Am I a qualified electrician?

You may think it is rubbish but it is a fact.

 

I don't think it all is just based on qualifications, I only did C@G L2 a few years back.

i had a good understanding of electrics prior, a mixture of people on the course from apprenticeship to day release etc.

The tutor wanted people to find employment in the field.

I didn't continue onto 2nd and 3rd year as I wanted to gain experience, some people who stayed and still completed their course, but would be unable to fit a board or do any wiring.

Someone may have qualifications but may lack experience. so the questions should be 'Do I feel competent and confident in doing wiring?'

 

It's fact that it's rubbish. If an electrician does work that doesn't need JIB grading, that doesn't make him an less of an electrician. More likely to be a better one.

 

No, the question was, Am I qualified. If you're doing a job that requires you to be qualified but not fit boards, then why would you need to know how to fit boards to qualify. There's loads of jobs I wouldn't have a clue about, but I'm still qualified. You get the qualification then the relevant experience. Experience that may not even be covered by JIB. What have JIB got to do with Christmas light, illumination and temporary event installations.

 

So what qualification is that then?

I would suggest it is the NVQ which is required for JIB grading.

 

Nickia Teslar did not have his C&G2382 or C&G2391 and I am sure no one would try to claim he was not an electrician. There is also no requirement for an auto electrician to take these exams and there are many other branches which don't require them. The auto electrician in some ways learns more as he has to make the power not just take what some one else has produced and use it. They also work with high voltages the electric power to the wheels of electric cars is not extra low voltage.

So if we take the auto electrician as an example he is clearly trained how to work with extra low, and low voltage, and some vehicles use over 1000 volt. So he has to be classed as an electrician.

However to work on a different branch of electricity he will need some extra training, even moving from industrial to commercial to domestic requires some extra skills. As an industrial electrician I did not read the parts of the building regulations, even as an installation electrician it was not required, some one in an office some where produced plans and I followed them.

I started in the days when collage was optional, one signed indentures and did 4 years and it did not matter if you went to collage or not or pass or failed exams at the end of 4 years you were an electrician with a Union card to prove it. I personally worked for the local council and had a rather blinkered training. I remember getting a job in Algeria and I really had a steep learning curve.

I think most of us have had that needs to learn quick, working in Hong Kong as a tunnel boring machine electrician for me was another steep learning curve. Working in an environment where iron laden water is dripping everywhere with a 10,000 volt supply transformed to 660 volt and then 220 volt delta was a real challenge.

As to level of basic training hard to say how far this should go, OK since I have a degree and am a radio ham I understand the whole idea of a balanced feeder and how the imbalance caused taking the line only to a switch can cause LED lamps to glow dim or flash. But as a domestic electrician I don't really need to know why it happens, all I need to know is how to stop it.

Much of our learning is through mistakes, after one has been caught out with a borrowed neutral one buys and uses neon screwdrivers. OK not used instead of a proper voltage tester, but as well. Today the clamp on ammeter has allowed us to test for borrowed neutrals in a way only dreamed of when I started, so yes the are methods which can be used to protect us. But we tend not to test for borrowed neutrals, OK we should, but I still use a good quality neon screwdriver just in case.

As to the loop impedance tester today I see it an an essential tool, however until 1980 it was a rare tool, maybe one would find a mega in the foremen's office with the loop impedance tester, but it was not part of every electricians tool kit like today. I have to admit I never ever tested an ELCB-v other than pressing the yellow button. In fact not sure how I would test one. As the ELCB-c replaced the voltage version then the tester also started to become part of our tool kit.

As to proving dead only one job I have every had required us to carry the proving unit and it was pass removal if we did not have one with us. Yet it only delivered 500 volt so we could have a voltage tester which would not work on 50 volt and we would be unaware.

Fitting a new socket and using a plug in EZ150 to test it does not really comply, but it is very unlikely when tested with the cheap EZ150 that there will be any dangerous faults.

 

Every building site in the Country may well only let JIB electricians through the gate but if that's so then the new builds that are thrown up are being wired by the plumbers or decorators, have you seen the state of new build electrics? One clip at the top, one at the bottom if you are lucky and then plaster boarded right over, alarm, phone and TV through the same joist holes as the power. They 1st fix a 3 storey house in a day, you dont do that without cutting a few corners.

No-one who calls himself a proper spark would ever do a job as rough as new build.

 

http://www.ecscard.org.uk/Card-Types/Core-–-Electrical/ECS-Installation-Electrician

The Installation Electrician ECS gold card demonstrates that the operative has completed a formal industry regulated competency based qualification, which includes technical theory with practical and competency assessments.

 

I think it is quite common, in fact it is standard for any tradesman to be verified on whether they are competent to carry out the task they are charging customers for by an independent body.

Legally the term is 'competent' but if someone was to get hurt or property was to get damaged as a direct result of your work then how would you go about showing the HSE and your insurance company that you are competent? An independent governing body that is recognised nationwide and accepted in more or less all building sites across the country or a list of jobs you have self taught on and a print off of your search engine history?

Yes you will always have those that think they can get by completing the bare minimum. Some may get through to retirement fine. Most will find employment hard to find and their integrity questioned at every hurdle. Those that choose to follow a decent route to success and always look to better themselves with further education and qualification certificates to prove they have educated themselves generally will find employment easier and be well respected within the industry.

Ultimately it is your choice. No qualification is a guarantee that you are not a cowboy but I'm general a person that constantly thrives for betterment and keeps up to date will be a person that actually gives a damn about what they do.

 

Well said that man.

 

Thats fine in theory but there are a mind blowing amount of courses and qualifications that change year after year, all in the name of making money. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a qualification in scratching your **** if you want one.

 

Any qualification that is for electrical installation.
I was told in here tgat the NVQ isn't a qualification. Make your minds up

 

More guff, the cowboys have all the qualifications and then do cowboy jobs. JIB gold cowboys

 

I bet there's a qualification in getting people to collect unnecessary qualifications. No wonder houses cost so much to build when the JIB cowboys are charging so much to cover all these qualifications.
I've worked on site many times, worked on the construction of Hinckley Island Hotel, Aldi Head Office, house bashing, and I've seen some right bodges. One was chopping out a socket box in a house, knocked the block into the cavity. Fixed it by filling it full of mortar and setting the box in the wet mortar. Left the block bridging the cavity. If that's what a NVQ holding JIB graded electrician does then It hardly holds Weight with me.

 

Oh dear..........you haven't got a clue.

 

Enlighten us

 

what's the point? Its only you that doesn't seem to grasp it!

 

No it is not. It's you that doesn't grasp that an electrical installation exam means the person is qualified, and that JIB isn't relevent or needed by most electricians. Even if it is, it doesn't make them any more qualified or better or less of a cowboy.

 

You're oblivious to how insulting it is to every electrician that isnt JIB to suggest that theyre not really qualified. Oblivious to how ridiculous it is.