What more do i require?

Thanks for any help/information

 

[Spark123]

Qualification wise you probably have enough.
Do you have much experience in the field?

 

[skenk]

If you have the PAT management as well as the straight testing certificate, then it sounds to me like you're already fully qualified. Are you wanting to start up on your own or are you just after a job?

 

[Athens2007]

Looking to go for it and start up on my own.

I have carried out Initial and Periodic test & inspections on installations in work but nothing on the domestic or public environment front.

Am sure i must need insurance of some sort but i don't really understand all this Napit and NICEIC stuff

 

[RF Lighting]

If youre wanting to do periodic inspection reports then I'd think you need at least 7 years experience of working full time on electrical installations, some experience of carring out PIRs with a mentor, the abitity and knowledge of how to properly and safely test installations including live equipment, and know the current edition of BS7671 inside out.

 

[Athens2007]

I appreciate what your saying about this experience mate and of course the more experience the more competent you will become, but you cannot follow someone around for seven years!

Who is actually in the position to say you have the ability and knowledge after already gaining the qualifications to start carrying out the work?

 

[RF Lighting]

You don't need to follow someone for that long, but you do need many years of working on installations whether thats with your tradesman or on your own once youre competant.

Installation work is much easier than periodics.

 

[Athens2007]

Thanks for your help mate.

Still a little confused tho :-

Who is actually in the position to say you have the ability and knowledge after already gaining the qualifications to start carrying out the work?

Where does NICEIC fit into all this?

 

[RF Lighting]

You could go out and carry out PIRs with no qualifications and no knowledge of electrical installations at all if you wanted, but you would get found out pretty quickly, and also your insurance premiums would shhot through the roof.

Some insurance companies and commercial organisations will ask for their PIR to be carried out by an NICEIC approved contractor.

The very concise version: The NICEIC require certan qualifications for you to be a member, and an inspector will come and see your work and paperwork every year to make sure you are competent.

 

[Spark123]

The NICEIC is basically a body who oversee competent persons/companies.
Once you have the required things in place for enrolement they will send an assessor out. They will also assess you on a few random jobs a year to check you are doing it correctly.
To see what you need for enrolment take a look at their website.
Although enrolment is optional, some local authorities will only accept PIRs done in public buildings done by a NICEIC / ECA registered firm.

 

[Athens2007]

Thanks for all your help and information guy's i think i know how it all fits together now.

If i could ask just one more question:

If i wanted to carry out small installation work in a domestic property eg putting mains and lighting in a conservatory would that require me to become part P registered?

 

[thevenin]

Thanks for all your help and information guy's i think i know how it all fits together now.

If i could ask just one more question:

If i wanted to carry out small installation work in a domestic property eg putting mains and lighting in a conservatory would that require me to become part P registered?

No,you could,for a fee let building control inspect 1st & 2nd fix & test your work then it would be legit.
regards,
T

 

[MalcofArabia]

Hi guys,

I have just been made redundant and as you might expect finding a job is proving to be a little difficult - I don't want any tears now (i hated my old job anyway and needed a change of direction).

I want to know what does it take to become an Electrical Test and Inspection Engineer and also carry out PAT testing work.

I have my 2330 level 3, 2391, 17th Ed and Pat Testing qualifications.

What more do i require?

Thanks for any help/information

Hi Athens I may be of some help here I hope. Until Feb this year I had a little contracting company which I wound up mainly because I went skint lol. No various reasons but was gutted all the same.

You have all the written qualifications but what the guys are say that unless you have used those over a few years it is different testing on a board as in someones house or office etc.

PAT testing I would do as a side line as such. A service you can offer on top of your main service of contracting If your lucky enough to get a contract to do work in a commercial or industrial place sometimes PAT testing can help. But in all honesty you have companies or small guys out there PAT testing for pennies and it's not a great earner as such.

As for the testing well you can do your house, in laws houses, family and friends houses. Get to know you equipment and the forms, forms you can downloaded from the IET website. Fill loads out and get a friend who is a sparks or a former college to look over them, the OSG have filled in forms at the back of them.

As for going down the Part P way well Napit are good I used them. They are really helpful and only really look at one major work. So again Change someones CU for nothing take 2 days if need be to do it properly. As your not trading they advise you to contact your BC and tell them what you are doing and in most cases the BC will allow you to do the work and Napit will help you get it approved. Just talk to people mate and listen, that is if you trust the people you talk to, never be afraid to ask a sparks or friend advice and never never be afraid to turn down a job you feel you can't do, nothing worse than saying yes and turning up and thinking god what have I done.

All the best let us know how you get along and sure the guys on here will help.

 

[Adam_151]

What RF is saying is in general terms, theres no hard and fast rule that says you have to have had 7 years of experience, etc, the key point is that you must be competant. Oh and inspection work is quite a different skill from installation work. There is I beleive a member of the IET forum who is soley in the I&T sector and whos background is of a engineer for the post office, with the mail sorting machines, etc, rather than a sparks as such.

Its all about having the right approach to inspection, and as rob says certainly having guidence from someone who has carried out a lot of big PIRs is needed, the process is quite different from testing as part of initial verfication, or even PIRing a domestic

I personally got into I&T work pretty early on in my carreer (less than 7 years), but I did have a good knowledge of BS7671, a good mentor and a sound understanding of safe live testing practices [as well as knowledge of what to do if things don't quite go to plan*]

Rob may want to disagree, but I will maintain that I consider myself better placed to carry out a large PIR than someone who has done 10 years of house bashing/ newbuilds and nothing else etc.

Remember PIRs are something that the industry does poorly generally, normally caused by a desire to full the page of test results rather than inspecting stuff... you can have pages of fully tested circuits, but if you haven't walked around the area and noted that the bonding is missing, the trunking has been torn off the wall by the forklift, the db is missing 5 blanks, the door switchfuse has asbestos flashpads, the hi-bay is strapped up with 6491x and the busbar chamber has a 50mm hole in the top, then its beside the point really (Ok, i've not quite seen all of them... very nearly though**!)

* Old installations can habour supprises, whether its the light switch that the conductors fall out of when you pull it forward, or borrowed neutrals not nice when it happens, but need to be able to deal with it in an appropiate manner

** It was the trunking that was strapped up with 6491x, the Hi-bay had been smacked with a JCB - it wasn't that high afterall