City & Guilds Qualified ???

[Graham Hyde]

Hi

i saw a local electrician today with a nice shiny city and guilds qualified logo on his van.
Never seen this before apart from on a painter and decorators van a year or so back.

i had to go on the C&G website to get a replacement copy of my 2365 certificate. Whilst there i came across a page that explains how to get a nice pretty sticker.

It appears if you have a level 2 c&G qualification then you too can stick a lovely sticker on your van, surely this is misleading and confusing to customers. People often associate C&G courses as a sign of quality and competence ? To put on a van or letter head 'C&G qualified' is a bit cheeky.. what does it even mean?

http://www.cityandguilds.com/help/more-help/qualified-logo

i am not in anyway fully qualified myself and have much to still learn as the company i was doing my apprenticeship with went under before i could do my AM2... i am now working my way through loads of paperwork to get the last few odds and ends of my NVQ portfolio tidied up and get started in the trade. Given this service from C & G i have it appears wasted several years of study and an apprenticeship.

it seems all i need to do to convince joe public is upload my level 2 certificate and await my new logo and like magic i am qualified...

Anybody else think this C&G qualified thing is a complete joke?

 

[westward10]

See them all the time saw a sparkies van with one the other day it was strangely more prominent than the NICEIC one.

 

[Last plumber]

The sooner we get One Regulator the better, Sparkies are assessed every year Heating and Gas trades are every 5 years, something wrong somewhere, I could go on and on about this fiasco, but you would get bored.

I didn't know that !
Every twelve months ?
Do you mean you have a visit from NIC like we have Gas safe ?

 

[Last plumber]

Years ago, to be City and Guilds qualified did actually mean you had done real and proper exams. In other words, they counted for something, took years to achieve and lasted a lifetime, tradesmen were proud to be City and Guilds qualified.
Today's exam standards, in all trades are tin pot rubbish in my opinion.
I have seen all manner of ridiculous situations recently and I blame it all on the way people are trained and assessed.

 

[Midwest]

I didn't know that !
Every twelve months ?
Do you mean you have a visit from NIC like we have Gas safe ?

Annual assessment and £500 later (unless your with Stroma), what's the crack with Gas Safe out of interest?

 

[Lumie]

Seems to me, most people don't care what qualifications you have as long at the light turns on at the end. Could probably make up your own qualifications and the client wouldn't be any wiser.

 

[Last plumber]

Annual assessment and £500 later (unless your with Stroma), what's the crack with Gas Safe out of interest?

Every five years for ACS reassessments and visits from gas safe at random really.
I do my ACS domestic assessments one year and Commercial heating and commercial catering the year after.
Costs a fortune ! It would be better to be more regularly reassessed on regulations changing than keep going over the same ground.

 

[Midwest]

So to put it simply to be a gas safe contractor, how much does it cost each year?

 

[Toneyz]

The sooner we get One Regulator the better, Sparkies are assessed every year Heating and Gas trades are every 5 years, something wrong somewhere, I could go on and on about this fiasco, but you would get bored.

It's simple schemes carry on administrating the part P on behalf of LCBC the existing cscs card used to have some sort of licence system

 

[Toneyz]

There has been a lot of good debate on here the last few days the video of the commons committee was I think 2014 it is about time someone took note

 

[Last plumber]

So to put it simply to be a gas safe contractor, how much does it cost each year?

Probably costs me around £400 or £500 PA and 6 or 7 days not earning overall

Most domestic only folk I'd guess around £200-£300 PA and 3-4 days not earning .

It varies quite a lot though depending on what you do. You can just do core safety and gas fires for example so you'd be less still.

 

[rolyberkin]

Can I put an O level physics sticker on the side of my van?

 

[Toneyz]

Can I put an O level physics sticker on the side of my van?

25mtrs breast stroke does that count

 

[Midwest]

Probably costs me around £400 or £500 PA and 6 or 7 days not earning overall

Most domestic only folk I'd guess around £200-£300 PA and 3-4 days not earning .

It varies quite a lot though depending on what you do. You can just do core safety and gas fires for example so you'd be less still.

Interesting, there was a lot of referrals and referencing to Gas Safe that commons committee vid that Anthony mentioned, as the 'way to go' for the Part P schemes. Do you think the Gas Safe scheme is fit for purpose?

 

[Last plumber]

Interesting, there was a lot of referrals and referencing to Gas Safe that commons committee vid that Anthony mentioned, as the 'way to go' for the Part P schemes. Do you think the Gas Safe scheme is fit for purpose?

It's difficult to say if it's 'fit for purpose'. I think it's too easy but I know a lot of people do fail it or get referred back to training which scares me. I suppose that says more about the background or training they had prior to attending the ACS course.
The Part P ( inspection and testing) course I did a few years ago was on similar lines to ACS.

I don't know if it was similar due to it being carried out in an ACS test centre. It was NIC designed ( after many alterations and re writes) so I presume it would be the same wherever it was done ?

As far as Gas Safe goes, they tend to keep a regular eye on those they doubt to be honest. Some are visited a few times per year !

 

[DPG]

It's difficult to say if it's 'fit for purpose'. I think it's too easy but I know a lot of people do fail it or get referred back to training which scares me. I suppose that says more about the background or training they had prior to attending the ACS course.
The Part P ( inspection and testing) course I did a few years ago was on similar lines to ACS.

I don't know if it was similar due to it being carried out in an ACS test centre. It was NIC designed ( after many alterations and re writes) so I presume it would be the same wherever it was done ?

As far as Gas Safe goes, they tend to keep a regular eye on those they doubt to be honest. Some are visited a few times per year !

This makes sense. Adjust the interval according to previous results/findings.