In message ,
"Paul King" wrote:

The company I currently work for no longer require me and I, along with 799
of my co-workers, will shortly be shown the door.
I'm thinking of re-training in Electrical Installation and would be grateful
for advice as to which qualifications are needed - and which order to tackle
them in.
All replies appreciated.

The best route is probably to apprentice yourself to some large company
already doing the type of work in which you are interested. If you are
interested in setting up on your own as (say) a domestic electrician I'm
afraid that's a lot more complicated since 1st January 2005.

The problem is Part P of the building regulations which means that most
domestic work now requires building regulation approval; it must be
notified and checked by the building control department of the council,
their appointed representative or alternatively performed by a
self-certifying electrician who then notifies BC.

Becoming self-certifying is no easy task though due to a dreadful bit of
circular logic on the part of NICEIC (one of the six (I think) Approved
Scheme operators); one of the requirements for joining NICEIC is that
your company has to have been performing electrical installations for 12
months prior to your application, but it is difficult to do electrical
work if you are not registered. If you have been working for 12 months
but restricting yourself to "minor works" which often don't have to be
notified then NICEIC will only register you for minor works and there
doesn't appear to be a way to get fully registered unless you are
willing to work for 12 months paying Building Control to come and
inspect all your work. Other scheme operators (ECA, FENSA, NAPIT spring
to mind) have similar requirements.

The other requirements seem quite easy by comparison:

Five hundred quid to register (about, operators vary).

C&G2381 or a direct equivalent is the minimum academic qualification. If
you have no electrical background then other qualifications are
recommended. Most local colleges of FE would be able to offer this
course. If you are unemployed at the moment there is often a reduction
in the fees.

You need copies of various publications, including the latest BS7671.

You need to be able to prove competence in knowledge of BS7671 (that's
what the 2381 tries to prove), Electricity at Work Act and Building
Regulations as they apply to electrical work.

You also need a full set of test equipment, traceable and calibrated and
to know how to use it. C&G 2391 is the inspection and testing course,
but it isn't essential. The equipment may cost upwards of £1,000
depending on which brand you buy, though a lot of cheaper kit is
becoming available since I bought by stuff.

You need a Health and Safety policy, £2million public liability
insurance and insurance in place to be able to offer a 24 month
warrantee on all work.

And there's probably a lot more but I can't remember it right now.

Does this help?

Hwyl!

M.

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Martin Angove: http://www.tridwr.demon.co.uk/
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