Qualifications Required?

[Greenie9657]

Hi all

Im due to leave my current career path in the next 6 years and would like to train as a domestic electrician. Im pretty ofay with it now but obviously have no civilian qualification for electrics at all. (ive got a ton of military ones though) Anyway, im looking at doing courses now to enable me not to worry about what work im doing knowing im qualified to do everything. Could anyone give me a guide as to what i need to do to be fully qualified as a spark?

I know about City and Guilds:-
2393-10 (building regs),
2382-12 (17th Edition wiring regs),
2392-10 (inspection and testing),
2377-22 (portable appliance testing)

would all these serfice and/or is there anything else required? Like i said i want to be completly unrestricted in what i can do as a domestic sparky.

Many thanks

 

[Chri5]

As HM Services don't you guys get consult time with advisors when leaving?

First off isn't just a course, there's a skill set that covers safety, tools, building fabrics, materials, power and other services (gas, water etc).

Is there anything you do that might commute City and Guilds early stages?

Why just be a domestic? Maybe contractor with a team, maybe go JIB and work for others on commercial sites?

Why just domestic?

If that's all you want and have decent hand skills for all types of property, have a O'level in Physics then a 5 day course and scheme registration is the short route.

 

[Greenie9657]

Thanks for the reply mate. Yeah we have a system in place and ill be using it to fund some of the fee. I suppose I could do commercial but I just wanted to get legal in the home first then maybe branch out. I'm competent with house wiring already but just can't do much due to the regs. I would like to be full qualified to the point I could do anything In and around the home and certify it. Eg pull main fuse (I understand this might only be done by the electric company), wire a CU, complete re-wire.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

It is just not the qualification you require, you also need the skill and experience, something that qualification don't often offer.
The minimum qualification you require to be able to self cert work is 17th eds of wiring regulations, then you can apply to be a member of a scheme provider, that will allow you once you have successfully passed your assessment to sign work off.

But I would also be looking at getting Level 2&3 Diploma C&G 2365, to learn the fundamentals!

 

[Greenie9657]

Thanks for your post. What do you mean fundamentals? I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and i can do the jobs already i just need to be certified and registered to do the work. Ill happily work with someone even for free at weekends as i love the job but i would like to be fully qual'd up.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Thanks for your post. What do you mean fundamentals? I have a degree in Electrical Engineering and i can do the jobs already i just need to be certified and registered to do the work. Ill happily work with someone even for free at weekends as i love the job but i would like to be fully qual'd up.

What is it you actually electrical engineer, is your experience with building and structures?
I once went to college with a guy who claimed! to have a degree in electrical engineering and electronics, he failed every exam he took and the building and structure side.

 

[Greenie9657]

It's aircraft and wiring. Completely different to house wiring but I wasn't sure what you ment when you said fundamentals. I can fit the part P course in the next couple of weeks so ill just go from there. I'd like to do the domestic installers course but getting 18 days of work in one go is never going to happen.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

You don't need a part p qualification, part p is a building regulation, all you need to do, is be aware of the requirements of if it and comply to them, there are a number of building regulations you need to be wise to when doing domestic work, it's not all about part p!
You need a course that offers education on installing such as the one I mentioned in an earlier post.

To be able to become a self cert, domestic spark you will require at least 2382-12 (17th Edition wiring regs) and an NVQ.
There is list of the providers here, I would do some research in to what qualification they require as some differ.
http://www.competentperson.co.uk/existing-competent-person-schemes.aspx

 

[Greenie9657]

Thats great matey, thankyou for that. What i ment by Part P course was a course designed to bring you up to speed with the current building regs. I thought it might be good for advise if oithing else. I want to make sure i cover everything before i start. 17th Wiring regs is obviously a must.

 

[JohnW2]

What i ment by Part P course was a course designed to bring you up to speed with the current building regs. I thought it might be good for advise if oithing else. I want to make sure i cover everything before i start. 17th Wiring regs is obviously a must.

The fact is that Part P of the building regs (the only part of those regs relating directly to electrical work) consists of just one sentence, essentially saying that the work should be done safely! In practice, the usualy way that people demonstrate compliance with that very vague regulation/law is by having a good knowledge of, and working in compliance with, BS7671:2008(2011), aka the `17th edition of the IET Wiring Regs. It's therefore the latter which matters, and I really don't know what a 'Part P course' would be hoping to teach!!

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

To be fair -

the registration bodies do call their contributors 'Part P Approved Contractors'.

 

[JohnW2]

To be fair - the registration bodies do call their contributors 'Part P Approved Contractors'.

We need to set BAS on them My point was that the OP appeared to be distingusihing between a "Part P course" and a "17th ed. course" and, given what Part P really is, I can't see what they could teach in the former (once they head dealt with Part P itself, in the first two minutes) other than some bits of "17th edition".

Kind Regards, John

 

[bernardgreen]

People who install cables in houses should be Part A approved as well as Part P

In fact anyone who does any work involving walls and floors should be Part A approved.

Part A being structural integrity of the building. But then who cares about over notched joists and walls weakened by excessive chasing as long as the electrics work as intended. Part P make the electrics safe as well as working.

Sarcasm to OFF

 

[JohnW2]

Part A being structural integrity of the building. But then who cares about over notched joists and walls weakened by excessive chasing as long as the electrics work as intended. Part P make the electrics safe as well as working. Sarcasm to OFF

More of those theoretical, but incredibly small, risks, I suspect. Has anyone every heard of a significant 'structural incident' resulting from the installation of electrical cables etc?

An electrician obviously needs to know about the sort of issues you mention, but to require them to be 'Part A approved' would, IMO, be way OTT!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Given the way they gaily hack into ceilings and insulation, they should also be Parts B, C & L Approved...

On a serious note, it's worth remembering that when an electrician self-certifies compliance with the Building Regulations, he is asserting that his work complied with all of them, not just Part P.