Advice for the best routes to getting qualified

[wide74]

Hi all,

If possible is like to get your advice on the best way to getting house bashing qualified.

A bit of background first which will hopefully help....

I'm currently running 3 projects which are all restoring/rebuilding old buildings and as part of that all the services are to renew/install. Now on previous builds I've done most the wiring overseen by a family friend who is NICEIC registered . Now my problem is that he is retiring so I would like to get qualified to certify my installs but only on my own projects, I've no intention of hiring myself out as a spark. I realise that I'm kind of doing things backwards in that I've got a fair amount of experience but no qualifications. What I don't want to do though is waste a load of time and money taking the wrong route to getting qualified. Being self employed I am in the very fortunate position in that I can take time off to do an intensive course but is that going to get me where I need to be? Talking to a couple of training companies it is but seen as though they would be getting a load of my cash they would say that wouldn't they!

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[wide74]

Ha! I Didn't mean to start a war.

One of my best mates is time served and runs his own company but due to the travel is just not feasible for him to come to our site and the other time served guy we use is retiring. They taught me how to work the right way and yes I appreciate that I sound like another person trying to cut corners but the fact I'm asking for advice surely indicates I want to do things the right way.

Cheers for the good advice though and I will try harder to use the correct terminology in future!

 

[telectrix]

Lobotomised

or 1 step up from a plumber. there again, flipping burgers is 1 step up from a plumber anyway.

 

[Octopus]

I do think that purely a focus on "exams" is completely wrong.

Competence is acquired by a combination of exams and practical experience under the "wing" of an experienced, up to date competent spark.

As for calling the LABC - wtf - so no current qualifications, that is NOT a call I would make.

 

[Adam W]

Thanks for the reply much appreciated.

As I mentioned though I only need domestic installer for the work we do. If for any reason I needed commercial qualifications would I be correct in thinking that I could study that as a module (s) later on?

Cheers.

No. It doesn't 'go' Domestic, then Commercial, then Industrial, and you don't go through the course picking up qualifications on doing different things as you go, like starting off getting 'qualified' to change a plug, then a socket, then a light switch and so on until you can do a fusebox. If you drop out part way through the course you'll leave with no qualifications, not qualified to do the basics but not the more complicated stuff.

A college will teach you the principles behind installing to the relevant British Standard, and you will be expected to demonstrate how you can apply knowledge to a situation, not just show you how to install something and expect you to be able to replicate that in every situation.
As Damian says you're either an electrician or you're not; there are no half measures.

 

[TJ Anderson]

No. It doesn't 'go' Domestic, then Commercial, then Industrial, and you don't go through the course picking up qualifications on doing different things as you go, like starting off getting 'qualified' to change a plug, then a socket, then a light switch and so on until you can do a fusebox. If you drop out part way through the course you'll leave with no qualifications, not qualified to do the basics but not the more complicated stuff.

A college will teach you the principles behind installing to the relevant British Standard, and you will be expected to demonstrate how you can apply knowledge to a situation, not just show you how to install something and expect you to be able to replicate that in every situation.
As Damian says you're either an electrician or you're not; there are no half measures.

The distinction that needs to be made is an Electrician is an Electrician. A Short Course person is a Short Course Person. Only the Electrician would get an Electrician grading but either could register as a Domestic Installer.

 

[Anthony S]

Hi all,

If possible is like to get your advice on the best way to getting house bashing qualified.

A bit of background first which will hopefully help....

I'm currently running 3 projects which are all restoring/rebuilding old buildings and as part of that all the services are to renew/install. Now on previous builds I've done most the wiring overseen by a family friend who is NICEIC registered . Now my problem is that he is retiring so I would like to get qualified to certify my installs but only on my own projects, I've no intention of hiring myself out as a spark. I realise that I'm kind of doing things backwards in that I've got a fair amount of experience but no qualifications. What I don't want to do though is waste a load of time and money taking the wrong route to getting qualified. Being self employed I am in the very fortunate position in that I can take time off to do an intensive course but is that going to get me where I need to be? Talking to a couple of training companies it is but seen as though they would be getting a load of my cash they would say that wouldn't they!

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers.

Why don't you just pay the cost for your family friend to keep their niceic registration each year. Because that's what your be paying every year if you pass the course's required and given you only want it for your own projects, wouldn't it be simpler ?

 

[shanky887614]

Why don't you just pay the cost for your family friend to keep their niceic registration each year. Because that's what your be paying every year if you pass the course's required and given you only want it for your own projects, wouldn't it be simpler ?

or he could sub contract his friend to his own company as a qs and job done.

 

[Adam W]

The distinction that needs to be made is an Electrician is an Electrician. A Short Course person is a Short Course Person. Only the Electrician would get an Electrician grading but either could register as a Domestic Installer.

As an expansion of that I think it's important to point out that while an electrician has covered everything on the 'short course', the 'short course' is not simply the first few 'modules' of the full course. There's no 'bridging course' to upgrade a short course person to an electrician, it's back to the start.

 

[TJ Anderson]

Ha! I Didn't mean to start a war.

One of my best mates is time served and runs his own company but due to the travel is just not feasible for him to come to our site and the other time served guy we use is retiring. They taught me how to work the right way and yes I appreciate that I sound like another person trying to cut corners but the fact I'm asking for advice surely indicates I want to do things the right way.

Cheers for the good advice though and I will try harder to use the correct terminology in future!

If you have a best mate who is a qualified sparks, capitalise on that, make it worth his while too and get him to help you get qualified. You have an advantage over many others there. If my best mate wanted to be a sparks, he would not need to ask on here, put it that way!

 

[Anthony S]

or he could sub contract his friend to his own company as a qs and job done.

Another option if all they want to do is certify their own projects.